Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Despite a strong start and a huge fanbase, Hollyoaks’ Sienna Blake and Cleo McQueen’s relationship isn’t in a good place this Valentine’s Day. Between Cleo harbouring unresolved feelings for Sienna’s twin brother Dodger Savage after the two shared a kiss, and Sienna keeping the secret that her daughter Sophie Blake may have been the one who hurt Cleo’s newborn baby Joseph, there’s a lot for the pair to work out.
Cleo is currently in a psychiatric ward undergoing treatment for postpartum psychosis, after her son Joseph experienced a seizure after being shaken. Believing that she was the one who shook Joseph while experiencing psychosis, Cleo was admitted to the ward.
However, stars Anna Passey and Nadine Mulkerrin are hopeful that their characters can weather the storm.
Inside Soap catches up with them as part of the Valentine’s Day issue, and the actors weigh in on whether #Clienna have what it takes…
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“I want to say that Clienna are strong enough to get through what they’re going through,” Anna reasons. “The problem is, they hadn’t been together that long when lots of really big things happened. Even though it started with something pure, now there’s so much damage done. It’s a real question of: how much can two people take and still have a bright future?”
“As soon as you start messing around with mothers being taken away from their babies, I’m not sure there’s much coming back from that,” Nadine states. “Maybe Clienna isn’t endgame after all, or maybe they can work on their relationship and get through it…”
Despite their ups and downs, Cleo and Sienna are currently the only same-sex female couple on the show. Anna and Nadine share that they love providing this representation for fans.
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“We’ve had some brilliant same-sex female couples over the years – my favourite was Juliet and Peri! We had Summer and Sienna previously which had a massive fanbase,” Anna recalls. “It’s very cool to play that representation. Lots of people are really there for team Clienna and I can see why because we’re all rooting for them!”
“It’s quite a big deal. We get a great amount of love from the fans so that always feels good,” adds Nadine. “We spoke to a same-sex couple who had been through a similar situation with postpartum psychosis. Speaking to those two ladies, you do feel a great amount of respect and want to do the story justice.”
For the full exclusive interview and photoshoot with Anna and Nadine, as well as chats and pictures with some other soap couples, pick up our bumper Valentine’s Day issue of Inside Soap – available to buy now. You can also check out our exclusive video from the photoshoot, playing at the top of the page!
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
For exclusive soap star interviews, gossip, spoilers and theories every week, don’t miss the Soap Scoop podcast from Inside Soap magazine. The latest episode delves into next week’s soap spoilers for EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale – featuring steamy affairs, shocking deaths, flash-forwards and major moral dilemmas.