Danny Lomax, played by Stephen Billington, made his first screen appearance on 8th July 2013. Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy first mentioned the character in June 2013. He revealed that Danny arrives to teach at Hollyoaks High and becomes a love interest for John Paul McQueen (James Sutton). He added that there are "skeletons in Danny's closet, which could turn the worlds of a number of Hollyoaks residents upside down". Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood added that Danny and John Paul's romance "will lead to dark and unexpected consequences for a number of characters.". On 1 July, Kilkelly announced that Billington had been cast to play Danny and would debut the following week.