Hollyoaks' bulimia storyline sparks huge spike in people seeking help
Cleo McQueen's eating disorder storyline has helped a lot of people
Author: Emma DoddsPublished 9th Nov 2018
Hollyoaks' current eating disorder storyline has sparked a huge increase in the numbers of people seeking help. Eating disorder charity Beat have seen a massive boost in calls from viewers of the show, who have been encouraged to pick up the phone thanks to the storyline.
The character of Cleo McQueen, played by Nadine Mulkerrin, has been secretly suffering since December last year, and viewers have watched on as she began exercising too much, and purging after food.
The storyline came to a head on a special episode for World Mental Health Day last month, and saw Cleo suffer a heart attack during the ceremony, resulting in her being hospitalised and a warning from her psychiatrist that if she continued, it could have fatal consequences.
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at Beat, spoke to BBC News about the impact of the storyline. Although he was reluctant to put it all down to Hollyoaks, he did praise their portrayal, "I don’t think we can say the rise is just because of Hollyoaks; our general trend is up although that doesn’t mean every month is higher than before.
"But I definitely think Hollyoaks was really effective in raising awareness and I think we can be pretty confident it had a significant impact in more people contacting the helpline than ever before."
Swipe through to see all the Hollyoaks spoilers you need to know for next week...
Hollyoaks' bulimia storyline sparks huge spike in people seeking help
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Liam is set on revenge
Elsewhere Liam receives a delivery of poison (yes, really) and it's labelled karma and poor Grace is tied up in the office. He demands that she call the other WAGs (Maxine Minniver, Courtney and Simone) and when they arrive he ties them up all up too. His plan soon becomes clear – he'll give them all a cocktail but only of the drinks will have the poison in it.
Later on Mercedes asks her cousin why she's so miserable at her pre-wedding festivities…
It's Mercedes and Russ' wedding day
On the day of her wedding day, Mercedes reminisces about all of her failed marriages and feel positive that this one will last.
Will Mercedes and Russ' wedding go ahead without a hitch?
He then tells his ex-girlfriend that he wants to remain friends and even gives her a kiss.
An elated Mercedes gets out of the wedding car.
Things take a slight turn for the worse when it comes to light that Father Dan can't do the service but luckily Cleo steps in and asks Joel to officiate the wedding instead.
Later, as he tries to take the necklace back from Goldie, Mercedes walks in and demands answers. Is the cat out of the bag?
Later on, Joel comes clean to Cleo about his kiss with Goldie and she's left devastated that she wasn't the last person he kissed before going back to the priesthood.
Peri confides in Tom
Elsewhere in the village, Harley admits to Peri Lomax that she's quit school. The pair have a fall out and after words are exchanged, Harley confesses that she's jealous of Peri's relationship with Tom and her daughter Step.
Eek!
After Peri confides in Tom, he brilliantly suggests they include Harley in their play dates.
N'aww.
Of course, things can't stay happy for too long in Hollyoaks and it's not long before Harley walks out on Peri. After Peri begs Tom for help, he talks to Harley and discovers that she can barely read or write.
The Loose Women make a cameo on Hollyoaks
As the ceremony is about to begin, wedding guests – and Loose Women stars - Janet Street Porter and Linda Robson arrive late to the wedding.
Sinead O'Connor helps Lauire
Meanwhile Sinead O'Connor hasn't been back in the village long but she's set to cause in the village especially when a blast from her past – aka Laurie - arrives in town.
Next week she sets up a meeting for Laurie with Sally at the school. Later, Laurie asks Sami for some legal advice about the threats he's been receiving. Despite being reluctant to help out, Sinead pulls on Sami's heartstrings and he decides to help Laurie.
Later on, when Jack finally asks Breda out on a date she agrees but misunderstands him and thinks it's a meeting about the children's progress.
Jack is quick to explain her mistake and Breda agrees to go on a real date with him.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like the romance between the pair is going to last very long because while Jack is buzzing about his date, Breda tells Sylver that she's too busy to be dating…
The pair later bump into each other and Breda takes a huge step by apologising to Jack and then asking to be her plus one at Mercedes and Russ' wedding.
Jack makes a move on Breda
Jack Osborne plans to woo Breda McQueen by asking her to look after Charlie who is off school with a cold. Charlie, who is very aware of Jack's plans, tells him to just ask Breda out.
Louis is also confused when Lisa thanks them for the flights and everyone is left wondering who brought Lisa home?
Zack then receives an anonymous letter in the post, ordering him to either withdraw his statement against Liam or they'll kill Lisa.
He decides to take control of the situation and locks Lisa in the house to keep her safe. While Simone goes to the police, Lisa escapes.
Later on when Simone and Zack return from looking for her, they find her at home and discover all her clothes have been destroyed.
The Loveday family are left confused by a shock arrival
Over to the Loveday household and Simone is left confused when Lisa returns to Hollyoaks and thanks her for sorting out her flight home. While the girls are at The Dog, Simone notices Lisa's mood is offer and it's not long before she reveals she was seeing a guy in Thailand but things didn't end well.
Jesse rushes to help Courtney
Grace Black tells Jesse Donovan that Courtney Campbell is meeting with social services about Iona and he rushes to help her.
Courtney and Jesse row
Courtney is left fuming that Jesse turned up at the social services meeting pretending to be her boyfriend. Eventually, Courtney is allowed to look after Iona again but she's angry that she's had to lie to get the result. Following the recent events, Jesse and Courtney have a fight - will the pair be able to solve their issues?
