Hollyoaks' Anna Passey admits concerns over Sienna surrogacy storyline: "I worry where it will lead"
Is Liberty having a baby for Sienna and Brody really a good idea?
The desire to be a mother has long been the driving force for Hollyoaks' troubled heroine Sienna Blake (Anna Passey), and on Wednesday 31st July she and boyfriend Brody Hudson (Adam Woodward) embarked on a surrogacy storyline in which Sienna's sister Liberty Savage (Jessamy Stoddart) will carry a baby for the pair.
Days after missing out on getting her stolen twin babies back from their dodgy dad Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas, who made a surprise reappearance on Monday 29th July) Sienna, who is unable to get pregnant again having had a hysterectomy during cancer treatment a few years back, is throwing herself back into the possibility of parenthood - despite the heartache it's brought her.
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Sophie and Sebastian are still out there, despite Sienna having been convinced her instincts were wrong and they weren't her twins, and serial killer daughter Nico is dead, murdered by her own mum in self-defence. Passey admits some concerns about starting yet another plot focusing on motherhood for her alter ego:
"I wasn't sure about the surrogacy story at first because now the audience knows the twins are definitely Sienna's and she was so close to getting them, plus Warren is still around," she told RadioTimes.com. "When Brody first suggested they start a family Sienna flipped and accused him of trying to replace Sophie and Sebastian, and in a way the surrogacy thing does do that - she's only driven to it because everyone made her question herself about the twins.
"If she knew her instincts were correct she wouldn't be doing it, she'd focus on getting them back in her life. Sienna starts to lose sense of herself and gets thrown into the surrogacy idea but it masks the pain of what just happened. I worry for where it will lead…"
As ever with the unpredictable Sienna, Hollyoaks manages to bring something new to what could be dangerously familiar territory. "The storyline is very different to the other times we've done motherhood with Sienna," she said. "It's lighter for a start, she had cancer the last time she was pregnant, Warren stole the twins, Nico died - it was all really stressful. This is a nice juxtaposition with sweet Liberty being involved.
"It will be a very different baby having lovely Brody as a dad instead of Warren! But those twins are out there, and deep down I think Sienna knows it. So what will ultimately come of bringing another child into the situation? To me it sounds like trouble."
The actress agrees soap surrogacy plots rarely end well, which makes it the perfect emotional minefield for everyone's favourite volatile character. She said: "It could be a big threat to her happiness with Brody. He's dated Liberty, so they're keeping it in the family again! Liberty's never had children, will she want to give it up when it's born? Sienna is still grieving for the loss of her own kids and not thinking straight… There is going to be an awful lot of problems!"
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