Amber Sharpe

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Amber Sharpe
Hollyoaks character
Amber Sharpe.jpg
Lydia Lloyd-Henry as Amber Sharpe (2010)
Portrayed by Lydia Lloyd-Henry (2010)
Lauren Gabrielle-Thomas (2014)
Duration2010, 2014
First appearance21 June 2010
Last appearance27 August 2014
Classification Former; regular
Introduced by Paul Marquess (2010)
Bryan Kirkwood (2014)
In-universe information
Occupation Student (2010)
Family Sharpe
Father Phil Sharpe
Mother Gabby Sharpe
Brothers Taylor Sharpe
Half-brothers Arlo Davenport
Tré Davenport
Daughters Bella Sharpe

Amber Sharpe is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks , played by Lydia Lloyd-Henry in 2010 and Lauren Gabrielle-Thomas in 2014. The character was introduced as a member of the new Sharpe family, as part of series producer Paul Marquess' rejuvenation of the serial in 2010. She made her first on-screen appearance on 21 June 2010. [1] Amber's storylines have included sleeping with Finn O'Connor and subsequently discovering she is pregnant and giving birth to her daughter Bella.

Contents

In July 2014, it was announced that Amber would be returning to Hollyoaks for three episodes in late 2014, with the role recast to former Waterloo Road actress Lauren Gabrielle-Thomas. [2]

Character creation and casting

In January 2010, it was announced that Lucy Allan had stepped down from the position of series producer and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. [3] It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team [4] and beginning a cast cull by axing three established characters. [5] Stephanie Waring (who portrays Cindy Hutchinson) then revealed that all remaining cast members feared their character would be axed. [6] One month later, Marquess announced his plans to axe a further eleven characters, who would leave at the end of their current contracts. [7] Marquess later announced that he would introduce many "fantastic" new characters to replace those who were departing. [8] In March 2010, it was announced that Marquess would introduce a new family due to the show. [9] Speaking about the family Marquess stated: "We're particularly excited about the new family that will join the show in the summer -and guarantee they'll bring glitz, glamour and great stories to the Hollyoaks village!" [9] The name of the family was later revealed to be Sharpe, a new mixed race family of four members. [10] [11]

On 12 April 2010, it was announced that soap newcomer Lydia Lloyd-Henry had been cast in Hollyoaks as youngest child Amber of the Sharpe family, [12] and would be joined by mother Gabby (Phina Oruche), father Phil (Andonis Anthony) and brother Taylor (Shaun Blackstock). [12] [13] Of the families arrival, Marquess said: "We will meet Gabby Sharpe – and her teenage children Taylor and Amber – in dramatic circumstances. Their arrival in Hollyoaks will change the life of a much loved character forever." [14] In an interview with Digital Spy , Phina Oruche spoke about Lloyd-Henry, commenting: "The actors that are playing them [Amber and Taylor] are both brilliant, the kids themselves are really energetic." [15]

Character development

Characterisation

Channel 4 publicity describe Amber as "a real live wire". [16] She's a "spitfire" who questions everything and rarely takes no for an answer. [16] Amber is incredibly driven and does all she can to get what she wants, despite her age. [16]

Teen pregnancy

In September 2010, it was announced that Hollyoaks, teaming up with Channel 4 Education's Battlefront , would explore an underage sex storyline involving 12-year-old Amber and Finn O'Connor (Connor Wilkinson). [17] It was also revealed that the storyline would lead to Amber's pregnancy. [17] [18] [19] Explaining the storyline, series producer Marquess said: "Hollyoaks has long been credited for tackling difficult issues that affect young people in a sensitive and intelligent way. I am very proud that we are once again bringing to the forefront a subject for our young audience that many parents, politicians and schools struggle to address. The storyline very clearly communicates to the audience that Amber and Finn were not emotionally or physically ready to engage in any sexual activity. And make no mistake, there will be no fairytale ending for Amber; she is faced with the most difficult situation she could ever imagine." [17] The idea for the storyline was conceptualised by Hollyoaks producers, when they heard about Abbie Louise Davies Battlefront campaign to encourage young people not to feel pressurised into sex. [20] Lucy Willis, executive producer of Battlefront, added: "Battlefront gives young people an opportunity to run campaigns about subjects they feel passionately about. Abbie Louise’s campaign Where Is The Love tackles an incredibly important issue which affects many young people today, who feel huge peer pressure to have sex before they are ready, often without the help and advice of adequate sex education at school." [17]

Storylines

Amber first appears on 21 June 2010, when she receives a call from Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) telling her that her mother Gabby has been in a car accident. Amber feels uncomfortable around Tony and believes he was the one who ran her mother down, before he tells her he had just seen the accident. Amber and brother Taylor are confused when they return home with Tony and their belongings are missing, not realising that Gabby had planned to take her children and run away while Phil was gone. Amber is next seen reluctantly leaving her house in Wales by order of her mother. They arrive in Hollyoaks to stay with Tony, much to Amber's disgust. In an attempt to return to her home, Amber gives Phil the address of Tony's house, resulting in him being confronted by Phil. Amber pleads to stay with Phil, but he does not allow it. Amber joins Hollyoaks High school and befriends Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis). After they catch Tony and Gabby kissing, Amber calls Phil and tells him that Gabby and Tony are having an affair, with Sinead agreeing with her. Phil then punches Tony, but Gabby tells him they are not having an affair. After the argument, Amber tells Sinead that she won't give up until her parents are back together.

