When Nancy decides to foster Brooke Hathaway (Talia Grant), the daughter of Becca's killer, Darren is against the idea but Nancy ignores him. After a talk with Grace, Darren decides to split up with Nancy and tells her their marriage is over. He runs into Mandy and they decide to run away together. Nancy suffers an MS attack and tells Darren and Jack that she will be in a wheelchair for a while. Darren meets up with Mandy and tells her needs to be there for Nancy and they break up. Darren was created by "Hollyoaks" producer Phil Redmond in 1996. He was created along with his father Jack Osborne and step-mother Celia; they arrived from America to join Darren's older sister Ruth, who was already living in the village. He moved back to America and later returned until the current time. Darren has been referred to as "one of the most popular and longest serving "Hollyoaks" characters". Auditions were held for the part of Darren with Adam Booth securing the part in 1996; his first appearance was on 18 November. Booth left "Hollyoaks" in 1997, so the role was recast in 1999 with Ashley Taylor Dawson. Other actors that auditioned while in the stages of recasting included fellow castmember Alex Carter who went on to secure the part of Lee Hunter, two years after auditioning for the part of Darren. While at the National Youth Theatre aged 17 Dawson joined the cast of "Hollyoaks". He went on to secure the part of Darren following an audition. Dawson has said that his first day at "Hollyoaks" was "daunting". Dawson left in 2000 to pursue a pop career in the UK pop band allSTARS*. AllSTARS* split up and Dawson later re-joined "Hollyoaks" in August 2003. Dawson has said, regarding playing the role of Darren, "I love playing the bad lad. He's my alter ego". In 2010 speaking of his ten-year tenure on the serial Dawson said he felt he like he was "turning a bit into Ken Barlow" and added that he enjoyed playing Darren more each year. Dawson added that he was "still learning" and did not take his role for granted. He stated, "I’m not ignorant enough to think I can just go off and be a Hollywood star! I’d like to take on some more challenges for Darren". Darren's personality has developed over the character's duration.