The soap icon is back with her ex.
Hollyoaks spoilers follow.
Hollyoaks star Anna Passey has teased that there could be more twists to come for Sienna Blake and Ethan Williams after their time-jump reunion.
Viewers have seen Ethan recently begin a romance with Vicky, but within the action of last week’s exciting stunt episodes, he confessed to his ex Sienna that he was still in love with her.
The show then jumped forward a year in time, and in Monday’s episode (September 16) it was revealed that during the last 12 months, Sienna and Ethan had not only rekindled their relationship but had got engaged.
But Vicky, who herself is now in an unexpected relationship with Robbie, is not ready to let go of Ethan. Today’s episode (September 17) has seen Sienna warn Vicky to stay away from her man, and it feels like just the beginning of a brand new rivalry.
Digital Spy recently caught up with actor Anna Passey, who plays Sienna, at a press event to celebrate the exciting new episodes. In our exclusive chat, she talked all things Sienna and Ethan, as well as about the new Blake family dynamic and what it has been like adapting to the show’s big changes.
How much have you enjoyed getting to explore Sienna and Ethan’s relationship again?
“It’s been great. I think it was so unexpected. I’m not sure it was even planned for, Sienna and Ethan, I feel like it just organically happened because the viewers liked it so much. And I think when you look at it now, you’re like, ‘Of course, they’re so good together’.
“And I think we didn’t get quite enough of them being happy before they absolutely destroyed it with Rafe. And I think the viewers haven’t let go of that and they wanted to see more of it. So I think after the time jump, to see them actually happy is a joy, and I think people deserve it. I think it’s nice to see it.
“But also, it’s easy to forget that a year has happened. Just because we haven’t seen it, it’s still happened. So I think going forwards, we get the happy and we know they’re engaged and going to get married, but equally I think we’re going to start to see snippets of what happened in the year that we missed. And that will maybe give people a different idea of the relationship. A bit of intrigue in there!”
Maybe their reunion wasn’t quite as smooth sailing as it appears on the surface?
“Exactly. I think when we first come into [the time jump], we just think ‘Oh good! They’ve sorted it out and everyone’s really happy’. But then we see that it’s actually been a bit of a journey to get where they are, and with some of the things that have happened, we start to think – should that have happened? There’s a few little hiccups that I think will leave the audience a bit more conflicted about the relationship.”
Do you think that Ethan is the love of Sienna’s life?
“It’s hard, because Warren gave her her children, so it will always be Warren. But equally, Warren was not a good match for Sienna, they were terrible together, really.
“And I think what’s so lovely about Ethan is he’s kind of a mix of all the other people she’s attempted to have relationships with. He’s got a bit of the Disney prince of Brody, he’s got a bit of the cool moodiness of Trevor, he’s got a bit of the bad boy of Warren, and he’s got a bit of the ‘offbeat-ness’ of Summer.
“He’s kind of a bit of all of them mixed in. So actually I would say, of everyone she’s been with, he probably is the most suited to her and they have the best chance of actually making it – if they can just sort themselves out!”
Before the time jump, Vicky and Ethan began seeing each other. What did Sienna initially make of that, when she spotted that there was a spark between them?
“I think there was jealousy there, because I don’t think they had any closure on the finishing of their relationship. But I also think Sienna had moved past it, so I think she was fine with that happening.
“She didn’t necessarily want to see it, and didn’t necessarily think it was a good idea either, but she was okay with it. She thought, ‘He wasn’t my person’, a lot has happened, and it was water under the bridge. So she was fine with it – with a side helping of jealousy.”
Fast-forward to the present day – does Sienna realise that Vicky still holds a torch for Ethan?
“Yeah, I think what we see in the first episode back is that Vicky’s not going to let it go, and I think as the weeks go on, we’ll see Sienna tell her, ‘You’ll be better off out of this, go away. It’ll be best for you if you just drop it.’ But Vicky doesn’t really want to drop it, she’s not willing to lose out on Ethan.
“So I think that becomes quite problematic. And then obviously we’ll see some things that have happened in the year that will have an effect, and we’ll see a lot more Sienna and Vicky scenes as well. There’s a lot of good stuff coming up. It’s a complicated situation.”
What was it like working with Anya [Lawrence, who plays Vicky] on those scenes?
“Lovely, because we’ve not had anything before. It’s always nice, especially when you’ve been there a very long time, when you get introduced to a new character in a story. It’s always nice to see what’s going to form out of that. So it’s really nice to get to work together.”
Recently we’ve also seen Patrick’s twin brother Jeremy come into the fold, with the revelation that he’s actually Sienna’s dad. How did you feel when you found out that the story was going in this direction?
“I think at first, I was completely overwhelmed with joy that we get to have Jeremy Sheffield back, because he’s just my all-time favourite actor and I love him. So to get to work with him again, and to unfold this new branch of the Blake family tree after all these years was really exciting.
