Hollyoaks star Gemma Merna has praised Carmel McQueen's facial injury storyline, describing it as "absolutely fantastic" for the character.
Carmel is currently struggling to cope following the news that she will be permanently scarred due to an unfortunate tanning machine incident.
Speaking on This Morning, Merna said: "She is a comedy character to start off with, but I'm quite lucky at Hollyoaks because they do give me the serious storylines to get your teeth into.
"We kind of came to that point really - especially with her husband getting shot - that we didn't really know where to take Carmel. We kind of wanted a hard-hitting storyline that people can look at. It changes the character ongoing as well, so I think this one's absolutely fantastic for her."
She continued "[Carmel] just doesn't know what to do, because she's always wanted a perfect life, a gorgeous husband, lovely children - and the thing that hits her now is [the fear that] no-one will fancy her anymore, no-one will want to be with her. So it took her to the point that we saw last week where she went to the top of the roof to possibly jump off and commit suicide."
However, Merna admitted that she has found the storyline to be emotional saying: "It really upset me at work, to be honest. Because I've always been this bubbly character that's always had make-up on every day and looked glamorous, when I had the [injury] make-up on and they did a scene… some of the characters, the way they looked at me, it really made me cry to be honest, which was fantastic for the scene."
