Channel 4’s Hollyoaks has been the latest TV series to be hit by the credit crunch.

The show releases two sexy calendars each year and traditionally, show stars jet off to hot and sunny countries to shoot their pictures. However this year they were brought to a sweaty boxing gym and a musty old stately home in Herefordshire.

A source told the Liverpool Echo: “For the 2009 calendar, they were all flown out to Spain and had a fantastic time, but this year they must have wanted to save some money because both the girls and boys’ shoots were done in Britain.

“The lads spent the day at the gym, and the girls got to go to a stately home in Herefordshire.”

On the theme behind the hunks calendar, the insider added: “There’s a Fight Club theme to the shoot and the boys are all in boxing shorts, leaning on the ropes and looking mean and moody. There’s plenty of pumped up biceps and fake sweat too.”