Hollyoaks star Paul Danan set up a free community group to help people battling with addiction after struggling on his own journey with sobriety. The 46-year-old star – whose death was announced today – moved to Bristol in 2021 and set up the Morning After Drama Group (MAD), which offers tailored and free creative drama workshops.
MAD supports people in need; anyone who has experienced trauma, been involved in the criminal justice system, suffered from addiction, poor mental health and negative relationships. During its conception, Paul wanted the group to focus on helping people struggling with addiction, poor mental health and social isolation after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group started with weekly online sessions, and progressed into a blossoming charity to support people in the South West. The MAD workshop progressed to become a specialist service used by outside organisations to provide “person-centred” service to those they support.
Some of the workshops helped prison leavers, people suffering from a range of mental health conditions, young people from areas with high crime and drug use rates and those in recovery from addiction. The team offered the workshops across the South West, London and Oxford.
When talking to Bristol Live in 2021, the actor revealed how “no one checked” on him during his stints on reality TV shows, during which he was suffering with addiction and mental health problems.
The actor, who has a son, Deniro, had also spoken about his battle with drugs saying he was introduced to cocaine when he was just 19. Speaking on The Dozen podcast with Liam Tuffs, he said it happened on his first day on the set of Hollyoaks.
He said: “The day I started there, someone, and I am not going to say who, handed me an eighth of cocaine and I didn’t really know much about coke and he was like, ‘welcome.’ It was the first day, the first read through, I hadn’t even filmed anything.”
Danan appeared on Jeremy Kyle in a tell-all interview about his addiction past. He shocked the nation when he revealed he had been to rehab 17 times.
“You break your arm, people care about you,” he said. “You become ill from alcohol and drug addiction, people think ‘I don’t want to be like that.’
“I never spoke out because I was too ashamed, I really wasn’t well. Some people don’t realise how close I was to not making it through the other side.
“It’s since I’ve been talking about it and been much more open, so many people have told me ‘yeah that’s what I was like.’”
During his own pathway towards recovery, Paul recognised all of the positive impacts that are synonymous with engaging with the arts; building confidence, a sense of belonging, togetherness and purpose. The workshops offered by MAD help a range of people across the city, thanks to Paul and his desire to help other people through their journey, despite having little help and support for himself.
The community workshops in Bristol run on Mondays at 5pm at the Unitarian Meeting Hall, St Paul’s. Another workshop, In Weston-super-Mare runs on Wednesdays at 5pm at The Stable, Wadham Street.
Paul also set up a Go Fund Me page on December 30, 2024, to help raise money for MAD. The group run free drama and improvisation sessions as a way to help people who are recovering from addiction and other mental challenges.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of people felt the strain of social isolation, so the MAD worked to provide free sessions to help those most affected. Posting to Go Fund Me, Paul wrote that he believed “everyone should be able to access the arts regardless of financial status”.
He added: “Your support will enable us to continue to deliver free sessions across Bristol and North Somerset as well as enable us to expand to support more people who would benefit from the magic of MAD in more communities in the South West.” You can find the Go Fund Me here.
The Hollyoaks star’s death was announced by his management today, where they called him a “beacon of light”.
In a statement, Avon and Somerset Police said: “Officers attended a property in Brislington, Bristol, at around 5.20pm yesterday where sadly a man in his 40s was declared deceased by paramedics. His family have been notified and our thoughts are with them.
“They have asked for people to respect their privacy during this incredibly difficult time. His death is not being treated as suspicious and officers are preparing a file for the coroner.”