It was an explosive week in Hollyoaks this week as yet another McQueen wedding ended in tragedy and lives were on the line as a party train de-railed, with the majority of Oaks’ most popular and well loved characters on board at the time.
The train crash was exciting to watch, as the biggest stunt in Hollyoaks history unfolded on screen and many of the year’s biggest storylines crashed together for some drama fuelled episodes and touching moments.
Despite all the excitement, we were forced to bid farewell to a long serving fan favourite as Carmel McQueen was killed protecting her family from twisted Sonny Valentine as the train carriage exploded. Sonny, played by Aaron Fontaine, was also killed in the blast, ensuring the safety of the rest of the McQueens.
After 8 years on the show, actress Gemma Merna announced earlier this year that she’d be leaving the role of Carmel, but that didn’t make the departure any less emotional, as Ella Henderson’s latest and eerily apt single Yours played while Carmel took her final breaths, surrounded by her tearfilled family.
Carmel McQueen is one of those rare soap characters who really deserved a happy ending, which makes her untimely death all the more devastating. Carmel’s final moments will surely go down in the hall of fame as one of the most moving farewells and saddest goodbyes in soap history.
Gemma Merna has been fantastic in her role over the years and I hope we’ll see her career flourish in the future, and that her alter ego Carmel can now rest in peace…
The Soap Pundit 