Clare Devine
| Clare Devine | |||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||
| File:Clare Justin.jpg | |||||||
| First appearance | December 2005 | ||||||
| Last appearance | September 2007 | ||||||
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Clare Devine (previously Cunningham) was a fictional character on the long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks.
She was first seen on the series in 2005, played by Samantha Rowley. In 2006 Gemma Bissix took over the role, remaining there until Clare's exit in 2007.
Character history
Arrival in Hollyoaks
Clare Devine first appeared in August 2005 when Max Cunningham and Sam "O.B." O'Brien hired her as an Events Supervisor at the Loft. With her friendly face and likeable and vibrant personality, Clare quickly settled in to life in the village and became popular with the other residents. Both OB and Max immediately fell for her, but after weeks of playing both admirers off against each other, she eventually chose Max when she kissed him and OB both just as New Year broke. Initially Max and Clare's relationship went well, and Max soon asked Clare to move in with him. At first Max and Clare tried to keep their relationship a secret from OB, but after they moved in together, OB discovered, but did not object initially and accepted the relationship in order to keep the peace with Max.
Clare soon became friends with Mandy Hutchinson and Louise Summers, and participated in a time-share scam set up by Louise's ex-husband Sean Kennedy while on a holiday with the other two ladies in the late night special Hollyoaks: Back From The Dead in January 2006. Sean was smitten by Clare, and began flirting with her repeatedly, although at first she rebuffed all of his advances and chose to stay loyal to Max. After the scam came to an end, Sean followed Clare, Louise and Mandy back to Hollyoaks.
Clare's dark side
A disturbing side of her character was revealed in February 2006 when her boyfriend Max took his brother Tom Cunningham on holiday. (At this point the character was recast with Gemma Bissix.) Although she had rebuffed his advances a month earlier while on holiday with Louise and Mandy, Clare had by now discovered that Sean Kennedy was wealthy and ambitious, and she seduced him in the nightclub's office. OB's on-off girlfriend Mel Burton caught Clare and Sean together, but Clare used Mel's alcoholism against her when she attempted to expose the sexual encounter. She convinced Max that Mel was lying, causing friction between Max and OB.
Clare schemed to get rid of OB and acted the perfect, loyal girlfriend to an unsuspecting Max, who eventually proposed to her. After Tom overheard a conversation between Sean and Clare about the night they slept together, she tried to turn Max against Tom by drawing on the walls and blaming Tom and pouring water in his bed and claiming that he wet it so that if Tom told Max about Clare and Sean Max wouldn't believe him. Clare repeatedly persuaded Max to provide money for alterations to the Loft, but she kept the bulk of the money for herself.
The wedding
A week before Clare and Max's wedding, OB and Max decided to make a fresh start and forget the past much to Clare's horror. Clare was even more shocked when Max asked OB to be best man and decided to do something about it. On Max's stag night OB discovered that Clare was planning on leaving Max with all his money and when he threatened to tell Max Clare quickly planted some ecstasy drugs in OB's pocket and when OB went to the SU bar Clare lied to the bouncer that he was drug dealing and got him arrested. After spending the night in a police cell OB was released and just as Max and Clare was about to get married he interrupted it and told everyone to stop the wedding. OB told Max about Clare trying to flee with his money and when he showed Max Clare's plane ticket Max began to wonder if Clare really loved him. But Clare was ready for this incident and pulled two plane tickets from her wedding dress for a honeymoon and said the travel agents had got her flights mixed up with someone else's but then gave her the right plane tickets. Max then punched OB and OB failed in proving Clare to be a liar. Max and Clare got married and OB and Max were not friends any more.
When Max told Clare that he wanted a baby, she manipulated him. Knowing that his stepsister Mandy had been raped by her father, Clare claimed that she too had been abused by her father leaving her infertile. She told Max that she needed to see a doctor in London, and Max insisted that he should come with Clare but couldn't when Clare drugged Tom's food making him sick. Clare was really inquiring about emigrating to New Zealand. On her return she requested £50,000 from Max for an operation, with the intention of fleeing to start a new life. Clare was angry when Max said no because they didn't have the money.
