Hannah Ashworth (also Osborne) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Emma Rigby. Hannah first appeared on-screen on 27 September 2005 and her last appearance was on 8 July 2024. It was announced on 8 November 2023 that she was to return after 13 years away for a number of episodes in early January, and was later announced to be making a permanent return. Hannah briefly returned for a short stint from 19 to 23 January 2024, before a permanent return on 26 April of the same year. Rigby quit the role once again, only one month after her permanent return, in June 2024.
The character was in a controversial storyline in which she developed anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The storyline attracted much attention from the press and won much critical acclaim for the writing and Rigby's performance. It also featured Hannah's best friend, Melissa Hurst, dying as result of an eating disorder, which was a first for British soaps. Rigby won many different awards for her portrayal of the character, including Best Actress at the 2008 British Soap Awards.
Creation
Background The character of Hannah was part of a new family unit which was cast in the show called the Ashworths, who moved into the Hunter family's old home. Her parents are Neville and Suzanne and brothers Rhys and Josh. Hannah's storylines are initially fairly lighthearted, because while Hannah was supposed to be 16, actress Emma Rigby was herself still 15 and therefore subject to the UK child employment laws which limited her availability for filming.
Casting Auditions were held for the part of Hannah and actress Emma Rigby went on to gain the part. During some of the storylines the actress commented that playing the character was sometimes depressing and tiring but had this to say about one of her storylines: "I just threw myself into it, really. I didn't want it to be unrealistic or disrespectful to people who suffer from the illness and I didn't want to glamorise it, either.
It was announced on 8 November 2008 that Rigby had decided to quit the show in order to pursue other projects, but her character would still be on-screen until June 2009. On 2 March 2009 it was announced that Rigby had extended her contract by a further six months after new producer Lucy Allen convinced her to stay with promises of a 'juicy' exit plotline. She was then scheduled to depart in December 2009. It was later confirmed she would leave early 2010.
Development
Personality and identity Once sunny and outgoing, tragedy has taken its toll on the character. Channel 4 publicity commented that the character's storylines are the factors which affected the character's self-esteem with putting up with the constant drama revolving around her family, being dumped by her boyfriend, and Grace Hutchinson's death all contributed to her developing the illness bulimia. Hannah later became much more confident and in control of her life. Hannah is also known to be slightly ditzy and sometimes spoiled.
Relationships The character's first relationship came when a storyline saw her falling for her classmate John Paul McQueen. Their friends at the time Sarah and Craig, were also dating and set them up as a couple. Although at first the relationship appeared to be going well, John Paul was clearly uneasy and his hesitance made the relationship turbulent. When they eventually slept together, John Paul realised he did not want a relationship with Hannah and broke up with her. Hannah had no idea John Paul was actually struggling with his sexuality, which he attempted to conceal by pretending to be attracted to Sarah. At Hannah's 18th birthday party, John Paul tells Craig he is love with him and then runs off, leaving Hannah to ponder what is going with him. The following month, Hannah spotted John Paul and Craig sharing a drunken kiss. The character was reluctant to let John Paul go, until he finally admitted his sexuality, which left her devastated. In hope of reconciliation she remained friends with him. During this period she attempts to sabotage John Paul's new relationship with Spike. It was the breakup with John Paul that sent her into a spiral of bulimia and anorexia.
It was not until the character was on the road to recovery that she had a new on screen romance. Hannah started a relationship with Danny Valentine and their relationship was characterised by his frequent lack of tact in some issues. He also agreed to stand by her knowing she was fragile from her ordeal with eating disorders. The characters often broke up and reconciled but eventually they ended their relationship after Danny accused her of sleeping with Darren Osborne and then slept with Mercedes McQueen to get back at her.
Following the collapse of his relationship with Sarah Barnes, Elliot realised he and Hannah would be better suited. When Hannah decided to run for Student Entertainments Officer, Elliot rigged the vote in her favour. They later began dating, but Elliot soon exhibited sexual self-consciousness and avoided confronting the issue by spending more time with her father Neville, with whom he shared an interest in robots and rockets. Their relationship subsequently ended.
Hannah later had a brief relationship with a minor celebrity called Matt and Ash Roy later tried to win Hannah's affections. She was charmed by his good looks and his rich lifestyle. He took her to dinner with his sister Leila Roy and her boyfriend Justin Burton. It didn't go down to well when Justin and Ash had an argument. Hannah did not realise at the time that Justin was in love with her. However, she soon realised that it is Justin she liked not Ash and the pair shared a kiss which led Justin to break up with Leila the next day.
After a motorbike accident left Hannah fighting for her life, the blame was put on Justin. Unknown to Justin at the time, it was in fact Ash who had tampered with the bike, intending Justin to be riding it not Hannah. It was later revealed however by Leila that it was Ash who caused the accident. This led to Hannah breaking up with Ash and apologising to Justin. Although at first Justin didn't want to know as he couldn't forgive Hannah for thinking it was him that almost killed her, Hannah admitted her real feelings at a concert at the SU Bar where Mcfly were playing. Justin then told Hannah how he felt and the two finally got together and shared a kiss, which Ash saw and walked out.
