Hollyoaks fans fumed 'why did you spoil it?' as the soap accidentally leaked a huge death - ahead of it airing on screens next week.

The big blunder came after a major cliffhanger in Wednesday's (April 1) episode, with viewers left furious.

Gemma Bissix reprised her role as villain Clare Devine - and it didn't take long for drama to follow.

Clare reunited with grandfather Froggy (John Middleton), but things turned tense when he told her to hand herself in and serve time in jail.

With Clare unwilling to do so, a struggle followed when she realised Froggy had called the police on her.

Following this, the episode then concluded with two gunshots being heard by viewers.

The reveal of which one died had been intended for the next episode, on Bank Holiday Monday.

However, it would appear the Hollyoaks YouTube account accidentally spoiled the outcome.

When posting the cliffhanger on their channel, they labelled it as: 'The Death of Froggy Black.'

Meanwhile, the video's description read: 'He finally opened his heart… Only for Clare to tear a bullet straight through it.'

One fan raged on Reddit: 'I just don’t understand why the copy writer would spoil the next episode like that.'

Another remarked: 'I hate that they spoil it in the thumbnail!' 

Daily Mail has contacted Hollyoaks for comment. 

In February, actor John Middleton reportedly quit Hollyoaks after six months on-screen - with bosses now working on an 'explosive' exit story for the villainous character. 

He joined the soap's cast last year, playing previously incarcerated criminal Fraser 'Froggy' Black Sr.

It was a huge contrast to his best-known role, kindly vicar Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale, whom he played for 22 years.

According to The Sun, actor John, 72, has opted to leave the role of Froggy after just six months.

A source told the publication: 'Bosses believed they were onto a winner by signing up John to play a cockney villain because the character was so different to his loveable role on Emmerdale.

'But John has now decided to bow out. He told them of his decision to quit and bosses have been left to come up with an explosive exit for him.

'They are still deciding whether to kill him off or whether to leave the door open for a possible return in the future.'

Upon arriving in the village, Froggy reconnected with his granddaughters Grace Black and her killer sister Clare Devine.

Drama soon ensued, with Clare fatally shooting Grace in an altercation between them and Grace's son Rex (Jonny Labey).

Froggy remained with Rex as well as his police detective son Sully (Harry French), although he kicked out the latter upon him being exposed as a racist.

During his time on Emmerdale, John's character Ashley married three times: first to Bernice Blackstock and later Laurel Potts on two occasions.

Ashley's children, Gabby (Rosie Bentham) and Arthur (Alfie Clarke), each from a respective marriage, remain in the soap as regulars.

In the beloved vicar's final storyline, Ashley tackled a heart-wrenching battle with degenerative vascular dementia, which ended with his death.

Heartbreaking scenes saw Ashley regain consciousness for his final moments, able to utter his wife's name 'Laurel' for the first time in months.

Speaking to The Mirror at the time of his Emmerdale departure, John said: 'People are stopping me in the streets saying thank you for doing this, and that is in many ways the best award. 

'Particularly when you are talking to people who have got direct contact with this disease, who have lost loved ones to it, or who are caring for people with it, or people who have the disease.

'They say thank you for portraying it so accurately, so that makes me immensely proud.'