Mel and Sophie's deaths
OB and Mel were still determined to prove to Max that Clare was unfaithful to him and obtained CCTV footage of Clare sleeping with Warren Fox. OB invited Clare to meet him, Mel and Mel's twin Sophie in the Dog where they told her that they now had evidence to show Max. As she left the pub Clare saw Sam Owen entering with a lighter and petrol, but did not raise the alarm. She returned to the flat and was packing to leave before Max discovered the truth when he came home and told her that Sam had set fire to the Dog. Mel and Sophie both died and OB was hospitalised. Clare visited him in hospital and taunted him about Mel's death and threatened to smother him with a pillow. She found the DVD of her and Warren's encounter among OB's belongings and broke it.
Plot to kill Max
When Max caught Warren and Clare snorting cocaine while working at the Loft, he was disgusted, but Clare convinced him that it was because of her father abusing her. Max ended up taking cocaine to impress her. This resulted in a heart attack for which he needed to take medication. Clare at first seemed genuinely upset about Max's near death until she found out that he had taken out a life insurance policy of £500,000 for her and Tom, after this Clare decided she was going to kill Max, steal the £500,000 and leave Tom with nothing. After Max was released from hospital Clare kept him upstairs in the bedroom and drove visitors away, saying he needed rest. Unbeknown to Max, Clare was tampering with his medication and trying to kill him. When Max tried to leave the flat, looking for a Christmas present for Tom, OB found him and was shocked at his deathly appearance. After arguing with OB, Clare decided to take Max and Tom for a Christmas that Max would "never forget". They went to a deserted house near a lake in the most secluded and quiet part of Cumbria where Max felt more and more ill and finally became suspicious of Clare. Whilst Clare was showing Tom around the woods near the cottage Max decided to examine his medication he discovered that the pills had been tampered with by Clare as all the capsules were empty. Max planned to escape with Tom but Clare discovered one of the capsules on the floor and realised that Max knew that she had tampered with his medicine. She confronted Max and accused him of playing with his medication himself. Max became more and more confused and disorientated and finally collapsed. Clare however had no idea that OB had discovered Clare's evil plot to kill Max and was in his car driving to the secluded cottage Clare and Max were staying in and trying to save Max. Clare then told Tom that they needed to get a doctor for Max. When Max came around Clare came running in screaming that Tom had fallen in the lake. Max dived in the lake in an attempt to save Tom but could only find his jacket. Max then saw Tom locked in the car and realised Clare had locked Tom in the car whilst Clare happily watched Max die to get the £500,000. Clare simply stood and watched whilst Max was struggling in the water. Clare then smirked at Max saying sarcastically "my mistake". As Max was drowning OB arrived, punched Clare and rescued Max, much to Clare's annoyance. She was then taken to the police station and was questioned but, due to a lack of substantial evidence, she was released without charge. After this incident OB and Max became friends again.
Clare's return
After a month's absence from Hollyoaks, Clare returned to the village in January 2007. She marked her return by picking Tom up at his school without letting anyone know. Max and OB were frantic with worry, and when Max returned to his flat, he found Clare with a terrified Tom. Clare then made it clear that she planned to ruin Max's life. When Max told Clare that his dad would have seen right through Clare, Clare said "it's a good job he snuffed it then". Max then tried to strangle Clare before fleeing the flat with Tom. When Max returned, he found that Clare had changed the locks and planned on selling both the flat and The Loft, and keep the proceeds. Max pleaded with her through the door that he needed his heart medication, and she agreed to give it to him on the condition that he entered alone. Keeping the door on the security chain Clare opened the door; OB arrived and tried to ram the door open. Clare was hit in the head and fell back onto the floor. Bloodied and enraged, she vowed to make Max pay. She proceeded to hit herself in the face repeatedly, then called the police to report a domestic assault, meanwhile Max was still shouting to be let inside the flat.
