Holly Cunningham (also Hutchinson, Longford and Roscoe) is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, most recently portrayed by Amanda Clapham.
Holly's first on-screen appearance aired on 22 December 1997, which was her birth set on Christmas Day, before departing in 2000. Holly made further appearances in 2002 and later in 2004, played by Karis Sharkey. In 2008, Holly returned to the serial played by Lydia Waters. In 2009, Holly played a minor role in the second series of Hollyoaks Later, and featured in the storyline of her mother Cindy (Stephanie Waring) and Tony Hutchinson's (Nick Pickard) wedding, despite Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) teaming up to split the engaged couple up before the wedding. Waters then departed in 2010.
In November 2012, the character was reintroduced, now played by Wallis Day. Day as fifteen-year-old Holly appeared in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later, in a dark storyline that featured Holly go on a trip to an isolated country mansion with Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks) to celebrate Esther's eighteenth birthday, along with Holly's boyfriend Callum Kane (Laurie Duncan), Esther's girlfriend Tilly Evans (Lucy Dixon) and Tilly's strange and mysterious new housemate Jade Hedy (Lucy Gape). Shortly after, Day made her final appearance on 22 October 2013. The character was immediately recast, with actress Amanda Clapham taking over the role; she made her first appearance as Holly on 19 November 2013. Clapham departed on 13 September 2018 alongside Sophie Porley who portrays Ellie Nightingale. She made a brief return the following year on 23 January 2019, where she told Zack Loveday (Duayne Boachie) that she has feelings for him, leading to him leaving the village to reunite with her.
Some of Holly's storylines have included being in a relationship with Jason Roscoe (Alfie Browne-Sykes), taking legal highs and cannabis, being kidnapped by Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) and Ashley Davidson (Kierston Wareing), having an affair with Jason's twin brother Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham), discovering Alfie Nightingale (Richard Linnell) was her half-brother, causing a car crash while intoxicated, which caused the death of Rachel Hardy (Jennifer Brooke), being raped by her boyfriend Nick Savage (Ben-Ryan Davies), and a relationship with Damon Kinsella (Jacob Roberts).
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Casting and development
In 2008, Lydia Waters auditioned for the role of Holly. She was one of 54 candidates up for the role of Holly, the character of which who had previously appeared in Hollyoaks between 1997 and 2001, with returns in 2002 and 2004, played by Karis Sharkey. After several audition stages at the shows studios in Liverpool, Waters was given the role of Holly and began filming in April 2008. She made her first appearance in June 2008. Speaking of Water's portrayal of Holly's character, a Channel 4 spokesperson stated: "She will be quite a stroppy eleven-year-old who knows her own mind — like her mum's character. There's a big storyline involving Max [Cunningham] at the end of June, and they will be involved in that".
2012 return and recasting
In December 2011, Hollyoaks producer Emma Smithwick told Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy in an interview, "We've talked about Holly, but again, there have been a lot of new characters coming in and we'd quite like to keep the cast a bit more stable... Once we deliver a fuller character for Cindy, then the question of Holly would come into play". This indicated that there were no current plans to re-introduce Holly into the series.
In October 2012, it was announced that Holly would return on 14 November of that year, now played by Wallis Day. Kilkelly announced that the character would cause "mischief" upon her return, stating that she initially "seems to be a well-mannered and sophisticated 14-year-old at first glance. However, her true bratty nature is soon revealed and it seems that she could be a mini-Cindy". Cindy is unaware of Holly's resentment of her due to her unstable upbringing. Speaking of her casting, Day said: "I am thrilled to have been cast as Holly Cunningham, as I've been a fan of Hollyoaks for many years [...] Holly is a really exciting character with plenty of surprises up her sleeve, so you'd better watch to see what happens".
Stephanie Waring, who plays Holly's mother Cindy praised Day, saying she is "excited to work with her" and thinks she is going to "be a little bit of a mini-Cindy, but maybe even worse!" Waring expressed shock at some of the lines the character says and added that she would find it "interesting to see how the audience reacts to that, but I certainly like her". Waring also noted that "Wallis is actually older than Holly, so I'm not happy about having an 18-year-old daughter, because I don't look old enough! But obviously Holly is 14, so she's a lot younger than Wallis. I was 18 when I was playing Cindy as 15, so it's the same sort of scenario. Wallis reminds me of me, but she's a lot more beautiful than I was!"
