Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared or will appear in the serial in 2017, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood. The first character to be introduced was Lily Drinkwell (Lauren McQueen), the niece of Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher). Shane Sweeney (Lanre Malaolu/Michael Salami), the father of Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Hunter McQueen (Theo Graham), was also introduced in January, while Darcy Wilde (Aisling Jarrett-Gavin), the former fiancée of Adam Donovan (Jimmy Essex), and Lynette Drinkwell (Amy Robbins), the adoptive mother of Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) and sister of Diane, were introduced in March. Four characters were introduced in April: Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry), a new teenage character who befriended Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell); Toby Wilde (Lucas Haywood), the secret son of Darcy and Adam; Kyle Kelly (Adam Rickitt), the former boyfriend of Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox); and Maggie Kinsella (Michelle Holmes), Scott's biological mother. Yasmine's mother, Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi), debuted in May. Yasmine's sister, Farrah Maalik (Krupa Pattini), and Milo Entwistle (Nathan Morris) were introduced in June. Granny Campbell (Jenny Lee), Damon Kinsella (Jacob Roberts) and Brody Hudson (Adam Woodward) made their first appearances in July. Glenn Donovan (Neil Roberts) made his debut the following month, while September saw the arrivals of Imran Maalik (Ijaz Rana) and Sami Maalik (Rishi Nair).
Lily Drinkwell
Lily McQueen (also Drinkwell), played by Lauren McQueen, made her first appearance on 6 January 2017. The character was announced on 12 December 2016, with further details including McQueen's casting announced on 22 December. Of securing the role, McQueen told Laura Morgan of All About Soap that she met with executive producer Bryan Kirkwood in June 2016 and took part in a reading with one of the cast members. Later that day, her agent rang her to say that she had been offered the role of Lily. She added, "It's brilliant because I live about 15 minutes away from the set. It's the perfect job for me, really."
Shane Sweeney
Shane Sweeney, played by Lanre Malaolu, made his first appearance on 30 January 2017. The character and casting was announced on 9 January 2017. Shane is Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Hunter McQueen's (Theo Graham) father, as well as Goldie McQueen's (Chelsee Healey) former partner. Shane comes to the village after being released from jail, and wants to reconcile with Goldie. Malaolu described Shane as a "wheeler-dealer" and "driven by money". He also said that Shane only "loves his family when it suits him." Prince and Hunter will be divided upon their father's return, with Prince welcoming him back, whereas Hunter is more wary and thinks that Shane is potentially scamming the family. Following a decision from Hollyoaks bosses, Shane was promoted to a regular character, but as Malaolu was unavailable, the role was recast to Michael Salami. Salami made his first appearance in the role on 9 May 2017. It was confirmed on 29 March 2018 that Salami would be departing the series, with his final scenes airing in the following day's episode.
Shane revealed to Joel Dexter (Rory Douglas-Speed) that he knew about the drugs which Joel supplied to his aunt, Katy. After blackmailing Joel for a few weeks, Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) became suspicious of Shane. Later, Shane and Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) faked a kidnapping in an attempt to hurt Warren. After the plan backfired, Shane fled Hollyoaks, once again leaving Goldie, Prince and Hunter behind. Shane held Joel and Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin) hostage at a beach. Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) came to the rescue and Joel and Shane had a fight, with the two warring men falling down a sand dune. Joel survived, but Shane went missing, presumed dead. It is later revealed that Shane had a gun in September, after it was unearthed on the beach by Kathy Barnes (Sarah Jane Buckley).
In October 2018, Glenn Donovan (Bob Cryer) is murdered by Goldie's mother Breda McQueen (Moya Brady) and tells the police how he was bullied into confessing to two murders he did not commit, he was later released from prison after making a statement, off-screen. In August 2019, it was revealed that Shane is living with Prince and Hunter and he forgave them for turning their back on him after he told them how he was framed and coerced by Adam and Glenn into admitting two murders he didn't commit
Carmina McQueen
Carmina Celeste McQueen, portrayed by Harlow Jones, is the daughter of Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane) and Diego Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz (Juan Pablo Yepez). She is born on-screen in episode 4583, originally broadcast on 15 February 2017. The character departed on 27 March 2019 to tie in with Myra's exit from the serial.
Myra names her Carmina Celeste in memory of her deceased half-sisters Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna) and Tina Reilly (Leah Hackett) and cousin Celine McQueen (Sarah George). Following her parents' separation, Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace) agrees to co-parent Carmina with Myra, but Myra's daughter, Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe), intervenes and reunites Myra and Diego.
Darcy Wilde
Darcy Wilde (also credited as Darcy Osborne and Rebecca), played by Aisling Jarrett-Gavin, made her first appearance on 13 March 2017. The character was first mentioned on-screen in November 2016, while Jarrett-Gavin's casting was announced on 3 January 2017. Darcy is Adam Donovan's (Jimmy Essex) ex-fiancée and was presumed dead after she vanished from a boat trip to France. Ahead of her arrival in the village, Adam learns that his brother Liam (Maxim Baldry) "is harbouring a huge secret about her." His other brother Jesse (Luke Jerdy) was infatuated with her, while their mother Tracey Donovan (Lisa Maxwell) and half-sister Grace Black (Tamara Wall) are also hiding a secret about Darcy.
