Hollyoaks favourite Jennifer Metcalfe, better known as the mighty Mercedes McQueen in the soap, has revealed how she was once convinced that show bosses would give her the boot.
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.
The event, which took a hiatus last year, is being held at London’s Hackney Empire this Saturday, 31 May, and will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday 5th June. Singer, presenter and self-confessed soap addict Jane McDonald will host the ceremony.
Asked about her reign as Mercedes – who she’s played since 2006 and whose storylines include a recent bowel cancer diagnosis, the tragic stillbirth of her son Gabriel and countless weddings – Jennifer revealed that she once believed the character had reached the end of the line.
“I remember about year ten, I thought, ‘They can’t possibly do anything else with me, so they’re probably going to kill me off soon,’” she recalls.
“But the team keep on pulling these amazing stories out of the bag, and you’re like, ‘Wow!’ One minute she’s at rock bottom, and then she’s being sassy McQueen. It’s the whole team that creates that.”
Asked about the reason for Mercedes’ enduring appeal, Jennifer adds, “I think she’s ten-dimensional, and she seems to get away with murder and is unapologetic.
"With the character, you can explore serious scenes, emotional scenes, funny scenes, sassy scenes. She’s a character you can do a lot with, so you can’t get bored of her. And she’s a character who doesn’t give up. She’ll experience the lows, but drag herself up again.”
Jennifer is shortlisted at The British Soap Awards for Scene of the Year, for the moving moment in which Mercedes confronts her mortality.
The scene shows an emotional Mercedes – who has earlier been told that a drug that could save her life isn’t available – dancing on her own in her underwear, with her wig removed and her stoma bag and chemotherapy port on display.
“When I spoke to survivors, they said, ‘When you danced in that moment… how often you have to do that; dig deep and be proud of your body,’” says Jennifer, who lost her father, Colin, to bowel cancer when she was 15.
“And Mercedes was almost crying tears of happiness, because the chemo port and the stoma bag were keeping her alive, so there was a real appreciation for those things. I found it to be one of the most beautiful moments for her.”
* You can read Jennifer’s interview in the latest issue of TV Times magazine, on sale now.
* The British Soap Awards will be screened on ITV1 on Thursday 5th June at 8pm
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