Cleo and Joel get married
Cleo’s battling with bulimia as she prepares to marry Joel…
Cleo and Joel’s wedding day arrives this week – though with Cleo hiding a big secret from her loved ones, will the occasion end in heartbreak?
A special episode for World Mental Health Day will focus on Cleo’s ongoing battle with bulimia while she prepares to get hitched to her true love, Joel. But the event doesn’t pan out how the blushing bride had hoped, as Nadine Mulkerrin – who plays Cleo – explains…
“When I realised they were tying Cleo’s wedding in with World Mental Health Day, and this would be the crescendo of the bulimia plot, I thought it was amazing,” she grins, when
Inside Soap joins her on set for the filming of the wedding.
“Hollyoaks always treats these big, issue-led storylines with such sensitivity – so after they told me about this special episode, I couldn’t wait!”
In the lead-up to the big day, Cleo has been acting just like any other bride-to-be, obsessing over her wedding dress and all of the other preparations to be made. But behind closed doors, she’s been bingeing on sweets and chocolate, then making herself sick – while also exercising to the extreme in a bid to control her weight. So as her nuptials approach, none of Cleo’s loved ones know what’s happening beneath the surface.
“Even at the wedding, Cleo has her step counter attached around her ankle!” reveals Nicole Barber-lane, aka Cleo’s Auntie Myra, as she takes up the story. “Nobody realises how bad things are, because Cleo has become really good at hiding her condition from everybody. When they get to the venue, Myra can see that Cleo doesn’t look right, but she doesn’t know why. She’s thinking, ‘Is this because she doesn’t really want to get married?’ She just doesn’t understand what’s going on in Cleo’s head right now.”
By the time Cleo arrives at the church in her gorgeous dress, it soon becomes clear that something is seriously wrong with her. Rather than appearing radiant with joy, her skin is looking sallow and she’s lethargic as she walks down the aisle to meet Joel.
“Cleo’s in total denial,” sighs Nadine. “The way the story unfolds, it’s basically two different versions of the day. So it’s what Cleo thinks is happening versus what is actually happening. That’s what bulimia can do, it can distort your view of reality.”
Viewers will have to tune in to find out what happens next
“THE BULIMIA CAN DISTORT YOUR VIEW OF REALITY – CLEO IS IN DENIAL”
– yet it’s fair to say that Cleo’s wedding probably won’t be the happiest day of her life.
“The show goes out at 6.30, so we can’t push things too far – but at the same time, we have a responsibility to tell the story truthfully,” Nadine tells us. “With something as serious as bulimia, you can’t glamorise it. I think the way the writers have done this episode is very clever, though – I’m really excited to see the feedback from the viewers.”