Taylor tells Amber that Phil has another family, but she refuses to believe him. Due to her family problems, Amber turns to Finn O'Connor (Connor Wilkinson) for support. They have sex and Amber tells Finn not to mention it to anyone. Later, Amber discovers she is pregnant and tells a shocked Finn. They talk as a fire breaks out at Il Gnosh, spreading to the upstairs flat. Amber tries to leave her bedroom and is trapped by the fire. She escapes onto the rooftop with Finn and slips as she tries to get to safety and Tony rescues her. Amber begs Finn not to tell anyone about her pregnancy, which he agrees. When Gabby talks to Frankie Osborne (Helen Pearson), she tells her that Amber stole a pregnancy test from Drive 'n' Buy. Gabby confronts Amber and she tells Gabby that the test was for her and that she is pregnant.

When Amber moves into the O'Connors' house following the fire, Diane O'Connor (Alexandra Fletcher) discovers she is pregnant and Amber is pregnant and is going to have an abortion. Diane comforts Amber and tells her that she does not have to have an abortion. The next day, Amber tells Gabby that she is going to keep the baby. Hollyoaks High School headmaster Rob O'Connor (Gary Cargill) finds out that Amber is pregnant and asks her to see a professional councillor, which she agrees. Diane then asks Amber if she could bring the baby up as her own, as she is unlikely conceive.

It is agreed that Diane will bring up the baby as her own however Amber grows close to Rob. Amber kisses Rob, however he pushes her away. The kiss is seen by Eva Strong (Sheree Murphy) who gets the wrong idea. Eventually Sinead and Diane find out about the kiss and suspect Rob is the father of Amber's baby. Amber admits the father is Finn. Due to all these events Diane decides she does not want Amber's baby. Amber leaves the village with her mum and brother. In July 2011 Finn receives a text from Amber, showing a picture of their daughter Bella. In 2013, Finn tries to track Amber and Bella down, only to discover that they have moved.

In August 2014, Amber returns to Hollyoaks with Bella so that Bella can know her father. However it is revealed that she is trying to con Finn out of his money to buy a house with her partner Dale. Diane discovers and pays the money so that Amber can leave Finn's life for good. She left Hollyoaks with Bella after getting the money she wanted, leaving Finn devastated. Five years later, Finn is paroled and he decides to visit Amber and their daughter after being stunned by the entire village including Sinead. However, Finn decides to be with her and their daughter Bella by the request of John Paul, Sally, Edward and Nancy.

Reception

Holy Soap describe Amber's most memorable moment as being: "Lying to dad Phil about her mum's relationship with Tony." [21] The official Hollyoaks website ran a poll asking viewers who their favourite member of the Sharpe family was. [22] The results showed that Amber was their second favourite family member with 421 votes (33.68%). [22]

Related Research Articles

Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has 37 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Hutchinson</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Tony Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. His first appearance on-screen occurred on 23 October 1995, the inaugural episode of the programme, and is the longest-serving character in the soap. The character was created by Phil Redmond, as one of several main characters for the show. For his portrayal of Tony, Pickard won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2017 British Soap Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville Ashworth</span> UK soap opera character, created 2005

Neville Ashworth is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Jim Millea. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 30 September 2005 and was introduced by David Hanson. Neville departed in July 2010 with his wife Suzanne Ashworth and their son Josh Ashworth, after they were all axed by new executive producer Paul Marquess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui McQueen</span> UK soap opera character created in 2006

Jacqui McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Claire Cooper. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 26 September 2006 and was introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood as part of the McQueen family. Cooper has stated that whilst Lucy Allan produced the serial she was not used and that Jacqui had "lost her identity". In 2010 when Paul Marquess took over the role, he recognised she was an under used character and split her apart from the McQueen family, subsequently increasing her role within the show. Jacqui has been portrayed as a "tough ex-con" and is extremely feisty, she often takes on the matriarch role within the McQueens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen McQueen</span> UK soap opera character, created 2009

Kathleen McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alison Burrows. She first appeared during late-night spin-off Hollyoaks Later in September 2009 as the sister of Myra McQueen and mother of Theresa McQueen. Burrows reprised her role as Kathleen in August 2014, but left again in September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydia Hart</span> Character from Hollyoaks, created 2009

Lydia Hart is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lydia Kelly. Lydia was created by series producer Bryan Kirkwood as one of many characters introduced that year. She made her debut in the soap on 4 March 2009, and remained for ten months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Jones</span> British soap opera character