Lynette Drinkwell
Lynette Drinkwell, played by Amy Robbins, made her first appearance on 22 March 2017. The character had been alluded to before, but never seen. Her introduction was reported in the 11–24 March 2017 edition of Soaplife. Robbins' casting was announced on 12 March. Lynette is Scott Drinkwell's (Ross Adams) adoptive mother, and Diane Hutchinson's (Alex Fletcher) sister. Lynette will come to the village to support Scott following John Paul McQueen's (James Sutton) departure, however she will become worried after Scott drinks "one too many". Jack Tomlin of Digital Spy added that Lynette is also in possession of some "life-changing news..." Ross Adams, who plays Scott, said that Lynette "is a larger-than-life character – she's quite brash and feisty, and confident. I think Scott has modelled himself on her a little bit."
Lynette first appears to comfort Scott following the departure of John Paul, who Scott held affections for. When Scott accuses Diane of having an affair with his father, Lynette reveals that while married to her, Scott's father had an affair with another woman who is Scott's biological mother. Scott is devastated and disappears so Lynette decides to return home. As she prepares to leave, Scott returns and explains that he is not upset as Lynette will always be his "real mother". A few weeks later, Scott meets with Lynette to find out more information about his adoption and she gives him a letter from his biological mother. Scott soon realises that Lynette wrote the letter and he asks her to leave. Before she leaves, Lynette tells him that his biological mother's name is Maggie (Michelle Holmes).
Yasmine Maalik
Yasmine Cunningham (also Maalik) is played by Haiesha Mistry. She made her first on-screen appearance on 4 April 2017. The character's introduction was revealed in Soaplife published on 21 March, while Mistry's casting was announced on 24 March 2017. Yasmine is a pupil at Hollyoaks High, who comes into contact with Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell), after she posts messages about Peri's family troubles online. Peri seeks revenge on Yasmine, potentially sparking off a feud. Mistry has described her character as "loud and flamboyant", and that she "swaggers through school acting like the coolest of the cool kids – but it's all just bravado."
Mistry left Hollyoaks on 28 February 2024 in a storyline that saw Yasmine move to Canada for a job opportunity.
Yasmine first appears when she introduces herself to Peri and asks about her father, Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore), who is a serial killer. Peri confides in Yasmine but she uses the information to publish an article on a school blog, leaving Peri upset. Peri summons Yasmine to the headteacher's office under false pretence and explains that she has read her information from her previous school and will publish it if Yasmine does not delete the article about her father. Yasmine does this and calls a truce with Peri. A fight between Peri and Yasmine breaks out after Peri breaks into Yasmine's locker and steals her earrings, but Neeta Kaur (Amrit Maghera) breaks it up.
Yasmine and Peri calls truce and they became friends. Yasmine gets involved into a car crash with her family when their car collided with Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) and his family. Yasmine and her brother, Imran (Ijaz Rana), struggle to get out of the car, as it has seconds to explode. Their mother Misbah (Harvey Virdi) chooses to help Yasmine out, leaving Imran to get out alone. The car explodes and Yasmine and her family thought Imran was killed in the explosion. But Imran, however, manage to escape before the car exploded. Since the incident, Imran began to abuse Yasmine and Misbah.
When Lily Drinkwell (Lauren McQueen) arrives to the village, Yasmine and Peri began to bully her and made fun of her wearing casual clothing at the school dance. Yasmine slept with Lily's boyfriend Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Lily walks in on them. Yasmine later dates Alfie Nightingale (Richard Linnell), but they broke up after Alfie left the village. Yasmine was devastated when she learned that Lily dies. Yasmine and her family are target and harass by Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson, who blames Misbah for his sister, Tegan Lomax's (Jessica Ellis) death. Yasmine and her family gets trapped into a racism incident, by Ste and the Far Right Group, led by Stuart Sumner (Chris Simmons) and Jonny Baxter (Ray Quinn).
The Maaliks have been harassed for months by Ste and the Far Right Group, and during her brother, Sami's (Rishi Nair) engagement party with Sinead Shelby (Stephanie Davis), Yasmine is involved in an explosion at her home, leaving her deaf, using a voice app on her phone to talk to others. Yasmine and her family moves into Peri's house when her mother, Leela Lomax (Kirsty-Leigh Porter), offers them to stay. Weeks later, Yasmine and her family moves back to their home and Stuart tells them that they are no longer harassing them anymore. Yasmine later befriends Sinead's brother, Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice), who a convicted rapist, who recently got out of prison after serving his time.
Yasmine tells Imran about Finn and Imran accepts her to hang out with Finn. Yasmine and Sami's brother Azim Desai (Nav Sidhu) organises Sami and Sinead's wedding and Finn learn that's Sinead isn't inviting him to her wedding. Yasmine tells him to respect Sinead's decision and Finn thanks her by touching her arm, which she freaked out and ran off. Finn apologises and Yasmine forgives him, agreeing to be his friend. When Sami learns about Yasmine and Finn's friendship from Edward Hutchinson (Joe McGann), he catches them embracing and tells Finn to stay away from Yasmine. Yasmine tells Sami that Finn is her friend and wants him to be her plus one to the wedding, which Sami refuses and Yasmine threats not to go to the wedding, if Finn isn't allowed.