| Peri Lomax | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Ruby O'Donnell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 3705 4 October 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Peri Lomax is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks . She is played by Ruby O'Donnell, who made her first screen appearance on 4 October 2013. [1]
The character and O'Donnell's casting was announced on 17 September 2013. [2] O'Donnell auditioned for the role of Peri and was invited back twice, before she learned she had got the part. [1] Her mother commented "When we got the call I started crying and then we started jumping up and down in the kitchen. The more I see the scripts the more I think Ruby is quite similar to her character Peri and I think she's fitted in well with the family." [1] O'Donnell began filming during the summer months. [1]
Peri is the youngest member of the Lomax family, which consists of parents Danny (Stephen Billington) and Sam (Lizzie Roper) and siblings Tegan (Jessica Ellis) and Leela (Kirsty-Leigh Porter). [2] Describing Peri, a writer for the show's official website commented "Don your shades, ladies and gents – 'cos this girl is sunshine all year round! As the youngest of the Lomaxes, Peri should be making mistakes left, right and centre, but – in actual fact – she's usually the only voice of reason in her family." [3] They observed that she has "the wisdom of seven Yodas" and is happy to give out advice to her family and friends. [3] In an article published by Metro , it was confirmed that Peri was named after Doctor Who character Peri Brown. [4]
It is revealed in August 2014 that Peri's sister Leela is her biological mother. Peri finds out and initially does not forgive Leela, but later does. O'Donnell spoke to Digital Spy after the reveal that Leela was her mother, "For Peri's character, it's completely the wrong thing to do because it's just shocked her and made her hate [Leela] even more." [5] O'Donnell also said, "Peri's going to obviously be really confused, because she doesn't understand how they've lied to her and why they've lied to her. Peri's meant to be very nice and sweet and her life's meant to be very simple, but obviously not!" [5] Kirsty-Leigh Porter (Leela Lomax) said, "I think, if anything, Leela thinks she's done kind of a good thing by going, 'Right, there you go, I'm your mum and it's out there in the open'" [5] Leela had first told Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) about Peri's true parentage. Porter had mentioned that she knew the truth when she got the role. [6] In June 2014, Peri's biological father and Leela's childhood lover, Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore), was introduced to the serial. In August 2014, after the deaths of Sam and Danny, Peri bought drugs on a night out with Nico. Cameron tried to stop her. [7]
In November 2014, it was announced that Peri was to have a teen pregnancy storyline with Tom Cunningham. The storyline was devised as an effort to promote safe sex. [8] This storyline along with Ste's HIV plot was a part of the safe sex for 2015 said Bryan Kirkwood. [9] Hollyoaks are working with charity Brook during the storyline. [10] O'Donnell has said, "Some of the scenes have been hard to tackle because I am still quite young and I’ve had to do a lot of research for them. I am younger than Peri, as she is just turning 15 and I’m only 14 myself. So I’ve done the research to help with my performances and to find out how teenagers actually do react in these situations." She also said, "When I was first told about the story, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, but then I had a lot of meetings about it with the show’s executive producer Bryan Kirkwood, the storyliners and the other producers. They explained it to me and made me feel a lot more comfortable about it. Now I’ve got into it, I’m very excited about the storyline and I’m really enjoying doing it." [11]
During the storyline, Tom proposed to Peri and revealed to the whole school and town that she was pregnant to Leela, Ziggy and Tegan's surprise. [12] Also during the storyline, Leela called cousin Angela (Adele Silva) as a candidate to adopt the baby. [13]
Peri gave birth to her daughter on 1 September 2015. [14]
In December 2019, it was confirmed that a relationship would develop between Juliet and Peri. Blackshaw, who portrays Juliet, stated that at the point of filming their first kissing scene together, she did not know the exact details of how the pair got together, but she knew that a relationship between them would eventually develop. [15] She added that she loves working with O'Donnell and that the pair enjoy filming together. [16] O'Donnell echoed Blackshaw's comments, stating that she loves their storyline and that the pair had both seen fan accounts for Peri and Juliet. [17] After the pair were involved in a second kissing scene, Digital Spy confirmed that their relationship will continue to develop. [18] The couple have since been referred to by the portmanteau 'Jeri'. [19]
