You Ask… Alex Fletcher (Diane)
“Which Hollyoaks plot are you most proud of?”
Poor Diane is used to drama in Hollyoaks
– but thankfully, Alex reveals that her home life is worlds away from her alter ego’s, as she answers your questions…
“Would Diane be a friend of yours?”
I don’t know. The thing with Diane is that she’d be hard work – you’d constantly be having to pick up the pieces for her! But do you know what, I feel as though Diane’s fiercely loyal, so I think she’d be a good friend to have. Although I don’t know if she has time for any friends at the moment – Diane has too many dramas and too many children.
Sometimes she can be
a little bit outspoken too, but no one’s perfect!
“Does your daughter watch Hollyoaks?”
We don’t sit down and watch it every night because we also have a toddler in the house, so we’re usually watching Bob The Builder!
But my daughter Yasmin is 14 now, so if I’ve had a good week I’ll show her what we’ve been doing.
“Congratulations on Hollyoaks being named Best Soap at the British Soap Awards! What was the night like, and how have you been celebrating?”
It’s fantastic, isn’t it? After the main party, we all went to another club which was brilliant. Everybody was just on such a high – we’ve had a great year, and I genuinely and unapologetically believe that we deserved to win. We have such a good dynamic, and we’ve told some great stories this year in the hope that it shines light on big issues – and with that brings a positive impact. We’re so vibrant at the minute, and everyone’s working so hard – every single department. We’ve all really pulled together, and we’ve had an absolute ball.
“You posted a picture of you with Eastenders’ Danny Dyer [Mick] at the British Soap Awards – are you a fan of his?”
Oh, yeah! I think he’s great. We were chatting about his own daughter [Dani Dyer], and how proud he is of her. Danny plays a cracking part in Eastenders, and I really admire him.
“Which storyline that you’ve been a part of are you most proud of?”
For me, it has to be Lily Mcqueen’s selfharm storyline – that really resonated with me. It was huge. Another one that I’m grateful to be a part of is Sinead’s rape plot, as we tackled rape within
a marriage, to raise awareness of the issue – it’s been really challenging.
“Diane is going through a lot after losing Lily and uncovering what happened to Sinead – do you have any words of advice for her?”
I’d probably just tell her to take some time for herself. I keep saying she should have a holiday, even if it’s just in a caravan with the kids. Just something that’s fun. I think she needs a bit of happiness, but then again I do like the gritty stuff.
“Which cast member would you like to work with more?”
I’d like to work more with Keith Rice, who plays Diane’s son Finn, now that he’s back. I love our scenes together. We spent the whole day filming with each other recently and it was really cute. He’s a scouser too, and we need more scenes because we work well together. It’s been great to see him.
“Which ex-cast mate from Hollyoaks would you bring back if you could?”
I’d bring back Lauren Mcqueen [aka Lily] – I can’t believe I gave that a second thought! That girl, she’s just a breath of fresh air – so talented and just brilliant. I really miss her, but luckily we’re still in touch. I also really miss Helen Pearson, who played Frankie Osborne. Both of those characters died, though, so sadly we can’t bring them back from the dead.
“I still remember you from your days playing Jacqui Dixon in Brookside – are you still in touch with any of your old cast mates from the show?”
Not as much as I’d like to be, but I still talk to Tiff Chapman [Rachel Jordache]. We’re rubbish at meeting up, though, as life’s just so busy. I’m also still in touch with Vince Earl, who played Jacqui’s dad Ron Dixon – actually, I need to give him a ring later to see how he’s getting on.
“You were part of the Hollyoaks fashion range shoot – how was it being a model for the day?”
I thoroughly enjoyed it! Diane has been so down and depressed that they don’t allow me any make-up – sometimes you just need that, so it was so nice to get out and get dressed up and feel good about myself. Playing Diane at the moment takes its toll, so when I was on the photo shoot I genuinely felt a million dollars. It was a really nice day. I didn’t realise that it would be going up all over the country, but I’m delighted. It was so great and just very, very lovely.