Ruby O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
 O'Donnell in 2023 | |
| Born | Ruby Victoria O'Donnell 26 October 2000 Warrington, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Television | Hollyoaks |
Ruby Victoria O'Donnell (born 26 October 2000) 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.
O'Donnell was born in Chicago Warrington and grew up in Appleton. She has two brothers. [1] She attended Grappenhall Heys Primary School and then Bridgewater High School. She took acting classes at Little Stars Stage School. [2] [3] [4] From 2019 to 2023, O'Donnell was in a relationship with professional rugby player Sam Halsall. [5] In July 2024, O'Donnell confirmed that she was dating her Hollyoaks co-star Nathaniel Dass. [6]
In September 2013, it was announced that O'Donnell had been cast in Hollyoaks as Peri Lomax, the youngest child of the newly established Lomax family. [7] Of the family's arrival, executive producer Bryan Kirkwood commented: "I was conscious of the fact that Ste was languishing on his own with no family around him. I'm eager to bring in a strong female force." [8] On 23 November 2014, it was announced that O'Donnell's character would be involved in a teen pregnancy storyline alongside character Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins). The storyline was devised as an effort to promote safe sex. [9] On the storyline, O'Donnell 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." [10] For her role as Peri, O'Donnell has been nominated twice in the Inside Soap Awards in 2014 [11] and 2015. [12] In August 2017, O'Donnell was longlisted for Best Young Actor at the Inside Soap Awards [13] however she did not progress to the shortlist. [14] O'Donnell has also been nominated for Best-On Screen partnership with Ellis Hollins, and was also nominated for Best Young Performance in 2015 and Best Young Actress at The British Soap Awards in 2016. [15] O'Donnell's character has since developed a relationship with Juliet Nightingale (Niamh Blackshaw), for which the pair received a nomination for Best Soap Partnership at the I Talk Telly Awards. [16]
| Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Peri Lomax in Hollyoaks | Nominated |
| 2015 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| British Soap Awards | Best Young Performance | Nominated | ||
| British Soap Awards | Best On-Screen Partnership (with Ellis Hollins) | Peri Lomax and Tom Cunningham in Hollyoaks | Nominated | |
| 2016 | British Soap Awards | Best Young Performer | Peri Lomax in Hollyoaks | Won |
| 2017 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| 2018 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Young Actor | Nominated | |
| 2021 | I Talk Telly Awards | Best Soap Partnership (with Niamh Blackshaw) | Peri Lomax and Juliet Nightingale in Hollyoaks | Nominated |
| 2023 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Partnership [17] (with Blackshaw) | Nominated |
Adele Silva is an English actress. She played the role of Kelly Windsor in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale on and off from 1993 to 2011. In 1989, she had a minor role in the final classic series Doctor Who story Survival, playing Squeak.
Ellis Hollins is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Tom Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. In 2006, he appeared in Alpha Male, a family film released in the United Kingdom.
Diane Carol Richards, known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders since 2006.
Lucy-Jo Hudson is an English actress, known for her roles as Katy Harris in Coronation Street, Rosie Trevanion in Wild at Heart and Donna-Marie Quinn in Hollyoaks. Her role as Rhiannon Davis in Doctors earned her the British Soap Award for Villain of the Year in 2017.
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. Tom departed the village with Half Sister Cindy Cunningham in the episode aired on Wednesday 4 September, in an unannounced departure.
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.
Rob Hollins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera Doctors, portrayed by Chris Walker. Rob was introduced as a police sergeant at Letherbridge police station and made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 July 2009. Rob is the husband of Karen Hollins, a receptionist at the fictional Mill Health Centre, as well as the father of Imogen and Jack Hollins. Rob is depicted as a dependable family man and it has been noted that whenever another character needs advice, Rob would always be there to help. Rob's storyline in the programme has included disagreeing with Karen on aborting their baby, accidentally causing his wife's amnesia, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), becoming a foster parent, being accused of police brutality, and the breakdown and reconciliation of his marriage. Rob's PTSD was explored over the duration of a year with the climax coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week in 2018, with the storyline being revisited in 2021.
Stephanie Ann Davis is an English actress. She began her career with small roles in British television series, and in 2010, she competed in the BBC talent-search Over the Rainbow. She was then cast in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, portraying the role of Sinead O'Connor between 2010 and 2015, and again from 2018 to 2019. In 2016, she was the runner-up in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother. In May 2023, Davis joined the cast of ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Courtney Vance.
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.
Peri Lomax is a fictional character from the British E4 soap opera Hollyoaks and is portrayed by Ruby O'Donnell. Peri made her first on-screen appearance in episode 3705, originally broadcast on 4 October 2013. After being introduced as the "sister" of pre-established longstanding character Ste Hay alongside her believed to be two sisters Leela Lomax and Tegan Lomax, the character was devised in a plot-twist meaning she was revealed to be the biological daughter of Leela who had conceived Peri at fourteen with childhood lover and serial killer Cameron Campbell who later murdered her grandparents. The character was placed at the forefront of an issue-led based storyline in 2015 when the character began portraying in a high-profile teenage pregnancy storyline alongside Tom Cunningham. The storyline resulted in the birth of Steph Cunningham-Lomax in episode 4202, originally broadcast on 1 September 2015. Since her teenage pregnancy storyline, Peri had recently been a suspect in the "Who Killed Rayne?" whodunit storyline, where it was later revealed to be her boyfriend Romeo Nightingale who departed the soap in February 2024.
Nadine Rose Mulkerrin is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Cleo McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2015 until 2022 and since 2024. For her portrayal of Cleo, she has been nominated for Best Female Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards three times.
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.
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 begins 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 2023 British Soap Awards.
Danny Lomax is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephen Billington. The character and casting were announced in July 2013, with Billington making his first appearance on 8 July. Billington, who had previously appeared on Coronation Street, was happy to be cast on another soap. He had previously auditioned for another role on Hollyoaks but was glad he did not receive it as he preferred Danny's character. Danny was introduced as a new drama teacher and as a love interest of John Paul McQueen. Danny was characterised as being charming, caring and secretive, with it being teased that Danny has many secrets that would come out. It is revealed that Danny is happily married to Sam Lomax whilst having a relationship with John Paul. Sam and her daughters with Danny – Teegan, Leela and Peri Lomax – later move to Hollyoaks. Danny is also revealed to be the father of established character Ste Hay and the two develop a father-son relationship. Hollyoaks producer, Bryan Kirkwood, had introduced the Lomaxes in order to give Ste a family unit on the soap. The family deal with various dramas, including Tegan giving birth and Peri's brain tumour.