Following Juliet being imprisoned for her involvement in a county lines drug trafficking ring, Blackshaw stated that "it's the biggest relief in the world" for her character to be reunited with Peri after her release. [20] She joked that the pair "can't even walk casually" when they see each other and run to one another. [20] She added: "it's been a long, long wait, and when it happens, it was just a million times better than what she imagined it would be". [20] Blackshaw explained that having Peri waiting for her helped to "motivate her and push her through" was a beneficial aspect for her character. [20] She also hoped that their relationship would be long-term. [20] Months afterwards, Peri becomes suspicious of Juliet receiving texts from an unknown number. O'Donnell said that this is due to their relationship still being new and their trust being slowly built. She revealed that both herself and Blackshaw were "cheering for their characters' romance to live on" since they are best friends in real life. [21] O'Donnell also said that while she does not know what future storylines could possibly involve, she could see Juliet and Peri being a long-term couple. [21]
Peri arrives with mother Sam (Lizzie Roper) to surprise her father, Danny (Stephen Billington). Her sisters, Leela (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) and Tegan (Jessica Ellis), soon join them and Tegan gives birth to her daughter, Rose. Peri is shocked to learn she has a half-brother, Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson). Peri also makes friends with Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins). While confronting her father, Peri faints and falls down the stairs in the village, and is then rushed to hospital, where she is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Just before her operation, Tom sneaks her out and they kiss. Peri then faints again and Tom returns her to hospital where her operation is successful. Peri bonds with Sienna Blake (Anna Passey), who assumes Peri is her long-lost daughter after finding out that Peri is adopted and she has the same birthday as her daughter. However, Leela reveals to Sienna in confidence that she is Peri's biological mother and Sienna agrees not to tell Peri. Peri gets drunk with a bottle of wine and is found by her biological father, Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore). He takes her home and Sam and Danny panic and try to leave quicker, scared that Leela and Cameron will tell Peri the truth. Peri says emotional goodbyes to Tom and Leela but just as they are about to leave, Leela comes racing to the car, having been told by Cameron that Peri confided in him about not wanting to leave. This causes an argument between Leela, Cameron and Sam and Danny, with Leela telling Peri that she and Cameron are her biological parents. Peri runs away and is found by Tegan. They then ring Sam and Danny to pick them up so they can go to New Zealand as planned. However, just moments after they phone, Sam and Danny are killed. This devastates Peri, but after Sam and Danny's funeral, Peri starts to bond with Leela and Cameron, establishing parent-child relationships.
Peri loses her virginity to Tom. The day before her birthday, Peri wishes that she could spend time with her father so Dylan Jenkins (James Fletcher) suggests that he, Peri and Nico Blake (Persephone Swales-Dawson) visit him. She collapses in Dylan's arms and he takes her to hospital where she learns that she is pregnant. Tom sees them and thinks she is cheating on him. When Tom confronts Peri, she tells him that she is pregnant, leaving Tom speechless. On her 15th birthday, she is thrown a surprise birthday party with Nico, who shares her birthday. She goes to the hospital with Tom and finds out that she is 10 weeks pregnant. Celine McQueen (Sarah George) tells her she can have an abortion and Peri leaves. Peri considers an abortion but during the school play, Tom proposes and she runs home in tears after Leela discovers that her daughter is pregnant. Leela and Peri talk about the possibilities of having a baby so young and Peri decides not to have an abortion, choosing instead to have the baby adopted. She agrees to let Angela Brown (Adele Silva) and her husband Mark (Ben Faulks) adopt the baby. Frankie Osborne (Helen Pearson), Tom's adoptive mother, knows how much Tom wants to be a father and suggests to Peri that the baby live with them but Peri refuses since she does not want to be close to the baby.
