Paul Danan, the actor from Hollyoaks, dies at 46 after struggling with respiratory failure caused by excessive vaping.

Paul Danan has died at the age of 46, his management has revealed.

The actor gained recognition for portraying Sol Patrick on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. He later participated in reality shows like Celebrity Love Island and Celebrity Big Brother.

Paul faced struggles with substance abuse, including a heroin overdose following a rehab stay. In June, he disclosed that excessive vaping led to respiratory failure, requiring CPR from his family.

He also has a son named Deniro, who was born in September 2015.

In a statement, Paul’s management said: ‘It is with heavy hearts that we share the tragic news of the passing of @pauldanan at just 46 years old.

‘Known for his television presence, exceptional talent, and unwavering kindness, Paul was a beacon of light to so many.

‘His untimely departure will leave irreplaceable voids in the lives of all who knew him.

‘During this challenging period, we seek understanding and privacy for Paul’s family, friends, and associates. No additional statements will be provided at this moment.’

Following Paul’s passing, stars took to social media to pay tribute, including Dean Gaffney who wrote: ‘You had your demons but my god you had a heart of gold… RIP Mr Paul Danan.’

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace added: ‘Paul Danan… a friend of mine… I’m so shocked and heartbroken… my darling man… I will cherish all our happy memories. RIEP u beautiful amazing talented human. I’m so very sorry.’ 

Under the post, Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey commented: ‘This is so sad.’ 

DJ Fat Tony, real name Anthony Marnoch, wrote on Instagram that Danan was ‘one of the sweetest men’, and said it ‘hurts so bad’. 

GB News panellist Adam Brooks also took to X, writing: ‘Just seen this, I only spoke to him a few weeks ago, he was a lovely soul.’ 

Charlie Condou, who played Marcus Dent in Coronation Street, replied to DJ Fat Tony’s post, writing: ‘So sad, he was such a lovely lad.’

EastEnders star Michael Greco, who played Beppe di Marco in the soap, also shared a message on X, that said: ‘So, so sad to read about the passing of Paul Danan. In this day and age of falsities and fake people, he was a genuine and caring man who just wanted to please everyone. A lovely warm man that will be missed by many. R.I.P. Buddy.’

The X Factor star Christopher Maloney shared on his Instagram Stories: ‘Just heard the sad news Paul has passed away. Paul you was always a pleasure to be around and a pure gent. Sending love to Paul’s family at this time. RIP PAUL XX.’

Prior to his death, Paul had been running his Morning After Drama group and prison workshops which help those struggling with addiction and mental health issues. 

In November he was also pictured arriving at Bristol Magistrates Court.

His last Instagram post, shared on January 9, showed Paul filming himself performing a scene from the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night.

He captioned the post: ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve gone near a bit of the Master that is Our pioneer Sir William Shakespeare. 

‘You forget what a Genius he really was and remember how beautiful and exhilarating it is when you get stuck in to tackling his work. It’s an amazing experience! I forget sometimes how much i need to be awoken…’

In December, Paul also hosted a TikTok Live where he discussed his struggles with mental health, in a bid to raise money for his charity The Other Side Of Morning CIC, which aimed to build ‘more community projects around the UK for people struggling with their mental health.’

The actor, who trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, played the role of Sol in Hollyoaks between 1997 to 2001, before quitting the soap to pursue a career in Hollywood.

In June, Paul revealed that he was brought back to life after his ‘obsessive’ vape usage caused respiratory failure.

The reality star – who appeared on the original 2005 series of Celebrity Love Island and has been in Hollyoaks – collapsed and had to be given CPR by his family after losing consciousness while at home.

He was then rushed to hospital in an ambulance and ended up in the ICU with pneumonia as his family were warned he might not ‘make it through the night’.

Paul had smoked cigarettes for years before switching to disposable vapes which he candidly admitted he would even ‘go to sleep with’ for comfort.

After waking up in hospital he told how the doctor was incredibly stern with him and said if he carried on smoking he risked having to be linked to an oxygen tank later in life. 

He told The Sun: ‘I was dead — it’s a miracle I’m here. I’m upstairs puffing away on my vape then suddenly I lost my breath and collapsed. My family called for an ambulance and started giving me CPR, then police arrived and took over before paramedics took me to hospital. 

‘I was on a machine in ICU and ended up with pneumonia. My family were warned I might not make it through the night. I’m so lucky.’

‘The doctor was so, so harsh with me. She told me, ‘Paul, you don’t know how serious this was and you are going to be in here for a while now, on this oxygen’.

