Hollyoaks confirms 18-month secret over McQueen family returns

 There are big soap comebacks next week.

Hollyoaks star Nicole Barber-Lane has shared a secret over the soap's special McQueen family episode – revealing that it was 18 months in the making. The show celebrates 20 years of the iconic family next week, with familiar faces returning for some unexpected scenes.

Nicole's character Myra McQueen will soon be surrounded by lost family members, as dead characters Tina, Carmel and Sylver all come back for fantasy sequences. Michaela McQueen and Sally St Claire, who are still alive but currently absent from the show, also feature.

The episode, which airs next Wednesday (18 February), sees John Paul take centre stage as he reflects on his life and different choices he could have made over the years. This paves the way for a 'What If?' theme, giving viewers a glimpse of these alternate realities.

In an exclusive chat with us, Nicole revealed that she's been keeping quiet about plans for this celebratory McQueen special for over a year now.

I first heard about doing something special for the McQueens about 18 months ago," Nicole admitted.

"[It was] before I came back, which is why I was like: 'Okay, I'll come back!' So I'm really excited and I've been looking forward to this little salute to the McQueens.

"I am so happy and honoured that they want to celebrate 20 years of the McQueens. I can't believe it's been 20 years, for a start! But the joy that we had when we started, we've got a little glittering of that."

Discussing Myra's role in the scenes, Nicole continued: "They're John Paul's fantasy and imagination. In the first one, I'm 'as is' – as the fantasy Myra! Then in the second one, it's a different type of Myra fantasy where she's quite posh, which is really bizarre!

"It's so much fun. In between, of course, we're all catching up and talking about all the craziness we used to have."

The McQueens made their debut in 2006, as show bosses decided to build a family around Michaela. They're now one of the most recognisable families in Soapland – and still making a big impact as characters like Mercedes continue to take centre stage in huge storylines.

Nicole explained: "My favourite moments of being a McQueen are when we all used to sit on the sofa watching TV and having a chippy tea. [We'd have] all the chats and the silliness. Just those casual, fun conversations of the family taking the mickey out of each other. It was golden.

"I think part of the reason the McQueens were so successful is they were literally like the Spice Girls! Each of them individually were different and you'd know somebody like one of the McQueens. You would say: 'Oh my gosh, that's just like my aunty' or 'my mum'. 'My sister's like that' or 'my little cousin'."

"We represented such a broad spectrum of great, amazing people and characters that really spoke to everybody," she added. "It was just amazing to be a part of."

John Paul's reminiscing will ultimately lead to his departure from the show, as James Sutton filmed his final scenes late last year.

Home and away Monday 16th February 8660 Promo

Monday 16th February 8660 Leah crafts a romantic apology. Cash ignores a stern warning. Tane’s reunited with his son.

Home and Away 8659 Episode 12th February 2026 Part 3/3

 

Remi starts radiation therapy. Will Lacey see through Holden’s lies? Justin romances Leah.

Home and Away 8658 Episode 12th February 2026 Part 2/3

Remi pays a long overdue visit. Justin and Leah rekindle the romance. Is Mali right to not trust Holden?

Home and Away 8657 Episode 12th February 2026 Part 1/3

Harper’s guilt surges. Cash struggles with the rules. Sonny’s frustration gets the better of him

Hollyoaks11th Episode February 2026

 

Home and away Thursday 12th February Episodes 8657-8659 Promo

 

Thursday 12th February Episodes 8657-8659 Harper’s guilt surges. Cash struggles with the rules. Sonny’s frustration gets the better of him..

Home and Away 8656 Episode 11th February 2026

 

Tane’s world is turned upside down. Can Jo really trust her new boyfriend? Cash fears for his friend.

Home and Away star lands new role away from the show - will Harper leave?

 She joined the soap in 2023.

Home and Away star Jessica Redmayne has been cast in a new role that might take her character Harper Matheson away from Summer Bay. Redmayne, who joined the cast of the Aussie soap back in 2023, is now part of the ensemble of a beloved stage play.

The star will play the role of Shelby in Steel Magnolias, touring Australia from April through August this year.

Based on Robert Harling's 1987 play of the same name, Steel Magnolias revolves around a close circle of women gathering at a beauty salon in Louisiana, facing love and loss. The play was adapted for the screen in 1989, with a script penned by Harling.

Now, Redmayne is taking on the role played by Julia Roberts in the movie, joined by Home and Away stars Belinda Giblin and Debra Lawrance as Ousier and Clairee, respectively.

Also starring are Lisa McCune as Shelby's mum, M'Lynn, Mandy Bishop as salon owner Truvy, and Lotte Beckett as Annelle.

The t0ur kicks off in Brisbane in April, with performances in Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Perth, and Melbourne. At present it isn't clear whether the months-long tour means that Redmayne is taking a break from Home and Away, or if there's an exit storyline in the cards for her character Harper.

Meanwhile, Steel Magnolias director Lee Lewis has hyped up his "dream cast" of leading ladies ahead of the play's debut.

