An inquest opening has revealed that Paul Danan, known for his roles in Hollyoaks and reality TV, passed away at his residence in Bristol due to a mixture of substances that included heroin and cocaine.
Emergency responders were called to the 46-year-old actor’s apartment in Bristol on January 15 where he was discovered unconscious and later declared deceased at the scene.
An inquest into Danan’s death was opened and adjourned before Maria Voisin, senior coroner for Avon, at Avon Coroner’s Court on Tuesday morning.
A preliminary post mortem exam found the star had died from the toxic combination of a number of different drugs in his body when he died.
These included heroin, cocaine, methadone, codeine, anti-anxiety medication pregabalin and the sleeping pill zopiclone.
Avon Coroner’s Court heard this morning his death was caused by the toxic combination of the drugs.
The anti-depressant and muscle relaxer benzodiazepine, often referred to as ‘benzos’, was also found in his body but did not contribute to his death.
Coroner’s officer Alexis Camp told the hearing that Danan was pronounced dead at his home in Brislington, Bristol, at 5.20pm on January 15.
Hollyoaks star Paul Danan died at his Bristol home from a cocktail of drugs including cocaine and heroin, an inquest has heard
He found fame playing troublemaker Sol Patrick in Hollyoaks between 1997 and 2001 (pictured in character)
Danan is believed to have been found at a flat in this exclusive Bristol property on January 15 this year
His body was identified at the scene by his partner, Melissa Crooks.
Ms Camp said: ‘The circumstances are that Mr Danan was found unresponsive at his home address.
‘Emergency services attended and confirmed he had sadly died. A post-mortem has taken place and samples have been removed for further analysis.’
According to the court proceedings, the initial findings indicate that Danan’s death was caused by a combination of heroin, methadone, codeine, pregabalin, cocaine, zopiclone, and it was further exacerbated by the use of benzodiazepine.
Ms Camp added: ‘I understand there are no family concerns.’
Statements will be taken from Danan’s GP, family, police, the ambulance service and inquiries are ongoing with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, she said.
‘No note was left,’ she added. The coroner set a provisional date of May 28 for Danan’s full inquest hearing.
Danan had been due to appear for a plea hearing at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on January 16 after being charged with being in possession of cocaine and cannabis, according to court documents.
He was also accused of driving whilst under the influence of drugs on October 2 last year, in Warrington, Cheshire. He was fined £350 in 2010 after being caught with drugs.
MailOnline has previously reported how Paul was believed to have been staying at a luxury apartment in the city in a bid to get clean from drugs.
He went on to a career as a reality TV star, appearing in the likes of the original Celebrity Love Island in 2005 (pictured in a promotional pic for the show)
He had been put forward for a TV comeback on reality show Celebs Go Dating some three years after last appearing on TV in Celebrity Coach Trip.
Paul played troublemaker Sol Patrick in the Channel 4 soap from 1997 until 2001, leaving after his character fled the country.
The show won him fame and admirers – but he struggled to secure permanent acting work after his departure and struggled with substance use.
He would later reinvent himself as a reality TV star, appearing on shows such as the original Celebrity Love Island, Celebrity Come Dine With Me and Celebrity Juice. He was also a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.
In what would prove to be one of his final interviews, he told MailOnline he had chosen to quit Hollyoaks to pursue a career in Hollywood – an admirable bid that never quite paid off.
He said in November last year: ‘Maybe years ago I shouldn’t have left Hollyoaks, but I made that decision because after four years, I didn’t want be typecast.
‘Back then, everyone didn’t want to be the next Ken Barlow. You wanted to go off and play different roles, especially when you’re a real actor.
‘I needed to play different roles, I mean how many storylines can one character have? I wanted to go to LA and I did. And I got very close to some very big, big films and things like that. But the rejection… the one thing I hate in life is rejection.
‘I chose the one job in the world that that gives you that, go figure. But at the same time, I love it more than anything, just to be there on set and to be part of that world. It is everything that I always trained for.
‘Acting is a tough job and I think you don’t realise how lucky you are when you’re in a soap and you’ve got the closest thing to a nine to five job in acting that you can get. And when you get out there, you’re like s***, man, it is really tough.’
Paul said his celebrity appearances had negatively affected his ability to get acting jobs.
He added: ‘When you make such a big splash on a reality show… that is so powerful. It’s just six weeks but suddenly casting directors are like “we can’t have him because he was on that Love Island.”‘
The actor had been upfront about his real-life struggles with drugs, admitting he had been given cocaine on his first day on set on Hollyoaks after experimenting with substances as a teenager.
He revealed to Jeremy Kyle in 2019 he had suffered a near-fatal overdose following a stint in rehab in South Africa – one of at least 17 times he attempted to get professional help with addiction.
