“I’d love to drag up and play Sienna!”

We’re amazed that Jesse has managed to keep his sense of humour, coming from a family as twisted as the Donovans! But he certainly makes us chuckle – and his antics have earned actor Luke Jerdy a nod in our Funniest Male category…

There haven’t been many laughs for Jesse this year, have there?

Poor Jesse! He’s oblivious to what’s happening around him – he’s the nice guy in among all this drama! Despite everything that’s going on, though, there is room for some lighter moments – so I’m really grateful to be recognised as a funny character.

Who makes you laugh on set?

Tam [Wall, aka Grace] makes me laugh. We tend to keep it together a lot more on set now that Jimmy Essex [who played Adam] has gone, though – he was the worst for giggling!

How will Jesse react when he finds out his dad killed Adam?

He’s going to be devastated. It’s so hard to take something like that in – you just can’t imagine it. Jesse is an optimistic person who always picks himself up when things go wrong – but this will be a real struggle for him.

Jesse’s brother Liam is coming back soon.

Is it weird to have a different actor playing the character?

Yeah, it is weird, because me and Maxim [Baldry, the first Liam] came into the show at the same time, and we have a great relationship.

But I’ve met Jude [Monk Mcgowan, who’s taken over the role] and he’s great. We really get on well, and I think it will be good to form that relationship again, with Liam’s dark side and Jesse trying to rein him back in.

If you could switch Jesse’s year with any other character, who would it be?

Hollyoaks

It has to be Sienna, hasn’t it?

She’s had a roller coaster of a year with all the Joel stuff, Warren and the babies, and then Nico coming back. I’d happily drag up and play Sienna!