There’s a new theory floating around the Hollyoaks fandom – and it’s completely and utterly wild.
It concerns Cleo McQueen (Nadine Mulkerrin), and the events of the last 13 months.
Last year, the Channel 4 soap reduced its weekly output from five episodes to three in response to extensive research which indicates that this is the optimum episode pattern to keep viewers hooked.
Less air time meant less cast members, with up to 20 being cut in the lead up and immediate aftermath of the changes.
To facilitate the swathes of departures, a UK soap first time jump was orchestrated, that saw the drama permanently sky rocket one year into the future.
When we caught back up with our Chester faves, a lot had changed. Folk had left the village for pastures new, Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) was in a coma, James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) was long dead (though is now very much alive again, as of this week) and their daughter Leah Barnes (Elá-May Demircan) was pregnant.
Leela Lomax (Kirsty-Leigh Porter) was also expecting and there was love in the air for Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi) and Donny Clark (Louis Emerick) and Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) and Ethan Williams (Matthew James-Bailey).
If that wasn’t enough drama, we discovered that Suzanne Ashworth (Suzanne Hall) had passed away after being crushed by a motorbike, Vicky Grant (Anya Lawrence) was now with Robbie Roscoe (Charlie Wernham) and Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Cleo’s family believed she was holidaying in Bali, when she was actually held hostage in the eaves of Abe Fielding’s (Tyler Conti) flat.
Now… imagine if all of that was just a dream?
Has Cleo McQueen dreamt the time jump?
Well, that’s certainly what the fans are saying. And with the utterly camp, bizarre drama that Hollyoaks dishes up every week, I wouldn’t put it past them!
Viewer KailBenny wrote on X: ‘Wait, are Hollyoaks hinting everything that happened in the time jump never actually happened and it was all in Cleo conscious mind?’
Meep replied: ‘It would be INSANE if she was still trapped after all of this omg … Class theory!’
Hannah had her doubts, writing: ‘that would be a hell of a plot twist don’t know if the audience would accept it.’
Lee asked: ‘omg would they actually go with a ‘it was all a dream’ type of thing?’
Well, Lee. Believe it or not, that has happened in soapland before.
At the end of season 8 of US soap Dallas, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) was hit by a car and died of internal injuries. The following season, which aired in 1985, showed the family mourning his loss.
However, in a bizarre twist, season 10 kicked off with his grieving wife Pam (Victoria Principal) waking up from a bad dream, and seeing Bobby stood in the shower.
The entire ninth season was a dream.
What has sparked the Hollyoaks theory?
It seems that the theory stems from this week’s episode of Hollyoaks Unwrapped, a visual podcast hosted by Kieron Richardson.
Each week he’s been imploring co-star Anna Passey to roam the show’s production base in Childwall, Liverpool, to scout for potential clues concerning Christmas storylines.
In the most recent edition, she could be seen in the McQueen’s house – No. 65 Christleton Terrace – and found an old script… the last from before the time jump.
The first line is Abe shouting out: ‘Cleo! Cleo, Cleo, can you hear me?’
Could it be that violent Abe is still very much alive, having knocked Cleo unconscious off a motorbike – that she’s dreamt everything that’s happened since September 2024?
That would be quite the twist.
But what do you think?
Has the Hollyoaks ‘time jump’ been Cleo’s dream?
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Yes! And it would be incredible.
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No, they couldn’t erase an entire year.