Liam is set on revenge
Elsewhere Liam receives a delivery of poison (yes, really) and it's labelled karma and poor Grace is tied up in the office. He demands that she call the other WAGs (Maxine Minniver, Courtney and Simone) and when they arrive he ties them up all up too. His plan soon becomes clear – he'll give them all a cocktail but only of the drinks will have the poison in it.
Later on Mercedes asks her cousin why she's so miserable at her pre-wedding festivities…
It's Mercedes and Russ' wedding day
On the day of her wedding day, Mercedes reminisces about all of her failed marriages and feel positive that this one will last.
Will Mercedes and Russ' wedding go ahead without a hitch?
He then tells his ex-girlfriend that he wants to remain friends and even gives her a kiss.
An elated Mercedes gets out of the wedding car.
Things take a slight turn for the worse when it comes to light that Father Dan can't do the service but luckily Cleo steps in and asks Joel to officiate the wedding instead.
Later, as he tries to take the necklace back from Goldie, Mercedes walks in and demands answers. Is the cat out of the bag?
Later on, Joel comes clean to Cleo about his kiss with Goldie and she's left devastated that she wasn't the last person he kissed before going back to the priesthood.
Peri confides in Tom
Elsewhere in the village, Harley admits to Peri Lomax that she's quit school. The pair have a fall out and after words are exchanged, Harley confesses that she's jealous of Peri's relationship with Tom and her daughter Step.
Eek!
After Peri confides in Tom, he brilliantly suggests they include Harley in their play dates.
N'aww.
Of course, things can't stay happy for too long in Hollyoaks and it's not long before Harley walks out on Peri. After Peri begs Tom for help, he talks to Harley and discovers that she can barely read or write.
The Loose Women make a cameo on Hollyoaks
As the ceremony is about to begin, wedding guests – and Loose Women stars - Janet Street Porter and Linda Robson arrive late to the wedding.
Sinead O'Connor helps Lauire
Meanwhile Sinead O'Connor hasn't been back in the village long but she's set to cause in the village especially when a blast from her past – aka Laurie - arrives in town.
Next week she sets up a meeting for Laurie with Sally at the school. Later, Laurie asks Sami for some legal advice about the threats he's been receiving. Despite being reluctant to help out, Sinead pulls on Sami's heartstrings and he decides to help Laurie.
Later on, when Jack finally asks Breda out on a date she agrees but misunderstands him and thinks it's a meeting about the children's progress.
Jack is quick to explain her mistake and Breda agrees to go on a real date with him.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like the romance between the pair is going to last very long because while Jack is buzzing about his date, Breda tells Sylver that she's too busy to be dating…
The pair later bump into each other and Breda takes a huge step by apologising to Jack and then asking to be her plus one at Mercedes and Russ' wedding.
Jack makes a move on Breda
Jack Osborne plans to woo Breda McQueen by asking her to look after Charlie who is off school with a cold. Charlie, who is very aware of Jack's plans, tells him to just ask Breda out.
Louis is also confused when Lisa thanks them for the flights and everyone is left wondering who brought Lisa home?
Zack then receives an anonymous letter in the post, ordering him to either withdraw his statement against Liam or they'll kill Lisa.
He decides to take control of the situation and locks Lisa in the house to keep her safe. While Simone goes to the police, Lisa escapes.
Later on when Simone and Zack return from looking for her, they find her at home and discover all her clothes have been destroyed.
The Loveday family are left confused by a shock arrival
Over to the Loveday household and Simone is left confused when Lisa returns to Hollyoaks and thanks her for sorting out her flight home. While the girls are at The Dog, Simone notices Lisa's mood is offer and it's not long before she reveals she was seeing a guy in Thailand but things didn't end well.
Jesse rushes to help Courtney
Grace Black tells Jesse Donovan that Courtney Campbell is meeting with social services about Iona and he rushes to help her.
Courtney and Jesse row
Courtney is left fuming that Jesse turned up at the social services meeting pretending to be her boyfriend. Eventually, Courtney is allowed to look after Iona again but she's angry that she's had to lie to get the result. Following the recent events, Jesse and Courtney have a fight - will the pair be able to solve their issues?
Liam is set on revenge
Elsewhere Liam receives a delivery of poison (yes, really) and it's labelled karma and poor Grace is tied up in the office. He demands that she call the other WAGs (Maxine Minniver, Courtney and Simone) and when they arrive he ties them up all up too. His plan soon becomes clear – he'll give them all a cocktail but only of the drinks will have the poison in it.
In an interview with the BBC, 18-year-old Praise Lawal-Okeowo, who is in recovery from bulimia, praised the portrayal, saying, "The story of Cleo is probably one of the most accurate portrayals of bulimia I’ve seen. Her eating disorder wasn’t at all glamourised, which is what the media often tends to do. Her lips were crusted, her hair was frail."
This isn't the first time that Hollyoaks have aired an eating disorder storyline. In 2008, the character of Hannah Ashworth, played by Emma Rigby, developed both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
The storyline also featured her friend, Melissa Hurst, who died as a result of an eating disorder - the first time that had happened in any British soap.
Hollyoaks airs on Channel 4 every weeknight at 6.30pm, with First Look on E4 at 7pm.
If you have been affected by Cleo's storyline and would like more information or advice on eating disorders, visitBeat's websiteor call their adult helpline on 0808 801 0677 or their Youthline for under 18's on 0808 801 0711.
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