Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) is left fighting for his life in Hollyoaks later

this week when he’s shot by a masked man,

who clearly has a vendetta against the village’s signature hard-man.

The legendary gangster narrowly escapes the incident with his life intact

but it begs the question of who this mystery assailant is,

not to mention why exactly they wanted to end Warren once and for all?

The answers to such questions remain to be been but suspicion is rife within the village,

with Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham) begging Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) to let him stay the night at Basswood Road, claiming that The Love Boat is flooded.

Darren’s interest is left piqued.

Did Freddie have something to do with the attempt on Warren’s life? It’s certainly a possibility, given that he and Grace Black (Tamara Wall) were desperate to get their hands of Fraser’s fortune, which Warren is in possession of.

Freddie is adamant that he didn’t have any involvement in the shooting, while Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) turns her attention to Warren, telling him that Grace isn’t involved either.

Mercedes and Warren use this opportunity to discuss their regrets and, in emotional scenes, Warren reveals that he’s still in love with Mercedes, who is carrying his baby.

The question is: is a reunion on the cards?

That remains to be seen, but Norma Crow (Glynis Barber) makes it her mission to get Warren to a safe house, fearing that whoever tried to kill him could make a subsequent attempt.

The end is nigh for Warren, in a matter of speaking, with actor Jamie Lomas set to depart his iconic role later this year.

Discussing his decision to leave – and confirming a big exit story – Jamie told Metro.co.uk: ‘I think there’s been some reports recently that I decided to leave the show because it was going from five episodes to three. It’s not true, for a start, and I felt it was a little bit insensitive because of what’s going on at work right now.

‘I’d decided to leave a long time ago.

‘When I went to boss Hannah [Cheers] and told her my decision – Hannah and the story team have been planning my exit for a long time.’

‘Hollyoaks does amazing stories and this is going to be brilliant. It’s a real rollercoaster ride from start to finish. I’m really excited for the fans to see where they go with this.’

One to watch: Friday June 28 from 7:30pm on Channel 4 streaming to Monday July 1 at 7pm on E4.

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