Max, OB and Tony then arrived to physically throw her out of the flat, and as they were tossing her out onto the street in her bathrobe, to Clare's delight, the police arrived. Max was arrested for assault, and spent the night in the cell. Although the police dropped the charges as Tony and OB's statements that Max had not assaulted Clare meant there was no evidence to charge Max, the latter had seen enough and, despite the objections of Tony and OB, he handed the deeds to The Loft over to his wife, although he reclaimed the flat from Clare.
Feud with Warren
In Clare's absence Warren had taken control of the Loft while Max continued to receive the profits. Now that Clare owned the Loft she did not want Warren interfering and they became bitter rivals as they fought over the running of the business. Warren had befriended teenager Justin Burton and given him a job at the Loft and a place to stay. Clare managed to seduce Justin in an attempt to get him on side despite Clare having been indirectly involved in Justin's sisters' deaths. However after they had slept together Justin told Clare that he knew she was just using him and that he was still loyal to Warren. Clare continued to stir trouble by informing Warren that Justin was having a relationship with Warren's sister Katy. Warren attacked Justin and was arrested. Just as he was about to be released, Clare had Warren re-arrested for Sean's murder after getting information from Justin.
Who pushed Clare?
On the 22nd June 2007, Clare was pushed off a balcony at The Loft and left for dead, an action that put her in a coma. A number of events occurred in the week leading up to this incident. First Clare persuaded her friend Louise Summers to have an abortion as she didn't know whether her boyfriend Calvin Valentine or Warren was the father. Clare promised she would not tell anyone but then purposely told Calvin all about Louise sleeping with Warren and the abortion leaving Calvin shocked and angry. When Louise returned home from a holiday Calvin threw her out in the street. The following day Louise punched Clare and the girls had a huge cat fight after Clare told Louise that she had slept with her husband Sean. Meanwhile Warren was arrested for killing Sean because Clare set him up; when Warren was released due to insufficient evidence, he publicly warned Clare to watch her back.
Clare also pursued Max so that he should pay compensation for a disco ball falling on Mercedes Owen. Clare went to Max for money, originally asking for £10,000, later dropping this to £5,000. Clare's request was denied both times by Max. As revenge, Clare phoned Social Services, and gave them her false suspicions about Tom getting physically abused by Max and O.B. Clare then talked to Tom, telling him that Tom himself was the reason for baby Grace's death, and his parents' deaths. Tom didn't believe her at first, but then Clare said that everybody dies because of Tom's germs, and that if he stayed with Max, Max would die too. Tom got frightened, and refused to go near Max, getting increasingly scared of him, much to Clare's delight. When Social Services paid Max a visit they found Tom trying to run out of the front door, crying and screaming "get me out of here". Social Services then took Tom away and Max ran into the Loft and publicly threatened to kill Clare. Warren then intervened and persuaded Max to leave the Loft, and was heard by numerous bystanders as saying "don't worry about Clare, leave her to me" to Max as he left. Warren then told Justin that he was going to kill Clare.
On the night she was pushed, OB confronted Clare in the Loft toilets and tried to persuade her to tell Social Services that she had lied about Tom. Clare said that she knew that the real reason OB hated her was because of Mel. She referred to Mel and Sophie as "the ugly sisters" and said that their deaths were "two for the price of one". She continued to taunt OB about Mel, saying "liar liar, the lush is on fire". OB then grabbed Clare and pinned her up against the wall saying "this is for Tom and Max, and Mel and Sophie, and anyone else whose lives you've ruined!" He let her go when they were interrupted. Clare then went to meet Warren on the Loft balcony where she was pushed by a mystery attacker, plunged over the railings and was left for dead. Jacqui, Carmel and Tina then found Clare and a mobile phone near Clare's body rang, and, on hearing Leo's voice at the other end, Jacqui realized that the phone belonged to Calvin.