When Tom becomes close to his foster sister Jade Albright (Kassius Nelson), Peri becomes jealous and starts bullying Jade, alongside Nico. Peri makes advances towards Jade's boyfriend Alfie Nightingale (Richard Linnell) as revenge against Jade. As Jade goes up to the school's assembly, Nico pulls her wig off, leaving her humiliated. Peri reports Nico to headteacher Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace), believing the wig stunt was a step too far, and Nico is expelled. Nico discovers that Peri told on her and as revenge, persuades her to go on a camping trip with her in the woods. In the woods, Nico locks them up is an abandoned bunker deep within the forest and when Peri realises that they are trapped, she screams for help. When Peri bangs on the door for help, the ceiling collapses on her, knocking her unconscious. She awakens, but passes out again from dehydration. Peri and Nico are later found and are taken to hospital. Cameron discovers that Nico held Peri hostage in the bunker, and so at the village's funfair, he sets fire to a wooden maze, where Nico and Sienna become trapped.
On her wedding day to Cameron, Leela gives birth to Peri's half-brother, Daniel. There, it is revealed that Daniel is mixed race, meaning that Cameron is not his father, and he furiously leaves the village. Peri begins meeting with Cameron in secret, helping his reconcile with Leela by organizing a holiday in a cabin in the woods. However, they find the corpse of Celine McQueen (Sarah George), Cameron's ex-girlfriend, floating in the lake. Cameron then locks Peri and Leela in the cabin and threatens to kill them all by setting the building on fire. After being imprisoned, Cameron begins blackmailing Lisa Loveday (Rachel Adedeji), forcing her to convince Peri to visit him in prison, however Peri expresses her hatred towards her father before leaving. While Lily Drinkwell (Lauren McQueen) is in hospital after collapsing, Peri has sex with Lily's boyfriend Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer). She takes a pregnancy test and it comes back positive, making Prince the father. Peri later discovers she isn't pregnant, that the test was faulty. Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher) discovers that Peri is not pregnant but persuades Peri to keep lying so that it will keep Lily away from Prince. Peri agrees to follow Diane's plan. Still believing her to be pregnant, Prince invites Peri to move in with him which she accepts. Peri fakes photos of a baby scan, which Prince's mother Goldie (Chelsee Healey) figures out are fake. She confronts her and Peri admits the truth. She then boards a train and leaves the village. Mandy Richardson (Sarah Jayne Dunn) discovers Peri on CCTV and when Peri returns to the village, it is revealed she is homeless. A girl called Harley Frater (Mollie Lambert) arrives in the village with information about Peri; Leela lets her stay but she robs her purse and runs away.
After 71 days of homelessness, Peri returns home, delighting Leela. Harley arrives and Peri announces that Harley is staying with them but Leela refuses. Peri tells her that if Harley goes then she goes so Leela allows her to stay. Leela finds it hard to reconnect with Peri with Harley around. Peri tells Harley that she appreciates her help and Harley kisses her. Peri later kisses Harley but then pulls away, leaving Harley upset. Peri apologises to Harley for leading her on and plans her birthday party. Peri finds it hard to get people to attend so she pays them. Nico hears that Peri has a new best friend so comes to the party. Since it is a fancy dress party, nobody recognises her. While playing spin the bottle, Harley kisses Hunter making Peri jealous. She confronts Harley which is witnessed by Nico. When Harley is alone outside, Nico confronts her and tries to push her down the steps but Peri interrupts her. Afterwards, Peri and Harley start a relationship. Nico then spies on Peri and Harley. When they are alone inside the garage, Nico comes in and knocks Harley out before tying them up. Nico tries to convince Peri to run away with her and their baby, but Peri reminds her of the bad things they did together. They are eventually saved by Damon Kinsella (Jacob Roberts) and Dirk Savage (David Kennedy) and Harley is rushed to hospital.