Loretta Jones is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, and its spin-off series, Hollyoaks Later. The character is played by Melissa Walton and first appeared on-screen on 26 November 2008 during the first series of the Hollyoaks spin-off Hollyoaks Later as a new love interest for the character Dominic Reilly. She made her first appearance in the Hollyoaks series in February 2009 and was the first character to be introduced to the series by producer Lucy Allan. In 2010, Loretta was axed from the series, along with 15 other characters, during a cast cull by executive producer Paul Marquess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Strong</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Eva Strong is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sheree Murphy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 23 April 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jem Costello</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Jem Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Helen Russell-Clark. She made her first on-screen appearance on 5 March 2010. It was later announced that Jem had been written out of the serial, and the character would leave in November 2010. Russell-Clark made her final appearance as Jem on 30 November 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Hutchinson</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabby Sharpe</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Gabby Sharpe is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Phina Oruche. She made her first on-screen appearance on 18 June 2010, before departing on 17 December 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Costello</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finn O'Connor</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Finn O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Upon his introduction as part of the O'Connor family, the character was portrayed by Connor Wilkinson. The family were introduced during a "shake-up" of the show by new series producer Paul Marquess. Writers then placed Finn in an issue-led story exploring underage sex and teenage pregnancy with Amber Sharpe. The character was written out of the series in 2011.

Sinead OConnor (<i>Hollyoaks</i>) UK soap opera character, created 2010

Sinead O'Connor is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Stephanie Davis. The character first appeared during the episode broadcast on 1 September 2010. Sinead is a member of the O'Connor family, who were introduced as part of a cast turnover. Producers devised a "Romeo and Juliet" pairing for Sinead and Bart McQueen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart McQueen</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Bart McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jonny Clarke. He first appeared onscreen at his stepmother's funeral in August 2010, introduced by producer Paul Marquess as a member of the McQueen family. During his time on the show, Bart had been involved in: relationships with Jason Costello and Sinead O'Connor, being stabbed during the third series of Hollyoaks Later, his involvement in Esther Bloom's bullying storyline, causing the bus crash featuring in the notable Enjoy the Ride storyline, and falling off the rails with a growing cannabis habit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Costello</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Jason Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Victoria Atkin. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 2 August 2010 and was introduced by series producer Paul Marquess as a member of the yet to be established Costello family.

Hollyoaks began airing on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 23 October 1995. The show targeted teenagers and initially dramatised the lives of seven teenagers living in Hollyoaks, a fictional suburb in the city of Chester in Cheshire, England.

Connor Wilkinson is an English actor. In 2010, he was cast in the regular role of Finn O'Connor in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, and appeared from 1 September 2010 to 19 September 2011.

Lydia Lloyd-Henry is an English actress. She was born in Manchester, England. She played Amber Sharpe in Hollyoaks.

References

  1. ↑ Green, Kris (21 June 2010). "2846: Tony rushes to help Gabby". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK . Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Hollyoaks recasts Amber Sharpe role". Digital Spy . 25 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Green, Kris (15 January 2010). "'Hollyoaks' producer Allan quits soap". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. ↑ Green, Kris (11 February 2010). "New 'Hollyoaks' boss shakes up production". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK . Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  5. ↑ Green, Kris (9 February 2010). "New 'Hollyoaks' producer axes three". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  6. ↑ Green, Kris (26 February 2010). "'Oaks cast "unsettled" by new producer". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK . Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  7. ↑ Green, Kris (8 March 2010). "'Hollyoaks' producer axes 11 more". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  8. ↑ Green, Kris (11 March 2010). "'Hollyoaks' boss to introduce new family". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  9. 1 2 Green, Kris (11 March 2010). "'Hollyoaks' boss to introduce new family". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Name of new clan revealed". Holy Soap . Five. 30 March 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  11. ↑ Green, Kris (30 March 2010). "'Hollyoaks' unveils new family name". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK . Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  12. 1 2 Green, Kris (12 April 2010). "'Hollyoaks' announces raft of new castings". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  13. ↑ "Hollyoaks reveals new signings". Holy Soap . Five. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  14. ↑ Hollyoaks Team (30 March 2010). "New Family to Hit Hollyoaks!". Hollyoaks . E4. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  15. ↑ Green, Kris (17 June 2010). "Oruche on accents, Footy Wives and Zöe Lucker". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi UK . Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  16. 1 2 3 "Amber Sharpe (played by Lydia Lloyd Henry)". Hollyoaks . E4. Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Love, Ryan (29 September 2010). "Hollyoaks announces underage sex plot". Digital Spy . (Hachette Filipacchi UK). Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  18. ↑ B, Abi (29 September 2010). "Hollyoaks tackles issues surrounding underage sex". E4. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  19. ↑ Online reporter (29 September 2010). "Exciting Hollyoaks exclusive". Battlefront. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  20. ↑ Coyne, Katie (30 September 2010). "Hollyoaks to air explosive underage sex plotline". Metro . Associated Newspapers Ltd.
  21. ↑ "Holy Soap > Hollyoaks > Cast > Amber Sharpe". Channel Five . (RTL Group). Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  22. 1 2 Norman, Christopher T. (19 August 2010). "Hot Topic: Sharpe Focus". Hollyoaks . E4. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
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