“There definitely were some feelings of being a bit unsettled. I think we saw that with the viewers as well, who were quite unsettled and were like ‘No, Patrick’s Sienna’s dad, and that’s the history we know, don’t change it.’
“But I had to go away and think about it for a bit, and I realised that it’s not really changing the history because Patrick still raised Sienna, he still was her father. And I think Sienna is very much the human she is because of Patrick, right?
“I think if she’d have been raised by Jez, she would be a completely different person. But I’m not sure we want that person; I think we like the Sienna that we’ve got.
“So I think in that respect, the history still stands, and what we actually have is this opportunity to see what Sienna might now be like or what she could have been like. Because Jez is so different; he’s a lot warmer, he’s a lot more open, he’s a gardener, he’s a nurturer. So it’s going to be interesting to see if that works for Sienna and if we maybe see a different side of her, and maybe she’ll grow a bit with that.”
How has the Blake family dynamic developed over the time jump year? They seem like a happy family in the first episode back.
“I think in the year, what we’ve missed is a bit of a rockier, slower path. Because it’s big news, and obviously now Sienna and Dilly aren’t sisters, they’re cousins. It’s a big upheaval in their family. And I think they’ve worked at that and they’ve come to a point now where they’ve found a dynamic that’s working.
“So I think that’s a really lovely thing. But obviously what we don’t know is, going forward, if there’s hard times, what will happen in this new dynamic? How will everyone react in their new position? Everyone’s shifted positions slightly.
“When you want something so much, you’re willing to ignore some warning signs about certain things. I feel like Sienna has an unhealthy amount of that in her, where something seems fine on the surface, and she wants to keep it that way. And she’s not willing to necessarily delve a bit deeper and ask, what about this, what about that? So I think we’re going to get a bit more of that.”
There is a darker side to Jeremy that has been pushed to the side for now, and a strange moment before the time jump where Jeremy and Liberty kissed.
“At first, I was like, ‘What, that’s crazy!’ But I think what’s so brilliant about that moment is that because Liberty’s not a Blake, she’s a Savage, she was raised in a different way, and she has this purity and openness to her.
“And I think what she and Jez had in that moment was a finding of that in each other, connecting to that openness in each other. And so I think that will bring a whole different dynamic forwards, if we get the positive side of Jez.
“But like you said, there have been some darker moments that haven’t really been brought to the surface yet. Maybe snippets of it, but everyone is going, ‘No, no, no, we want to believe this future so let’s have this future’. But things maybe come apart a bit, maybe.”
What does Sienna make of Jez’s relationship with John Paul?
“Anna thinks it’s absolutely wonderful! I love it, what a great pairing. I think it’s brilliant, because the Blakes and the McQueens are so far apart, but maybe we’ll see a bit more of a blending.
“Mercedes and Sienna have had some of my favourite scenes over the years between the two of them, but there’s not been much of it, and the same for John Paul and Sienna – bits and bobs, not much. So I think it would be nice if the Blakes and the McQueens bleed into each other a bit more, because they’re so polar opposite, but maybe Jez is the thing in between.”
Could the families be brought closer together because of Mercedes’ cancer as well?
“Yeah, I hope so. Because obviously we’ve seen Sienna go through her own scare with cancer years ago when she was having the twins. And so I hope there will be some moments. Because that’s half the village, isn’t it, the McQueens! Put the McQueens and the Blakes together and that’s a big chunk of the community, so it’d be nice to explore that, I think.”
Do you feel that this sense of community has been brought back to the surface in this new era?
“Definitely. I think that’s really important. I think that’s such a big part of a soap, you want to see all of the characters interact, and you want to know that they all live in this quite small village and that they all know each other and get involved with stuff. I think that’s the joy of the new way of shooting as well, is we get to have a lot more of that.”
What has it been like adapting to all these big changes at Hollyoaks over the last few months?
“It’s been so exciting to see it go into this new era. Hollyoaks has never been scared to be the first at anything, so to see it ploughing through and paving the way to something new and updated, that I think was necessary, is really exciting.
“And especially when we got to see the [stunt week and time jump] episodes all together, you feel really proud of it. It’s almost like watching your kid go into their new school or something. It’s going into this new era and it’s such a brilliant thing.
“It has been really tricky to navigate at times and a bit unsettling and a bit scary, with all the changes. And obviously we’ve had to say goodbye to people who have worked there a really long time and cast who we love and characters who we love. But I think as a whole, everybody understands that what we all want is the show to just thrive, and I think that’s exactly what it’s going to do.”
What would you like to happen for Sienna in the future?
“Just more of the same! There’s not much I would change about her. I don’t even want to say that I hope she gets happiness, because I think then maybe we’d have completed her. So I think more of the same.
“But she has been a bit of a lone wolf, and I think now that she’s got this family around her, it gives her a good opportunity to see her, perhaps, with more people in the village and to see her in different scenarios, with different couplings and pairings. So maybe getting her to socialise a bit more, that’s what I’d wish for!”
Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.
