Hollyoaks High's inspiration ball descends into chaos when jealous Sinead Shelby (Stephanie Davis) accuses teacher Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) of having an affair with her husband Laurie Shelby (Kyle Pryor), unaware the dastardly deputy head has manipulated his colleague into believing she instigated the kiss he planted on her as part of his creepy intimidation campaign.

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Insisting Sienna took advantage of him, sinister Laurie messes with her mind in order to stop her telling their boss Sally St Claire (Annie Wallace), as well as volatile Sinead. As nervous Sienna takes to the stage at the event, dressed as her literary heroine Jane Austen, she's interrupted by a fuming Sinead who has found out about the kiss - she storms in and throws a bowl of punch over her love rival, convinced she's having an 'affair' with Laurie!

RadioTimes.com spoke to Passey to find out how Sienna is coping with Laurie's manipulation, and what to expect from her showdown with Sinead.

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Tell us about the Hollyoaks High inspiration ball…
There are some great costumes, I particularly love Kyle's Bowie outfit! Sienna has to give a speech about people who inspire her. It's a big deal to have been trusted with so much of the organising, and she loves working at the school, but she is distracted as she's unsettled by the kiss with Laurie. She worries about what he will do or say, and then Sinead finds out…

How has Laurie been making Sienna feel uncomfortable?
He is undermining her in the workplace to make her doubt her abilities. He wants her to depend on him and is trying to take her confidence and independence. Laurie is also making her feel physically intimidated and uncomfortable with unwanted contact and inappropriate comments.

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She's told him to stop, doesn't he get the hint?
Sienna feels trapped and doesn’t know what to do now he won't stop it. She worries about causing a problem at school and of what people will think. She is afraid that no one will believe her.

How does she feel about the kiss?
Shocked and disgusted. Sienna is trying so hard to not be intimidated by Laurie, but the kiss was a massive step too far, it made her feel very uncomfortable.

Is Sienna worried about her boyfriend Brody finding out?
Yes. She knows that she has done nothing wrong, but she also worries about upsetting Brody, especially after everything he has been through. He will be angry.

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Does Sienna have any sympathy for Sinead?
I think she feels sorry for her to be married to Laurie, as she knows what he is like. She will definitely try to talk to Sinead as she worries that she is probably dealing with similar behaviour.

What can you tell us about the direction the storyline with Kyle is taking?
It is another big issue-led story that I hope will do some real good. The ultimate focus is harassment in the workplace and also within a marriage, it's such a timely story and Hollyoaks are coming at it with a fresh angle. I'm really excited about it.

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How does Sienna's relationship with Brody compare to her previous ones?
They are perfect together! Both have both been through an awful lot and have huge capacities for empathy towards the other. He is patient and sees the good in her, and she thinks the world of him. He is much more stable than her previous partners, and Sienna is in the most stable place that we have seen her to date, so it bodes well for their future. Neither feel the need to hide their pasts.

Was it fun to film the inspiration ball?
It was very fun to all be in fancy dress - although the sticky punch was less fun, but Sienna’s had much worse happen to her so it’s easy for me to roll with that stuff!

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Authors

Johnathon HughesSoaps Writer, RadioTimes.com
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