Hollyoaks legend Jennifer Metcalfe confirms real-life link to Mercedes' cancer battle

Hollyoaks legend Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed that she has a personal connection to her latest hard-hitting storyline as Mercedes McQueen battles bowl cancer.

Fans of the Channel 4 soap were left gobsmacked as the show jumped forward 12 months during Monday's (September 16) episode and viewers quickly learned what the villagers have been up too over the past year.

While some fan favourites found themselves happy in new relationships, it was revealed that Mercedes has cancer and the plot is something very close to actress Jennifer's heart following the death of her beloved father when she was in her teens.

Speaking to the press at a recent Hollyoaks event, the soap star explained: "My dad died when I was 15 from bowel cancer so I very much went through it. The emotions are very raw for me. Sometimes you get storylines and you're like 'how would I feel in the situation?' but this one I just felt.

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"I am the same age as Mercedes, I have children like Mercedes, I've seen my dad go through it, so I can put myself in the position if I had it today how I may feel. I know Mercedes that well I can imagine how she will feel.

"I'm up for the challenge. We've never seen Mercedes that vulnerable. I didn't realise it would be so raw as it is. I've trusted the show for 20 years and they write very well for the whole show, and for Mercedes in particular they always get it on point and they come up with storyline after storyline which is massive and feels right.

"Everyone's invested in it so much with the scripts and makeup and costume and everything surrounding it. It's gone from doing a storyline to something bigger."

In a poignant scene, Mercedes is seen taking her wig off to reveal her bald head after losing her brunette locks to the cruel disease after undergoing treatment.

Opening up about seeing herself without any hair for the first time in the mirror, Jennifer said: "I wanted to cry. I felt like a woman sat with children, with cancer and I think that really helped me. The makeup team came in and created that look and I'm so thankful to them for it because it did something to me as an actor that I wouldn't have been able to pretend visually and it brought it physically.

"I'm glad they chose me to do this because I'll talk about poo and movements until the cows come home. If anyone is in a restaurant and they don't want to talk to their husband or wife about blood in their poo or changes in bowels please come and talk to me in the middle of my dinner because I'll set time aside to show how you deal with it."

Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 from 7am