When Day's portrayal of Holly first began appearing on screen, she was at first generally quite unpopular, and many viewers complained about the realism of an adult-looking 18-year-old playing a 14-year-old. Waring defended the recasting through social networking site Twitter, saying that it does not matter that she looks older than 15 as a lot of 15-year-olds look like adults. Waring added that if Hollyoaks wanted somebody who looked like Waters they would not have recast the character.
In October 2013, shortly after the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later that Holly was a main character in, it was announced that Wallis Day would be re-cast after less than a year of being on-screen as Holly. It was announced that the character would be replaced with Amanda Clapham taking over the role. Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood said: "We're very sad to see Wallis go but respect her decision. I felt Holly is too good a character to lose, so we have recast the role and fans will see her later this autumn." A show spokesperson added: "A decision was made to recast the role ahead of some major storylines for the character which will take Holly in a different direction. Wallis Day has been a popular cast member and we wish her every success in her future."
Storylines
1997–2010
Holly is conceived during her mother Cindy Cunningham's (Stephanie Waring) 16th birthday. Cindy keeps her pregnancy a secret from her parents. Holly's father Lee Stanley (Nathan Valente) is killed in a road accident shortly before her birth. After Holly is born on Christmas Day, a terrified Cindy abandons her inside a hospital canteen and desperately tries to carry on as normal. She returns home a few hours later and is told that her sister Dawn Cunningham (Lisa Williamson) has died of leukaemia. Cindy's parents, Gordon (Bernard Latham) and Angela Cunningham (Liz Stooke), find out about her secret pregnancy and force her into motherhood. Cindy struggles to adapt to life as a single mum and on one occasion, attempts to suffocate Holly, but her older sister, Jude (Davinia Taylor) stops her before any damage is done. The shock of the situation makes Cindy realise that she does genuinely love her baby.
When Cindy is forced to take Holly to work at The Loft with her, Holly falls safely asleep in the cloakroom, but later awakens and finds an ecstasy tablet, which she swallows. Holly is rushed to hospital and Cindy knows social services will take Holly out of her care, and so she concludes that she has no choice but to flee the country with her daughter. She takes Holly from hospital and they leave for the airport. Cindy and a four-year-old Holly return in May 2002. Cindy scams her brother Max Cunningham (Matt Littler) and Max's friend Sam "O.B." O'Brien (Darren Jeffries) out of their money. She and Holly then leave again. In 2004, Cindy and a six-year-old Holly return for Cindy's father Gordon and stepmother Helen Cunningham's (Kathryn George) funerals, along with her grandmother Angela.
In June 2008, Cindy and a ten-year-old Holly return from Spain for Max's wedding to Steph Dean (Carley Stenson). After the death of Max on his wedding day, Cindy and Holly decide to stay permanently in Hollyoaks. It is then revealed that prior to his death, Max left Holly £3,000 in his will, which can only be accessed after her eighteenth birthday, but left Cindy his treasured DVD collection, much to Cindy's annoyance. Cindy sends Holly to spy on Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) after Louise Summers (Roxanne McKee) accuses her of having an affair with him.
On Holly's first day of school, Cindy forgets to pick her up, so Holly is taken in by a concerned Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard), but this angers Cindy as she assumes he is a paedophile after it becomes public knowledge that he slept with fifteen-year-old Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter), though Tony thought she was of age at the time. Cindy begins a relationship with Rhys Ashworth (Andrew Moss), but Rhys and Holly of ten argue. However, one day Holly apparently goes missing, although she is actually hiding from Rhys, who lures her out of hiding with an episode of University Challenge. Holly and Rhys end up striking a friendship, however, Cindy ends her relationship with him. Cindy's young half-brother and Holly's friend Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) and Holly find out Mercedes Fisher (Jennifer Metcalfe) has been stealing food from Il Gnosh, which she begins selling for profit. The pair then expose her. Cindy begins to get close to Tony, who impresses both Cindy and Holly. Tony proposes to Cindy and they marry, after which, Holly, as well as Cindy, changes her surname to Hutchinson.
