Hollyoaks favourite Jennifer Metcalfe has revealed how she was moved to tears when she watched a groundbreaking scene in the soap, showing a pivotal moment in her character Mercedes McQueen’s cancer journey.
The 41-year-old actor made the admission during an exclusive interview and photoshoot for TV Times magazine, on sale now, which has brought together four leading ladies from the soap world – Jennifer, Coronation Street’s Channique Sterling-Brown (Dee-Dee Bailey), EastEnders star Diane Parish (Denise Fox) and Emmerdale’s Beth Cordingly (Ruby Miligan) – to celebrate The British Soap Awards 2025.
Back in September, Hollyoaks famously "time-jumped" 12 months, and viewers learnt that Mercedes had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
During a hospital appointment, the mum-of-three found out that the chemotherapy treatment she had received was unsuccessful, and a drug that could potentially save her life was unavailable.
Devastated to then learn that she would unlikely live beyond 12 months, Mercedes headed home and retreated to her bedroom, where she removed her wig and danced in her underwear, with her stoma bag and chemotherapy port on display.
Says Jennifer, “I didn’t watch the scene for ages, but then we had a screening. It made me feel really sad. It wasn’t like I was watching myself. I found it really difficult to watch.
“I think it’s quite indulgent when you cry at your own stuff, but I definitely cried at that.”
The uncompromising footage has been nominated for Scene of the Year at The British Soap Awards, which are being held at London’s Hackney Empire this Saturday, 31 May.
The other nominees are Coronation Street, for Mason's Death, EastEnders, for Angie Watts' shock return and Emmerdale, for ‘Amy's deathly plunge reveals a grisly secret’.
If Jennifer is successful, it will be the first time she has won an individual Soap Award during her 19 year reign as Mercedes.
The actor adds that the storyline has been close to her heart, as she lost her father, Colin, to bowel cancer when she was 15.
Recalling the day she filmed the special scene, she adds that she felt her late parent’s presence.
“I’m thankful for my dad and I feel he helped me get through it, because it was raw emotion and there was no dialogue,” she reveals.
“I was sat there for four hours in prosthetics. But at the end of the day, I could take all that off, whereas this is some people’s reality. When I got home, I put my little boy Daye to bed, feeling very thankful for my health and my life…and then I stared at the wall!”
*You can read Jennifer’s interview in the latest issue of TV Times magazine, on sale now
*The British Soap Awards 2025, presented by Jane McDonald, will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday 5th June at 8 pm
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