Yahoo News Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe explains heartbreaking Mercedes story
Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe has explained her character Mercedes McQueen’s heartbreaking new storyline.
In Monday’s episode (September 16), the soap jumped forward a year in time and viewers discovered what each of the characters had been up to during that period.
The most devastating reveal in the episode was that since we last saw her, Mercedes has been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
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After having chemotherapy as well as a stoma and colostomy bag fitted, Mercedes is looking to the future, but she will soon learn that a secondary tumour has been found.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media at a recent press event, actor Jennifer spoke of the honour of being given this powerful story – especially as her dad died from bowel cancer when she was 15.
"Over the years, and it has been nearly 20 years now, you get to do all these storylines that are really exciting," she said. "But after 20 years, it can feel repetitive. But when Hannah [Cheers, executive producer] said that, I was just speechless.
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"I was like, ‘Thank you for trusting me with such a storyline, I’m really excited about it, but I just don’t know how I’m going to do this’. But I trusted that when the scripts came through, because they’re always incredible, they were going to help – and they absolutely did."
She continued: "It’s been the best time. I’m so thankful that it’s come right now. I don’t think it would have transpired so dramatically, with such noise, and with such awareness a year or two years ago. I think it’s just the perfect time to be told."
As a cast member since 2006, Jennifer explained that there have been difficult times at Hollyoaks following the show’s budget cuts – but is excited about this new era for the show.
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"There’s been times where it’s felt awful," she said. "Obviously when we were told that we were going from five episodes to three, because nobody knew what that meant and it brought so much anxiety around the building.
"That still lingers now because there’s a lot of people who are gone. So it’s never going to be the same again, but we’re just going to do a different version.
She continued: "It felt really heavy, and there was a point where I felt like the show was deteriorating and like it was wrapping up. But these last six or seven months… it certainly isn’t deteriorating or wrapping up, and I think you can see that in the episodes. What felt anxious, feels very exciting now."
Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Hollyoaks has worked with Bowel Cancer UK on Mercedes' story. Further information is also available via the NHS website, Macmillan Cancer Support or Cancer Research UK.
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