Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star welcomes adorable baby and reveals name
Soap sensation Adam J. Woodward welcomed the birth of his first child.
The actor, who is 33, is best known for playing Brody Hudson in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, as well as multiple guest roles in Emmerdale, celebrated the birth of son – Matthew Rayn Woodward – last week, on August 5th, sharing the happy news on Instagram with all his friends and fans.
He posted pictures of himself with the new bundle of joy, along with the caption ‘Welcome to the world Matthew Rayn Woodward,’ using a globe emoji instead of the word world, before including the date ‘05.08.2026.’
‘We love you more than you could ever know.’
The actor first announced in May that he was about to become a father, posting a treasure trove of pictures on instagram including the baby scan, tiny booties and a dinosaur onesie, with another image of Adam kissing his partner’s pregnancy bump along with the caption ‘Incoming badass’.
Adam is best known for his portrayal of Brody, who was front and centre in Hollyoak’s ground-breaking historic abuse plot where it emerged that his character was groomed and sexually abused by football coach Buster Smith when he was a teenager.
Brody’s story made a profound impact with audiences. The Channel 4 soap reported the news that rape and sexual abuse charity Survivors Manchester had experienced an increase in calls since those profound scenes aired.
First introduced in 2017, Brody made an entrance with a splash during his first scene where he emerged from the sea in his trunks, in an homage to Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Casino Royale.
Brody was so beloved by viewers that Adam won the British Soap Award for Best Male Dramatic Performance in 2019.
Unfortunately, Brody met a sticky end in 2021 when the beloved village resident was the victim of a vicious hit-and-run by Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas), who killed him to stop him from telling the police about Cormac Ranger’s murder.
He died in the arms of his true love, Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) return.
In 2023, Adam decided it was time for a career change and left Soapland behind to become a manual therapist, specifically focusing on the Kasser Method osteopathy technique.
Now he’s a dad, Adam was bombarded with love and support from his online follows – mostly his co-stars!
The comment section was a veritable who’s who of soap stars as Adam’s old friends and colleagues from Hollyoaks posted their best wishes.
Owen Warner, who portrayed tortured heartthrob Romeo Nightingale, wrote ‘Congratulations both of you’
Rory Douglas-Speed, who portrays Joel Dexter posted ‘Congratulations brother’
Jessica Fox, who plays Hollyoaks legacy character Nancy Osbourne wrote ‘Massive congratulations’
Ashley Taylor Dawson, who plays Nancy’s husband Darren Osbourne, wrote ‘Congrats bro!’ with a string of love heart emojis.
Nikki Anderson, who portrayed Maxine Minniver, wrote ‘Congratulations to you both’ along with a heart emoji ‘he’s a little cutie x’