Peri begins a secret relationship with Jordan Price (Connor Calland) and is shocked to find drugs in his bag. She confronts him, and he explains that he occasionally takes drugs, having dealt them when he was younger. Juliet Nightingale (Niamh Blackshaw), the girlfriend of Peri's adoptive brother Sid Sumner (Billy Price), explains to Peri that Jordan is not a nice person and is associated with bad people, but she does not listen. Juliet and Peri kiss, and Juliet later confesses to Peri that she is a lesbian and that she likes Peri romantically. Peri explains that she sees her as a little sister, and turns her down. Jordan is later arrested when he is found with a bag of drugs and Peri expresses her disgust with their relationship, which she ends. Peri then gets closer to Juliet and develops an attraction to her. Juliet informs Peri that Jordan and his boss Victor Brothers (Benjamin O'Mahoney) groomed her and Sid into selling drugs as part of a county lines drug trafficking operation. Peri is disgusted with Juliet for being involved with drugs. Juliet asks Peri if they could be a couple if she got out of the county lines gang, which Peri says yes to. Juliet becomes fixated on exposing Jordan and Victor, and when Victor learns of her plans, he threatens to kill one of Juliet's loved ones. She rushes to Peri to admit that she loves her and Peri confirms that she loves Juliet too. Juliet then hands herself into the police and Peri confirms that she will wait for her until her release. After Juliet's release from prison, the pair move in together. Unbeknownst to Peri and Juliet, landlord Fergus Collins (Robert Beck) installs a secret camera in their bedroom, making them famous camgirls.
O'Donnell has been nominated three times at the Inside Soap Awards for Best Young Actor in 2014, [22] 2015 [23] and again in 2017. [24] [25] After her nominations, the Warrington Guardian described O'Donnell as a "starlet" for her role of Peri. [26] O'Donnell has also been nominated for Best On-Screen Partnership with Ellis Hollins at the 2015 British Soap Awards. At the same award ceremony, O'Donnell was also nominated for Best Young Performance. [27] She subsequently won Best Young Performance at the 2016 British Soap Awards. [28] For her onscreen relationship with Juliet, both O'Donnell and Blackshaw were nominated for Best Soap Partnership at the I Talk Telly Awards. [29]
Tom Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ellis Hollins. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 28 December 1999. With Tom being a young child for most of his tenure, his early years featured minimal storylines, including the numerous death of his family, being abused by Clare Devine and having various guardians including Steph Cunningham and Jack and Frankie Osborne. However, a turning point came for Tom when it was announced that his girlfriend, Peri Lomax would fall pregnant, and deal with Peri's subsequent decision to give their baby away for adoption. Other storylines have also included his friendships with Nico Blake and Dylan Jenkins and his relationships with Peri and his foster sister Jade Albright.
Ste Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 10 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes. The following series producer Bryan Kirkwood decided to bring the character back on a permanent basis. As of 2010, Richardson has revealed that he is committed to staying in the serial. In April 2017, Richardson began taking hiatus from the show due to paternity leave, and made a full-time return on 18 December 2017. In October 2019, it was confirmed that Richardson will take a hiatus from the show departing on 20 November 2019. He returned on 3 November 2020.
Diane Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alex Fletcher. In 2010, Hollyoaks series producer, Paul Marquess, embarked on the show's rejuvenation and axed a number of cast members. To compensate for the departures, the character of Diane and her family were created and introduced. Fletcher's casting was announced in June 2010 and she began filming her scenes in the same month. The actress said working on the show is practical as she does not have to relocate. She made her first on-screen appearance on 1 September 2010. Diane was introduced with her husband, Rob and stepchildren, Sinead and Finn. The O'Connors were one of three families introduced throughout the year.
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.
Maxine Minniver is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nikki Sanderson. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 6 November 2012. Maxine's storylines have included: domestic violence at the hands of Patrick Blake ; giving birth to Patrick's daughter Minnie with Down's syndrome, a relationship with her stepson Dodger Savage, a custody battle against Patrick for Minnie, with him attempting to portray her as an alcoholic; her relationship with Darren Osborne ; coping with Patrick's motor neurone disease; burying Patrick's body in the city wall after he was murdered by his granddaughter Nico Blake and discovering that he framed her for his murder; getting engaged to Warren Fox ; falling pregnant and not knowing whether the father is Warren or her boyfriend Adam Donovan ; miscarrying the baby after being trapped in a lift by Nico; a love triangle with Adam and his ex-fiancée, Darcy Wilde ; a relationship with Damon Kinsella ; and having Munchausen syndrome.