The reality star has had a history of addiction, battling drugs and alcohol in the past but he has said that he has been clean for more than three years. 

He said that the flavours and ‘a YouTube video’ convinced him that vaping was safer than cigarettes.

Nicotine vaping is not risk-free, but it is substantially less harmful than smoking.

Last year Paul also reflected on his drug addiction while he appeared on The Dozen with Liam Tuffs podcast.

The former soap star revisited his past drug addiction, his near-fatal heroin overdose and bedding over one thousand women during the candid interview.

During the chat, Paul recalled overdosing on heroin shortly after he returned from a rehab stint in South Africa after his time on Hollyoaks. 

Speaking about the ordeal, he said: ‘It took a bad route, a very dark route. Drugs, I had an overdose. I came out of rehab in South Africa. The psychiatrist had put me on all these anti-psychotics. I was there for months.

‘I got back home and my parents were so proud of me. I was fat and horrible and didn’t feel like myself.’

Paul went out to get some cocaine but also ended up buying heroin which he had never taken before.

He said: ‘They gave me my keys and car and I detoured and got some gear, some coke. I got a bag of brown [heroin] which I’d never done before. 

‘I snorted it and shouldn’t have snorted it because that’s dangerous. I ended up having an overdose really bad.’

Paul returned home and went to bed but his parents realised something was wrong and called an ambulance.

He said: ‘My mum found me and I couldn’t breath, it was terrible. Apparently my mum heard me gagging on my last breath. She came into the room and couldn’t wake me up. 

‘My little brother was next door which was the saddest thing about it because still to this day he’s been traumatised by it. 

‘She called the ambulance and luckily they were parked down the end of the road. They came and said what has he taken and she said he doesn’t do drugs. They knew they had to give me the antidote. F**k me, it was Pulp Fiction.

He added: ‘All I could see was my dad’s face at the end of the ambulance. My mum said to me she’d already said goodbye to me. I saw my dad’s face and could see this look of absolute disgust and hate, but relief, ‘Oh my God, he’s alive.’ ‘

Elsewhere during the interview, Paul spoke about his many flings and estimated he has slept with over one thousand women. 

Asked how many women he has slept with, he replied: ‘I don’t know. I think we’re definitely in the higher range. More than a thousand, yeah.’

Paul admitted he misses his wild younger days, saying those types of casual flings don’t happen as much for him anymore.

He said: ‘I really miss it. It don’t happen like it used to. You have to be careful if you’re looking at someone who is 25, is that wrong, is that right? 

‘Are you alright to fancy someone who’s 25, 30? They’re not on your level at 45. I am looking more at the 30 range, I need to be attracted.’

Paul’s battle with drug addiction first began after he left Hollyoaks in 2001 after four years playing Sol.

He moved to Los Angeles in an attempt to make it in Hollywood but not having family or friends nearby caused him to use drugs frequently.  

He said: ‘They were selling me as this young Jude Law type guy. You can’t party and do well in Hollywood. You’ve got to be healthy. It was cool but I ended up getting into the wrong type of routine of using drugs. 

‘I can’t handle rejection but I choose the one job that gives you more rejection than any other job. I’m auditioning for big, big movies.

‘A lot of the time my life revolved around getting stoned, going to a gig, doing a pill or coke. There was always drugs involved. 

‘America is very drug orientated if you’re young. I was in my twenties. The one thing I needed was family or friends around me and I didn’t. It was like the drugs filled that void, they were my friend.’ 

Paul also claimed during the chat he won a small role in the Hollywood comedy Cheaper By The Dozen before the casting agents ultimately decided on Ashton Kutcher for the part.

The actor previously told how he relapsed during the first Covid-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020, and ended up homeless – but later turned his life around and is now helping others with addiction problems.

He ended up spending three and a half months in rehab, after having previously spent ‘about £1million on rehab and recovery’ over the years.

Paul told The Sun that he decided to move in with his parents in Essex, so that he wouldn’t be on his own in Hertfordshire during the first lockdown in March 2020.

He believed he’d be fine because he hadn’t touched drugs in a year and a half.

The Hollyoaks star revealed that – due to his dad being in the high risk category – he couldn’t even meet people for walks, and couldn’t see his son DeNiro who was in London with Paul’s ex.  

Paul recalled getting ‘really bad cabin fever’ and began feeling ‘frustrated’ as if he was ‘going mad,’ but gave notice on his flat in May 2020 with no end in sight for the restrictions, because he didn’t want to keep paying rent when he wasn’t there.   