After the attack on Clare each suspect was seen doing something suspicious. Calvin was walking up the stairs that led to his house, rubbing his hands against his face and looking worried; Louise was entering Evissa, where she was sick - but where had Louise just been? Max was washing his hands which were covered in blood; and OB was running down a street looking very anxious and shocked at himself; Warren, who had been sleeping with Mercedes, was leaving his flat with a mobile phone in his hand. As he did so, he said "I'll be back in a minute, there's something I just need to take care of..." to Mercedes.
Minutes after Clare was pushed, events took another sinister turn when Justin was knocked over by a Transit van in an apparent hit and run as he went to meet Katy, leading witnesses to believe that the driver of the van had not stopped to help Justin because they were trying to vacate the scene of the crime.
Viewers were then left to wonder who had pushed Clare - Max, OB, Louise, Calvin or Warren?
The suspects
It quickly became apparent that Max was not involved in the attack on Clare, as Tony and Dom had tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade him to leave his flat around the time of the incident after Max had locked himself in - both had seen him watching videos of Tom through the glass on the front door; Dom's wife Tina also saw Max leaving the Loft and heading towards his flat before Clare was pushed. OB later confirmed that when he called at the flat shortly after the incident, Max was still there; therefore, the police released Max without charge. The reason that he had been shown washing blood off his hands was that he had smashed a glass bottle in annoyance after returning home from The Loft and cut his hand.
While Clare was still comatose, OB visited her and threatened to put a pillow over her head, as she had threatened to do to him when he was in hospital.
As Warren had also publicly threatened to kill Clare that night, it was he who became the prime suspect for her attempted murder. The day after Clare was pushed, Warren admitted that he was driving the van that hit Justin shortly after the incident, although he vehemently denied any involvement in the attack on Clare. When Clare finally awoke from her coma, she accused Warren of pushing her and claimed she had seen him do so. The police believed that Warren had tried to drive away from the scene of the crime and had ran Justin over in an attempt to divert attention from the fact that he had pushed Clare minutes before.
Louise visited Warren in prison and told him that she herself may have pushed Clare. Louise was drunk the night Clare was pushed and about 20 minutes before Clare was pushed, Louise visited the Valentine house to win Calvin back only to discover Calvin himself was not there. (Before Louise had arrived Calvin had stormed out of the house in an angry rage telling his Dad he was about to get revenge on Clare). Leo Valentine (Calvin's Dad) was in though and Louise left after she discovered Calvin was out just before she left, Louise told Leo that she was going to kill Clare.
After Clare returned home, Max tricked the nurse supervising her into letting him in. He threatened to poison Clare's food with his heart medication and also manipulated her condition in order to blackmail her into telling Social Services the truth about Tom. Already fearing for her life after having been pushed from the balcony, and also knowing that Max had already been eliminated from the list of suspects, Clare realized that she had no choice but to give into Max's demands. Clare contacted Social Services and admitted that she had lied about Max and OB abusing Tom, and Tom was released back into Max's guardianship.
Warren's trial
At the beginning of the Warren's trial, Clare received visits from people trying to persuade her to change her statement. First, Katy turned up with Justin, but Clare just gave her a few home truths about Warren and his way of life, and laughed off any pleas Katy made. Later that day, Justin returned and asked Clare to leave Katy out of her feud with Warren, but Clare retaliated by playing on Justin's fear of Warren. The next day, Katy told Clare that Justin had agreed to be a character witness for Warren's defence. Once again Clare played on Justin's fears and told him that if Warren got out it wouldn't be long before they would be pulling Justin's body from a river. When Justin said that if he didn't do it he risked losing Katy, Clare came up with a plan for Justin to keep Katy while still sending Warren down. Later Justin received a phone call and made out to Katy that it was serious; unknown to Katy it was Clare on the other end of the phone telling Justin what to say. Justin then told Katy that his mum had been in an accident and he had to go to her so he couldn't be a witness. On his way to the bus stop he told Katy that everything was going to be okay, before looking up to see Clare standing on the balcony waving at him and laughing.