Patrick Blake is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jeremy Sheffield. He made his first screen appearance on 21 November 2012. The character's introduction to the serial and Sheffield's casting were announced on 7 October 2012. Patrick is introduced as the biological father of established character Dodger Savage. It was announced in December 2023 that Patrick would be returning to Hollyoaks in an unknown capacity.
Sienna Blake is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anna Passey. The character made her first appearance on 21 November 2012 and was introduced as the estranged twin sister of established character Dodger Savage, along with her father Patrick Blake. Emily Lawrance was originally selected for the role, however Passey replaced her within weeks and only she has appeared on-screen as Sienna. The character has had a daughter, Nico, with Dodger, and twins Sebastian and Sophie with Warren Fox, an affair with Darren Osborne, a marriage with Ben Bradley, an affair with Trevor Royle who was later killed by Nico, a relationship with her half-sister Liberty Savage's former boyfriend Brody Hudson, and been diagnosed with cervical cancer while pregnant. Passey took a short break from the show in early 2020 and was absent between 17 January and 30 March.
Chloe is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Susan Loughnane. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 12 August 2013. Loughnane had to audition for the role. Initially appearing in a small number of episodes, Loughnane returned to film new storylines. Chloe is introduced into the show as the mother of Matthew McQueen. The character has earned a reputation as a "serial surrogate mother" from selling her babies. Chloe sold Matthew to John Paul McQueen and Craig Dean. While on-screen she agrees to sell another baby to Sienna Blake and later Carmel McQueen. Chloe has featured in a same sex kiss with Tilly Evans.
Nico Blake is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Persephone Swales-Dawson. The character made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 6 June 2014. The character and casting was announced on 20 May 2014. Nico is the daughter and niece of established twins characters Dodger Savage and Sienna Blake, the adoptive daughter of Sienna's boyfriend Ben Bradley, and the granddaughter of Sienna and Dodger's parents Patrick Blake and Anna Blake and the niece of their half-brother Will Savage and their half-sisters Liberty Savage and Minnie Minniver, and a half-sister and cousin of Dodger's daughter Myra-Pocahontas Savage-McQueen.
Ruby Victoria O'Donnell is an English actress. Since 2013, O'Donnell has portrayed the role of Peri Lomax in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. For her portrayal of Peri, she won the award for Best Young Actor at the 2016 British Soap Awards.
Grace Black is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Tamara Wall. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 8 November 2013. Wall had three auditions for the role on the show's set in Liverpool. The character is introduced as the sister of Clare Devine, who had been killed off in earlier episodes. Grace arrives to investigate her death and get reacquainted with her estranged father Fraser Black.
Sid Sumner is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Billy Price, who made his first appearance on 9 May 2019. He is introduced as the son of recurring character Stuart Sumner and joins several established characters when he beings to attend Hollyoaks High. He initially appears as part of the show's high profile far-right extremism storyline in a guest role, but was promoted to a series regular after it concluded when the producers began to plot a year-long county lines drug trafficking storyline. He made an unannounced departure on 7 October 2022.
Juliet Nightingale is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Niamh Blackshaw. Hollyoaks announced the character and Blackshaw's casting on 4 September 2018, with the character making her first appearance as Juliet on 21 November 2018. Juliet was introduced as the half-sister of Romeo Nightingale and the daughter of Donna-Marie Quinn and was brought into the soap as part of the decision to expand their family. Juliet is later revealed to be Mac Nightingale's daughter. The shock twist links her to the established Nightingale family, especially Marnie, who she forms a close bond with. Juliet is initially shown to be an aggressive and harsh character, with an initial storyline seeing her bully Brooke Hathaway due to seeing them as an easy target. However, throughout her tenure, her vulnerable and emotional personality has been explored.
Niamh Kate Blackshaw is an English actress. She made her television debut in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2017) as Lara Cutler. She then played Juliet Nightingale in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2018–2023), for which she was nominated for Best Leading Performer at the British Soap Awards.