Unfortunately, when he went to clear out the flat, the soap star spotted an empty bag of cocaine, which ‘triggered something’ and left him wanting drugs again.

He told the publication: ‘I ended up bumping into someone outside and getting some cocaine from them. It was a moment of like, ‘F**k it, I’m not going to get another chance.’ Then I went back to my parents and used.

‘I only had a few lines but it was enough to get the taste again. They say one line is too many, a thousand is never enough, and that’s what it’s like.

‘I felt terrible, so guilty and ashamed. I reckon over the years I’ve spent about £1million on rehab and recovery, and yet there I was doing it all again.’

Unable to cope living with his parents, Paul decided to attempt to detox by staying with a friend of a friend in Bournemouth.

However, the pair fell out, with the friend ‘dumping’ paul – who ‘wasn’t really ready to get clean’ – at the station and leaving him there.  

The actor couldn’t get into a hotel because of lockdown, so ended up going for a walk along the beach ‘and scoring some drugs.’

Paul recalled meeting ‘dodgy guys’ who ended up stealing some of his belongings, and suddenly it was midnight, and he had nowhere to go.

He admitted: ‘It got scary. I just walked the streets trying to get into places but every hotel said no to me and I was in tears. I was basically homeless.’  

Despite wanting to be back under his parents roof, they were ‘furious’ at him because of having to deal with his relapses so many times before. 

Thankfully a kind taxi driver took him to a hotel owned by his brother, where Paul slept for a few hours before going back to London.

There, he booked an assessment at the famous Nightingale Hospital, which treats addicts, but missed the appointment.

Paul then ‘blagged’ a room at a Holiday Inn in London, and found another dealer. He started using every day from the hotel room. 

The actor revealed that he ate just a croissant per day: ‘For two weeks, I didn’t sleep and was just taking a few grams of coke all day… I was losing my mind.’

Eventually, the star began hallucinating, believing that police were coming to get him and seeing things that weren’t real, which he described as ‘terrifying.’ 

Thankfully Gladstones – a rehab facility in the Cotswolds – offered to take him within the week, with Paul admitted that it ‘saved my life.’

He stayed at Gladstones for three and a half months, where they put him on the right ADHD medication and got him a psychiatrist as well as a yoga teacher. 

While in the facility, Paul pitched his idea for therapeutic drama workshops to different drug and alcohol recovery centres.

When he checked out of Gladstones he moved to Bristol where he began his The Morning After Theatre workshops, which has now grown into a charity with ten people working for Paul and his business partner.

Danan’s mission to help those battling drug addiction was detailed on the group’s website.

The website said: ‘By providing a specifically focused, accessible and non-judgmental opportunity, we engage with groups of individuals with similar experiences to bring them gently out from the shadows and into ‘The Morning After’.’

‘Our trauma informed and intuitive delivery provides a safe, fun and expressive space for people to access support, learn new skills, build confidence, develop tools to strengthen personal wellbeing and discover new positive coping strategies and behaviours through the art of theatre and improvisation.’

Paul also made headlines with his racy stint on Celebrity Love Island, later revealing that Playboy model Nikki Ziering performed a ‘two minute’ sex act on him during their time in the villa in Fiji.

He previously told Jamie East’s Reality Check of the cheeky tryst, saying: ‘Nikki Ziering… the Playboy model comes in and overtakes everything… 2 minutes 58 [seconds] blow***!’

‘They put the little time counter at the top of the screen. We went in the toilets, and then we were out…but a minute of it was spent taking off our microphones!’

Paul caused so many arguments during his first appearance on Love Island that producers invited him back the following year.

Housemates even said they didn’t feel safe with Danan sleeping beside them in the bedroom and he had to be removed by security guards.

After meeting on Celebrity Love Island, Paul went onto star in a spin-off series with co-stars Calum Best and Fran Cosgrove, titled Calum, Fran and Dangerous Danan.

The pair were famously involved in an alcohol-fuelled brawl, which showed Paul lashing out at Calum, repeatedly charging at him while shouting, ‘I’ll kill you!’.

The star certainly caused a stir with his past reality TV appearances, flipping out from cheerful to furious in a split second.

In 2017, Paul was the fifth star to be evicted from Celebrity Big Brother, appearing on the show with Sam Thompson, Amelia Lily and Sarah Harding.

He also appeared on Celebrity Coach Trip in 2022, and later revealed the experience left him needing therapy. 

He said: ‘I had to get a bit of counselling. It taps into a lot of stuff – like rejection. It’s brutal.’