As the trial started Clare arrived on crutches and was called to the stand. She was given a hard time by Warren's barrister who made out that Clare was just doing this to get back at Warren for ending their affair and ruining her marriage. Clare gave as good as she got but was clearly rattled by the prosecution's attack on her story. Next called was Carmel McQueen who gave everyone a laugh and made Clare very confident about the overall verdict. As the first day continued Calvin was last to be called and he gave Clare the hope she needed by saying that he saw Warren going towards the Loft. As the first day ended Clare felt extremely confident.
On the next day of the trial, Max saw Clare walking perfectly fine up the stairs to the Loft and realized that she was faking her injuries. As the hearing started Warren gave his evidence and got a grilling from Clare's barrister who made out Warren wanted to get the Loft no matter what it took. Louise was next called, but her evidence was made out to be just to get back at Clare, and because she relied on Warren for her business. Just as it looked as though there was no hope for Warren, Mercedes Owen arrived as a late witness and gave Warren the alibi he'd been after for weeks, telling the whole court that she'd been in bed with Warren at the time of the attack, so it couldn't have been him who pushed Clare from the balcony.
As everyone waited for the jury's verdict, Clare took the opportunity to wind Louise up and made a spiteful remark about the abortion, causing Louise to go for Clare knocking a cup of coffee over her. The time then came for the verdict to be announced and thanks to Mercedes it was 'not guilty', making Clare storm out of the courtroom. Later, Warren made sly remarks at Clare who went to hit Warren and walked away with Warren and Louise laughing at her.
After Warren was released he bumped into Clare outside Drive'n'Buy and made remarks about his release. Clare walked off towards the Loft and Warren followed saying he had to pick some things up. Clare told him it wasn't convenient but Warren went into the club. While there he told Clare that she never saw who pushed her but she stuck to her guns and said that she saw him. He reminded her that the jury didn't agree and took money out of the till. Before leaving he told Clare that she should watch her back because if someone hated her enough to kill her, they could try again. He told her to keep looking over her shoulder, leaving a shaken Clare behind.
Warren kept pressurising Clare to sell the Loft to him and Louise. Clare tried to force a wedge between Louise and Warren, saying Warren was only using her. Later in the Loft, Clare heard a noise and went to the balcony to investigate when Warren crept up behind her and grabbed her, telling her to stay away from Louise and demanding she sell to him. This left Clare visibly shaken and scared.
Clare had finally had enough of Warren's bullying. When her and Max's divorce papers came through, she went to see him, offering to sell the Loft to him. Max refused claiming it was rightfully his. Later, the two had a frank talk. Max called her on her lies and her deceit and Clare admitted that her father hadn't really abused her and asked Max to leave with her. After signing the divorce papers, he agreed to escort Clare to the Loft when she signed it over to Warren. Clare was angry when Warren's offer was half of what the Loft was worth, but Max convinced her to sign. When she had, Max joined Warren in gloating at her fall and told her that he would never forgive her for what she did to him, Tom and OB.
The truth revealed
Clare kept having flashbacks to the night she was pushed and imagined all the suspects pushing her from the balcony. She recalled Max saying "she's been on to Social Services, they've taken Tom away...I'll kill you!", then Calvin saying "Louise was everything to me and you destroyed it" then OB saying "this is for Tom and Max and anyone else whose lives you've ruined!" then Louise saying "I lost Calvin and my baby because of you" and finally Warren saying "setting me up was the biggest mistake you ever made". Clare then went to finalise handing the Loft over to Warren and discovered Warren, Louise, Max, OB, Katy and Justin there. Clare insulted all of them calling OB a leech and Max spineless (with Louise and Warren then rebuking Clare for her comments about Max and OB, and stating "it's called friendship Clare - a concept you obviously know nothing about"), comparing Louise to Barbie and saying that she would eventually realise that everything that came out of Warren's mouth was lies. When Justin asked if it was his turn, Clare said that he had just let himself down by becoming a mini-Warren. When Justin said it was better than being a mini-Clare, she said that he had turned out to be just as useless as his sisters. Justin went to follow her but Max held him back. As Clare walked to her taxi, she saw Calvin who was leaving his house, then Max and OB, then Louise who raised a glass of champagne to her, then Warren and Katy. As she was about to get in the cab Justin stopped her and revealed his anger that she had survived the fall while both his sisters were dead. When Justin used some of the words that Clare had used about the twins on the night she was pushed, Clare realised that Justin was also at the Loft that night. A flashback showed Justin finding Warren's keys in the flat, then hiding in the toilets while Clare taunted OB about Mel and Sophie, finishing with "liar liar, the lush is on fire". Another flashback showed Justin pushing Clare over the balcony as he told her "it was me", adding that he should have made sure she was dead. Initially shocked by Justin's confession, Clare got into her cab and began plotting her revenge.