Once upon a time I wished for the best cast ever for Steel Magnolias…. Lisa McCune! BRILLIANT! Belinda Giblin! LEGEND! Deborah Lawrence! FABULOUS! Mandy Bishop! OUTRAGEOUS! Jessica Redmayne! GORGEOUS! Lotte Beckett! PERFECT!!!! Yes, said my fairy godmother, you shall have a ball," he said in a statement.

"Assembling a magic cast for this very special play has been a real joy. This story means so much to so many people and I can't wait to bring everyone together to revisit all the love, laughter and tears that fill Truvy's salon. A dream cast for a play that lives in all our dreams."

Chris Hemsworth reveals the brutally unromantic way he proposed to wife Elsa Pataky: 'I've got nothing better at the moment'

 They may be an A-list couple, but Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky score a D-minus when it comes to the story behind their engagement.

Speaking to Nova's Fitzy, Wippa & Kate on Monday afternoon, Chris, 42, revealed that proposing to Elsa, 49, was more like a casual agreement rather than a dramatic symbol of love. 

'We talked about getting married, before I even asked her to get married, and it was like, 'Yeah, why not, why not?' he sheepishly admitted, adding: 'So that kind of takes the air of the build-up.'

'It felt like a, 'Why not? I've got nothing better at the moment, we'll see how it goes', type of energy,' the former Home And Away actor laughed. 

Chris, who shares three children with Elsa, even hinted that Elsa still hasn't let him forget about the low-key proposal, adding: 'I think she's still thinking about it.' 

The star went on to cringe over how he actually proposed to Elsa despite her knowing it was coming, revealing that he hid the ring inside a box of chocolates. 

Chris Hemsworth, 42, (left) revealed to Nova's Fitzy, Wippa & Kate on Monday afternoon that proposing to wife Elsa, 49, (right) was more like a casual agreement rather than a dramatic symbol of love.

I had it in my hand, in my pocket, and I thought, I've got to do something cool with it. This is about as creative as I got, I put it in a chocolate box,' he explained. 

Chris and Elsa began dating in early 2010 after being introduced by a talent agent. 

Their relationship progressed quickly, with the couple marrying in December that same year. 

The couple relocated from the US in 2015 and now live in a $50m mansion in Byron Bay with their three children, India Rose, 13, and 11-year-old twin sons, Sasha and Tristan. 

Earlier this week, Chris and Elsa gave a rare insight into their idyllic coastal lifestyle in an interview with PEOPLE. 

'We got a big plot of land, a farm with horses, and our kids surf and fish and ride motorbikes all day.'

Elsa went on to add that she treasures her family's connection to the great outdoors.

'It's just being able to enjoy nature. When we go to a city, it's hard for us as a family, because we live outside, basically. We are in contact with nature all the time,' she said. 

'We talked about getting married, before I even asked her to get married, and it was like, 'Yeah, why not, why not?' he sheepishly admitted, adding: 'So that kind of takes the air of the build up'

It felt like a, 'Why not? I've got nothing better at the moment, we'll see how it goes', type of energy,' the former Home And Away actor laughed. (The couple are pictured in September 2010, shortly before their wedding) 

The star went on to cringe over how he actually proposed to Elsa despite her knowing it was coming, revealing that he hid the ring inside a box of chocolates

The couple relocated from the US in 2015 and now live in a $50m mansion in Byron Bay with their three children, India Rose, 13, and 11-year-old twin sons Sasha and Tristan (all pictured) 

It comes after the actor opened up on his recent documentary about his dad's battle with Alzheimer's, calling the 'deeply personal' experience a 'love letter to my father'.

The Hollywood star released A Road Trip To Remember last year, which followed him and his father Craig, 70, revisiting his childhood homes across Australia, following Craig's diagnosis with early-stage Alzheimer's.

It came as a follow-up to his 2022 docuseries Limitless, where the actor learned he had two copies of the APOE4 gene – one from each parent – meaning he was eight to ten times more likely to develop the same disease.

Opening up about releasing the emotional and heartfelt documentary in a new interview with The Guardian, Chris admitted that he struggled with the idea of going public with his innermost feelings.

He said: 'I wondered if I was letting people too far in. Are they no longer going to believe in the action star or the Marvel character? And do I want people to know my fears and insecurities to this level?'

But while it wasn't easy, the Thor star sees the doc as one of the most important things he’s ever made, because of what it did for Craig.

'It was so deeply personal. It was a love letter to my father,' he said. 'It empowered him for a period, and stimulated memories that were being taken away from him.'

While Chris said that following the film, he's had people who also are battling Alzheimer’s tell him how they wanted their children to see it.

He explained that his dad's diagnosis has also had a profound effect on his own mentality about his career, with the actor able to slow down, instead of feeling the pressure to constantly be working and making money like he used to.

'My appetite for racing forward has really been reined in,' he said. 'I’ve become more aware of the fragility of things.

'You start thinking, "My dad won’t be here for ever." And my kids are now 11 and 13. Those nights where they’d fight over sleeping in our bed – suddenly they’re not happening any more.'