Helen Cunningham

Hollyoaks Character
Helen Cunningham
Played by	Kathryn George
Duration	1997 - 2004
Date of Birth
Marital Status	Deceased
Cause	natural causes after being involved in a car crash
Occupation	Unknown
Family	Gordon, Mandy, Lewis, Tom

Helen Cunningham (previously Richardson) was a fictional character on the long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks.

She was played by actress Kathryn George between 1997-2004.

Character History

For much of Helen's early time in the Village she had the terrible misfortune of being saddled with a family intent on ripping itself apart. Helen had a tough time whilst she was married to Dennis Richardson, who had been abusive to her and had repeatedly raped their daughter Mandy. Helen was unaware of this until Mandy confessed to her brother Lewis.

After Dennis was sent to prison for seven years, Helen found a new love interest in Gordon Cunningham. The pair slept together and Helen was shocked to realise that she was pregnant. Gordon did the honourable thing by asking her to marry him. They soon got married and Helen gave birth to baby Tom, but more tragedy came for Helen when she found out Lewis had attempted suicide and was slowly dying. This left Helen devastated and she found it hard to cope.

Due to Lewis's death, the relationship between Helen and Mandy fell apart and the pair barely spoke to each other. After a while, however, the pair began to rebuild their relationship. Helen then enjoyed a period of happiness running the ironing and cleaning business 'Steam Team' next door to Gordon's Drive'n'Buy whilst raising Tom.

Then suddenly, for reasons best known to herself, Helen became restless: her shop changed its identity, and so did she, indulging in an affair with Tony Hutchinson (one of Mr C's best friends) that was eventually exposed when an earthquake destroyed the barge the lovesick pair had chosen as a bolt hole. After much argument, Tony told Helen that he did not want to be with her any longer and that she should get back with Gordon for Tom and Mandy's sake. Helen took Tony's advice and she and Gordon were fully reconciled.

Helen began to regain the respect of daughter Mandy and stepson Max, but soon things were back on rocky ground for her when husband Gordon had a death scare, suffering a heart attack. Helen blamed herself, but Max supported her and Gordon seemed to recover. However a week later, lightning struck twice when Gordon, Helen and Tom were involved in a car accident that left Gordon dead after he suffered another heart attack.

Helen was devastated and although she returned home from the hospital, she later died in her sleep whilst sitting in a chair with a blanket over her legs, leaving Tom (who survived the crash) an orphan. According to Helen's will, Tom was supposed to stay with Mandy, but he now lives with Max.

Family

• Husbands: Dennis Richardson (deceased), Gordon Cunningham (deceased)
• Sons: Lewis Richardson (deceased), Tom Cunningham
• Daughter: Mandy Hutchinson
• Granddaughters: Grace Hutchinson (deceased), Ella

See also

List of past characters from Hollyoaks