Hollyoaks star Nadine Mulkerrin addresses "strange" real-life couple scenes

Hollyoaks actress Nadine Mulkerrin has talked about how weird it is to be in a real-life relationship with one of her co-stars and filming the current storyline involving their characters.

Nadine plays Cleo McQueen, while her other half Rory Douglas-Speed plays Joel Dexter. Their on-screen characters used to be together, but now Cleo is with Joel's sinister half-brother Abe Fielding, and Joel is with Leela Lomax. However, the former couple recently had a moment.

"Sometimes it does feel quite strange," Nadine exclusively told Digital Spy. "We've got something coming up where basically all day on set he'll be kissing Leela and I'll be kissing Abe, and there are days like that where you're like 'this is a really strange job'.

abe and cleo mcqueen in hollyoaks
Lime Pictures

Related: Hollyoaks exit confirmed for Jamelia

"Luckily we're very secure in our relationship and it is what it is. It is a job and we both have to do it, so it's just funny. We just all go to the pub after work and laugh it off."

While Joel is currently committed to Leela and the baby that's on the way, could there be a chance for Joel and Cleo in the future?

"Maybe," she said. "They always seem to wind their way back together, they've got so much history, so who knows. It is a soap after all. I'm sure there'll be some sparks later down the line."

nadine mulkerrin as cleo and rory douglas speed as joel in hollyoaks
Lime Pictures

Related: Hollyoaks' Ro Lomax to face prejudice from Carter in gender identity story

Meanwhile, Nadine also spoke to us about how things are going to get even darker with Abe, and reflected upon the soap's upcoming job cuts and move to three episodes a week from September.


Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.

Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage

You Might Also Like