Lily Drinkwell (Lauren McQueen)

Hollyoaks is introducing a brand new regular character in the New Year - and your first look is right here.

Diane Hutchinson's niece Lily Drinkwell will be heading to the village in early January, appearing just as her aunt returns to screens following a six-month break.

Lauren McQueen (this could get confusing!) has been cast in the role of Lily, a schoolgirl who's dedicated to her studies but just as feisty as her family members.

Lily is particularly close to her cousin Scott, who's sure to relish having another familiar face in the village.

Speaking in a behind-the-scenes Hollyoaks video, Lauren revealed: "Lily might look like the typical kind-hearted, butter-wouldn't-melt young teen, but she's actually one serious tough cookie. She's fiercely independent and something of a mini-superhero to the less popular kids at school.

"Lily's relationship with her Hollyoaks family is that she absolutely adores her aunty Di and she admires her for raising two children on her own. She's definitely inherited Diane's sense of fun and mischievousness, and she gets on really well with Tony.

"She's cousins to Scott and they couldn't be any closer - total bessies."
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Lauren McQueen as Lily Drinkwell in Hollyoaks
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Revealing Lily's tragic backstory, Lauren added: "Lily comes to Hollyoaks because her mum Babs has been terminally ill and recently passed away. After being her mum's carer, Lily is forced to grow up before her time."

Lauren was previously a regular on the first series of BBC One's Ordinary Lies. Her other acting credits include The Mill and children's series 4 O'Clock Club.

Hollyoaks airs Lily's first scenes on Thursday, January 5 at 7pm on E4 and Friday, January 6 at 6.30pm on Channel 4.

she turns to self harming over her scars

Warning: This story contains details of self-harm that some may find triggering.

Hollyoaks is set to tackle the subject of self-harm in a storyline featuring Lily Drinkwell.

The character, played by Lauren McQueen, was recently involved in a car crash that left with her scars on her body which she has been desperate to hide, and the public exposure of these scars is the catalyst for her self-harm.

As viewers will know, her self-confidence is already extremely low.

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Yasmine Maalik decides to put crickets down Lily Drinkwell's top in Hollyoaks
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In scenes airing soon on the soap, a jealous Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry) humiliates Lily by opening a box of Alfie Nightingale's crickets down her top, which forces her to reveal her scars to the village.


A distraught Lily runs home and locks herself in the bathroom, where she proceeds to cut herself.
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Yasmine Maalik decides to put crickets down Lily Drinkwell's top in Hollyoaks
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The soap has tackled similar issues before, with Scott Drinkwell's attempted suicide storyline earning praise from fans for its portrayal of an issue that needed highlighting.

Readers affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans free on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).



Digital Spy

as another cheater, can we expect up duffy whose the daddy storyline

she is leaving