Hollyoaks star Gemma Bissix addresses fan disappointment over Clare Devine's death
Former Hollyoaks star Gemma Bissix has addressed fan disappointment over her character Clare Devine being killed-off back in 2013.
Evil Clare became one of the soap's most notorious characters during her eight-year run, though she came to a grisly end when Mercedes McQueen pushed her in front of a car.
While many fans weren't happy that her character died, Gemma has admitted exclusively to Digital Spy that Clare had to get her comeuppance eventually.
"I think at the time, Clare had had so many ups and downs," she said. "The character has to expire at some point — you can't be that evil and not get your comeuppance."
The actress also wished she had gotten to share screen time with on-screen sister Grace (Tamara Wall), who debuted on the soap after Clare's exit.
"But I'm great friends now with Tamara Wall, who plays Clare's sister Grace," she continued. "I think it would have been lovely to do some sister scenes with her.
"Looking back on it now, it would have been fantastic to explore that, but they were going for the full shock. It was a shock — people weren't expecting it and it was a very well-kept secret. But I think people were a bit gutted about it, from all the stuff I read!
"That is a compliment, though, isn't it? It's best to go out with a bang rather than overstay your welcome. I'd prefer it to be that way."
Soapland has had a tendency to bring back characters, so could Clare re-appear somehow?
Related: 8 huge Hollyoaks spoilers for next week
"I don't know," Gemma answered. "I was talking to Tamara about it. It'd be nice to come back for a few weeks and do some dream sequences or flashbacks, or some kind of voice in Grace's head.
"We could do sister scenes without me being alive. It'd be really nice to explore that. I don't know what's left in the village for Clare, but the writers and producers are fantastic and I'm sure they'd find a way if they wanted to."
Hollyoaks Favourites have been revisiting Clare's time on the soap this week, Gemma saying that while she can't watch the soap all the time these days due to her kids, she has been "keeping an eye" on the re-broadcast of classic episodes.
"I was really chuffed, my girls are three and four and they've been calling me Evil Clare!" she revealed.
"The episodes in the cabin were so fun to film. I remember it was the most nervous I'd been — we were on location and it felt like it was all on me. In the storyline, Max was ill and we were working with a young child (Ellis Hollins, who plays Tom) so the pressure was all on me. But the episodes were so fun to film."
Hollyoaks Favourites airs on E4.
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