It’s the murder mystery on everyone’s lips – just who killed spiteful influencer Rayne Royce in Hollyoaks?
While we still have a while to find out amid upcoming twists and turns, Ruby O’Donnell told Metro.co.uk that she was recently told – and it’s someone the cast weren’t expecting!
In an exclusive interview with us, the Peri Lomax star declared: ‘I do know now what happens, but they really kept it hush for a long time. And it shocked us all!’
There are a whole hosts of suspects; Rayne was not a very popular person by any stretch, despite her avid online following.
At the heart of it is Peri, and Ruby is far from ruling out the possibility of her alter-ego snapping and murdering her.
‘I think every single character is capable of something if someone pushes them far enough in Hollyoaks.
‘Obviously, Rayne has pushed a lot of the 20-somethings to their absolute limits which is why she’s ended up dead. I like to think that Peri is a good character but we’ve seen characters turn in the past.’
That’s an understatement and a half! When asked if she would quite like to become the next killer, Ruby was on the fence.
After all, many villains would have to eventually leave the show; although there are still some killers wandering the village carefree (hi Warren).
The actress said: ‘It’s a difficult one because it really depends on what the storyline is. I do feel like if you’re a proper villain you do only have a certain shelf life, so if it was a good enough story that I felt needed exploring then I’d always be up for it.’
Either way, Peri is glad to be given the opportunity to be involved in such a high profile story, which launched Hollyoaks’ transition to an online viewing model.
‘I was dead excited,’ she grinned. ‘Everyone loves a whodunit and everyone wants to be part of the whodunit because it’s so exciting and it involves so many twists and turns.
‘I absolutely love working with the 20-something gang. When we found out that this was going to be the storyline and that we were all going to be involved we were so happy because we’re all friends in real life.
‘It’s just so much fun on set and we’re doing dramatic scenes but we can also find light relief in between which is great. I’m loving working with them all. They’re all amazing.’
The storyline, which is very soapily camp at points, is quite the far-cry from Ruby’s last plot on the show.
Earlier this year, Peri lost the love of her life Juliet to cancer in scenes that involved a lot of heavy and tearful input from the cast.
So what does Ruby prefer to do?
She mused: ‘It’s very difficult with the really emotional ones, because they’re the issue based, hard-hitting tearjerkers which really get the audience feeling for you. But they can be so hard to get through.
‘I’m so glad that after the Juliet cancer storyline I’ve had this one, because it’s been a really nice contrast to not be crying all the time and having my girlfriend dying. So, I’m really enjoying filming this at the moment because it is so different from the Juliet stuff.
‘And it’s been lovely, because for so long it was just me and Niamh, it’s really nice to work with groups of people again and have multiple handers with loads of people in the scenes. Like festivals and the house, it was really nice to have that contrast.’
That said, Ruby does miss working with Niamh, who won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Juliet’s tragedy.
Confirming she has been catching up with her, Ruby told us: ‘She’s good, she’s been on lots of holidays and I think she’s enjoying having a bit of time off after the whole cancer storyline because that was quite intense when we filmed that. But, she’s good, and I miss her lots.’
It’s a big change for Ruby to both say goodbye to Niamh and have such a dramatic shift in storyline.
But that’s not the biggest change right now at Hollyoaks. Impressive seg-way, right?
In line with viewing habits, the Channel 4 episode of the show was scrapped, and viewers can now watch each episode 24 hours in advance of the E4 showing on TV.
While Ruby admitted to us that the team were unnerved by the news at first, once it was explained, everyone became fully behind it.
‘When everyone first got told, obviously there was a lot of uncertainty around what it was, but when you really think about life and how we’ve evolved now, everyone streams,’ she reflected.
‘That’s what Netflix is. That’s what everything on demand is. A lot less people now are watching the channels on TV, so when we got it fully explained to us, we’re all 100% backing it.
‘Our first week on streaming and E4 was this big stunt week, and it’s gone down really well from what I’ve seen! Listen, you’ve got to embrace the change. Change can be scary but if you’re in the right direction then you can’t really go wrong.
‘I think our viewers have gone up, so it’s obviously gone down well!’
Just this week, Ruby has marked an entire 10 years at Hollyoaks, first entering the show as a child. She can’t quite believe a decade has come round!
She said: ‘I didn’t even know it was my ten year anniversary until the gorgeous fans were posting about it and I saw some of the edits. I’m forever grateful that I even got this job.
‘It’s changed my life. And the fact that I’m still doing it ten years later and still loving it, and still getting all these hard-hitting storylines, I’m very blessed. Very blessed.
We can all relate to how fast time goes, and it has flown by for Ruby, despite her entire teenage life took place in the job.
‘When you actually deep it like, what the hell? That’s insane!’
She added: ‘I was 12 when I started and now I’m an adult. My whole life has been [on this show]. But it doesn’t feel that long, it really doesn’t.
The thought of that being ten Christmases at Hollyoaks, like what? It’s crazy! But so much happens there that life moves so quick, like Hollyoaks does. Time does fly when you’re having fun, and that’s what it is for me.’
MORE : Hollyoaks star Jude Monk McGowan announces engagement with sweet message to fiancée
MORE : Hollyoaks confirms another major exit in Rayne murder story
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