Hannah admitted to Justin that she did have a relapse, but it was after the whole Ash hiding the food in her room incident. Justin then went on to be honest with Hannah and confessed his darkest secret to her, that he helped Warren bury Sean Kennedy's body.
Justin and Hannah finally get together, but someone burns down the loft with Warren and Hannah in it. Warren is seemingly killed (although returns for a later storyline) but Justin manages to rescue Hannah. They hope to be together but Justin is blamed for the fire and decides to make a run for it. Justin says he will leave with Hannah, but tricks her and leaves without her because he doesn't want her to suffer with a life on the run. Hannah is distraught.
Much later on Darren and Hannah get married on a drunken road trip. Hannah arrives home and refuses to divorce because she is so young. They later move in together and begin to look out for each other.
Return (2024) On 8 November 2023, Hollyoaks announced the return of Hannah as Rigby had decided to reprise the role. Huge speculation surrounding Darren's off-screen twins came to light on 10 November when it was announced that Hall had reprised the role of Suzanne. It was announced Hannah, along with Suzanne and the twins would all return for a "huge storyline" surrounding Darren. She departed again in episode 6294, originally broadcast on 23 January 2024. It was later announced to be reprising the role permanently and viewers would see her return in spring 2024. It was mentioned that the production team were extremely happy Rigby was returning. It showed in the spring trailer for 2024 that Hannah would also return alongside boyfriend Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham), who is pimping Hannah out. A notable client is Dave Chen-Williams (Dominic Power).
Storylines 2005–2010 Hannah arrives in Hollyoaks with her parents, Neville (Jim Millea) and Suzanne (Suzanne Hall), and brothers Rhys (Andy Moss) and Josh (Sonny Flood). She plays pranks on Josh and their cousin Fletch by pretending to be the fabled Hollyoaks Beast. Hannah becomes friends with Sarah Barnes (Loui Batley) and Nancy Hayton (Jessica Fox). One night, Hannah and Nancy are babysitting Tony (Nick Pickard) and Mandy Hutchinson's (Sarah Jayne Dunn) daughter Grace, who dies from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Hannah is traumatised and guilt-ridden from the experience.
Hannah begins dating classmate, John Paul McQueen (James Sutton). Hannah falls in love with him and they lose their virginity to each other. Hannah is devastated when John Paul breaks up with her and is even more upset when she learns he has feelings for Sarah. Distraught by everything, Hannah binges on food and becomes sick. John Paul and Hannah later get back together, but then Hannah catches him kissing their friend, Craig Dean (Guy Burnet), at a school dance (Craig was actually the person John Paul had feelings for). In the heat of the moment, Hannah announces to everyone what she saw. Afterwards, Hannah tells John Paul they can just pretend the kiss never happened, but John Paul says they cannot and he has realised he is gay. Hannah is devastated and becomes convinced she "made" him gay because of how "repulsive" she is. Hannah develops bulimia and begins regularly binging and purging.
Hannah becomes friends with Sarah's model friend, Melissa Hurst. Under Melissa's influence, Hannah's bulimia turns into anorexia. Melissa, herself a bulimic turned anorexic, offers her some tips on how to starve herself and hide her disorder from others. All of Hannah's friends become suspicious of her weight loss and change in behaviour. Sarah misinterprets a conversation between Hannah and Melissa and believes that Hannah is taking drugs. Sarah tells Suzanne about Hannah's "drug use" and Suzanne confronts Hannah about Sarah's accusations. Hannah denies using drugs and is furious with Sarah for meddling in her life. Rhys's best friend, Gilly Roach (Anthony Quinlan), also becomes convinced that Hannah is taking drugs. Annoyed with Gilly's interference, Hannah threatens to falsely accuse him of sexually assaulting her if he does not keep his mouth shut.
The situation comes to a head when the Ashworths have a barbecue and Melissa refuses to let Hannah eat anything, causing Rhys to kick her out. Melissa collapses on the street and is rushed to hospital where she is put in intensive care. With Suzanne still convinced Hannah was taking drugs, Hannah lies to her mother that her recent behaviour was because Gilly had sexually assaulted her. However, the truth about Hannah's condition is finally revealed to her family. After days of abuse from Rhys and Josh, being hounded by Suzanne, and having her condition misunderstood by Neville, Hannah feels she needs to escape. She engineers a plot to escape the country with Melissa, who is worried that being force-fed while in the hospital will cause her to get fat. Hannah breaks Melissa out of hospital, but then Melissa collapses of a heart attack, brought on by lack of food and body abuse, and dies. Hannah cradles Melissa's lifeless body and cries hysterically.