Revenge on Justin Burton
After Clare had supposedly left, Warren decided to have a party and Katy went back to the flat to change her clothes, to find somebody waiting for her. After Katy didn't return to the party, Warren and Justin returned to the flat to find it trashed. Immediately realising it must have been Clare, Warren and Justin joined forces with Max and set out to find her.
Max took them both to Clare's flat where a fake dummy that looked like Katy was tied up and gagged to a chair. As soon as Warren broke down the door fake blood fell on the fake dummy of Katy and the words "what's dumped at the docks?" were written on the flat door. Warren, Max and Justin then headed out to the docklands where they saw a dummy hand saying "what would you give?" This pushed Warren over the edge and Max began piecing together the clues. After Max solved Clare's riddles, Warren got a call from Katy on his mobile. Clare then took the phone and told Warren that it was Justin that pushed her, and that he must kill Justin to see Katy alive again.
Viewers then discovered that Clare was holding Katy hostage in a cargo carrier. Katy was tied up and gagged and Clare was tormenting her by force drinking her and repeatedly telling her that Justin pushed Clare. Clare then untied Katy's legs and bundled Katy in her car and set off to meet Max, Warren and Justin at the docks. Clare turned up in her bright red sports car, with Katy in tow. Warren and Max brought out a body bag claiming that Justin was dead. Warren kicked the 'body' a few times to prove it, but Clare said she wanted Max to do it, knowing how kind-hearted her husband was. When Max couldn't bring himself to hurt Justin, Justin got up and they all started running towards Clare who managed to drive away, running Justin's hip over in the process.
Warren and Max pursued Clare in Warren's car and a dramatic and dangerous high speed car-chase ensued, eventually two cyclists came out in front of Clare causing her to lose control of her car and plummeting herself and Katy 55 feet into a quarry.
Warren immediately jumped in after them, screaming for Katy. Justin followed and they both managed to get Katy out of the water. For his part, Max also jumped in and tried to help Clare, but she had already toppled below out of his reach, and Max could not save her. Max then watched her sink further and further into the water, until she eventually disappeared. Whilst Warren and Justin were trying to comfort Katy, Max stood and watched the quarry. Clare's red coat came to the surface but there was no sign of Clare. Clare was presumed dead and this was playing on Max's conscience for days, until he finally confided in Steph Dean who assured him that Clare's death was not his fault and that she was evil and dangerous anyway. Max then tried to persuade Katy to forgive Justin for pushing Clare, saying "Clare wasn't like a normal person. She thrived on hurting people."
Exit
Two days after her presumed death, it was revealed that Clare had survived her near death experience in the quarry. She was seen in an airport waiting first class. She sat with her new wealthy looking victim named Miles, and started talking seductively to him. When he asked her if she was travelling first class, she smiled and replied always. She then introduced herself as Clare Devine and stared at the camera for a brief moment with an evil smirk on her face. Her destination was not revealed.
Possible Return?
Since early 2008, speculation has been mounting that Clare may return to Hollyoaks in 2009 to seek revenge on Warren, Louise and Justin. In an interview with DigitalSpy, Gemma Bissix said she would definitely go back to Hollyoaks if asked. [2].