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Andrew’s acting debut in Channel 4’s hit teen drama Hollyoaks aired on UK screens on 1st February 2008. The show saw Andrew take centre stage in a storyline about a young musical theatre actress, Summer Shaw – played by Summer Strallen – who relentlessly pursues Andrew in her bid for stardom.

In an exciting twist, Summer Shaw’s successful impromptu audition for Andrew outside his London offices was not so far from the truth – as actress Summer Strallen had in fact been deliberately placed in Hollyoaks as part of an elaborate plot that blurred fact and fiction and brought the world of musical theatre and television together.

In the five months before Andrew’s appearance on Hollyoaks, Summer Strallen had been cast as Maria in the West End production of The Sound of Music and had already begun work on show. Her first appearance as Maria on the London Palladium stage was on 26th February – the same day as her final Hollyoaks scenes were shown on Channel 4.

23-year-old Summer succeeded Connie Fisher, who won the part during the hit BBC television casting show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?