2012–2019
In November 2012, a fourteen-year-old Holly returns during Cindy and Tony's, Doug Carter (PJ Brennan) and Ste Hay's (Kieron Richardson) double wedding. During the reception a mini bus crashes through the wedding venue and the accident kills several residents, but Holly, Cindy and Tony are all left uninjured and Holly returns to Switzerland. Holly returns to the village after learning about Cindy's attack which took place on Christmas Day and visits her in hospital. It is clear that she is far from interested about her mother's recovery and is asked by Tony and Myra to stay at the McQueens, much to her disapproval. When Cindy's condition improves, Tony refuses to carry on paying Holly's finishing school fees after he splits up with Cindy, and much to Holly's fury and frustration, she is forced to attend the local Hollyoaks High School and live in Tony's flat with Cindy and Tony, in the midst of their fractured marriage.
During the ongoing domestic turmoil between Cindy and Tony, Holly feels neglected and isolated and goes clubbing at Chez Chez with Theresa McQueen and Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis). After consuming a lot of alcohol, she is rejected by Chez Chez barman Kevin Foster (Elliot Balchin), and Sinead takes her back home to the O'Connors' flat. Although Holly is vomiting excessively, her and Sinead convince Sinead's step-mother Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher) not to bring her back to Cindy, else she might be punished, so she stays the night there. The next morning Diane takes a hungover Holly back home. After Cindy has a heated encounter with Diane, Holly later has a bad argument with her mother, and accuses her of being a bad parent. Cindy and Holly later make up and agree to move out of Tony's.
Cindy and Holly move into the flat above the Price Slice convenience store. Cindy is also offered a job at Price Slice, resulting in Frankie Osborne (Helen Pearson) getting sacked. This utterly displeases Frankie since the Osbornes are in a state of economic unrest. Furthermore, when Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox) discovers two and a half thousand pounds cash in an envelope, she becomes suspicious that her husband Darren is gambling. As she is confronting him at the Dog, Holly intervenes and tells Nancy the cash belongs to Cindy and her, so she gives it to Holly. Darren initially believes that Holly was merely helping him hide that he was gambling, which Holly was aware of. However, when he later asks Holly to return his money, she refuses, threatening to inform Nancy of his gambling if he tries to get it back.
After arguing with Sinead, Holly reports her to social services for drug-dealing, as Sinead has a baby daughter. This causes serious problems for Sinead. Holly later begins a relationship with Callum Kane (Laurie Duncan). Callum and Holly go on a trip to country mansion with Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks), Esther's girlfriend Tilly Evans (Lucy Dixon) and Tilly's new housemate Jade Hedy (Lucy Gape), to celebrate Esther's eighteenth birthday. While Callum and Holly are messing around with a shotgun outside, Holly nearly shoots a man. Callum and Holly take the man in and apologize, finding out his name is Wes and that he coincidentally already knows Jade. Wes forgives them, but when Wes and Holly are alone, Wes acts violent towards her. Holly tells Callum about this although Callum refuses to believe it, causing them to argue. During a house party on the trip, Wes joins Holly alone in the bedroom and forces her to let him take topless pictures of her or he will report her to the police for nearly shooting him. He is then interrupted by Theresa, who is also at the party, and Wes then leaves. The next day, Wes threatens to shoot Holly with the shotgun. Callum walks in on Wes doing this, and they fight after Wes reveals the topless pictures he has of Holly. The fight causes a head injury for Wes, but Callum and Holly think that he is dead and leave the room. Wes is actually alive however, although Jade then stabs him dead. A crazed and halloucegenic Jade then ties Esther up and reveals that Esther's liver transplant came from her dead boyfriend. Jade, who feels as though Esther is abusing her gift of a new liver by drinking alcohol at the party, and feels that Esther doesn't deserve it, plans to kill her. Callum tries to save Esther, but Jade stabs and kills Callum with a samurai sword before he can, in order to stop him. Jade then ties Holly up, although Tilly eventually kills Jade during a fight and releases both Holly and Esther.
Reception
In 2018, Claire Crick from Digital Spy put the recasting of Holly to Wallis Day on her list of eight soap opera recasts that did not "work out", writing that fans felt "uneasy" due to Day being "clearly too old for the role". However, Crick noted that Clapham, Day's successor, "made a huge success of the role".