Cindy Cunningham
Cindy Cunningham is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephanie Waring. She made her first on-screen appearance on 13 November 1995, originally played by Laura Crossley, as the youngest daughter of Gordon and Angela Cunningham. A year after her first appearance, Crossley quit the serial later that year and the role was recast to Waring who appeared from November 1996 to November 2000. Waring reprised the role briefly in 2002 and 2004 before returning as a full-time character in June 2008, reintroduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood. In 2010, the character was temporarily written out for Waring's maternity leave. She returned to filming in January 2011 and returned to screens on 9 March 2011. In April 2024, it was announced Waring had been axed from the soap as part of a revamp, however was assured Cindy would not be killed-off. Cindy departed the Village with Tom Cunningham, after she discovered her husband Dave Williams's crimes on 4 September 2024.
Waring has been nominated for several awards for her part as Cindy. Cindy is considered to be one of the show’s most iconic characters and has had many major storylines including teenage pregnancy; coping with the deaths of several family members; marriages to Tony Hutchinson, Alistair Longford, Mac Nightingale, Dirk Savage and Dave Chen-Williams ; being diagnosed with bipolar disorder; and revealing that she had a secret teenage son, Alfie Nightingale, with Mac. Cindy is the longest-serving female in the show, taking over from Frankie Osborne following her departure in 2017.
Creation and casting
The character of Cindy was created in the early days of the show, and is one of the original members of the Cunningham family. Auditions were held for the part of Cindy, with actress Laura Crossley landing the role of Cindy in 1995. Crossley then quit the show in 1996 and the decision was made to recast the part as soon as possible, making her last appearance as Cindy on 4 November 1996. The role of Cindy was handed over to Stephanie Waring when they started giving the character more central storylines as Cindy was getting older and Waring made her first appearance as Cindy on 14 November 1996, ten days after her last appearance being portrayed by Crossley in her last appearance. Waring was only contracted for four episodes until her contract was extended to a permanent basis. Waring then left the show in 2000. In 2002, Waring admitted she would like to return to the series and later reprised the role in with 2004 for a brief stint. In 2008, Bryan Kirkwood had asked Stephanie to reprise her role along with Sarah Jayne Dunn for the exit of their on-screen brother Max Cunningham on an initial six-month contract. This was because at the time the series had lost many of its long term characters and he felt it was time to bring some characters from the past back. She remained with the series until 2010, when Waring took maternity leave, before returning on 9 March 2011.Development
Characterisation
The Channel 4 publicity website for Hollyoaks have described the character as having a manipulative personality that's not even cured by the death of her brother, and also that she constantly enjoys stirring up other people's lives.In an interview with PA, Stephanie Waring, who plays the character, said she wanted to see Cindy tackle more emotional storylines. She stated, "It's really fun to play the comedy and the manipulative bitch, but for me personally I feel more at home doing the drama — so it was really nice to get scripts again that show that. As much as I love doing the comedy, this is where I feel at home, so I'm hoping there is more to come."
Waring also admitted that growing older has helped her cope better with Hollyoaks. "There is a different vibe since I was here last time", she continued, "I'm a lot older as well so my life is completely different so I'm handling it a lot better than I probably did when I was 18. When you're 18 and start a new show you don't know anything about life. It will be difficult for anybody. But now after being away, doing other things and growing up you approach it from a different angle. It's work at the end of the day and you go home and you've got your family. And that's what it's about. Doing what you love."
In 2010, a new plot saw Cindy's daughter Holly run away. During an interview with Digital Spy, Waring, when asked whether she felt the storyline would change Cindy permanently, she replied: "Definitely. I hope so. I hope not to the extent that they stop making her fun. She says what she thinks but she's got a vulnerable side as well. She doesn't want to be seen as joker all the time. I hope they keep that but that she becomes a better mother because of it. I just hope we don't lose the essence of Cindy." Waring claimed that the plot made her emotional, she told PA: "I'm a mother myself so I have to put myself in that position and think how I'd feel how if it happened to me. Going there even a little bit made me break down completely. I can't even think about it. Even when I'm watching stuff on TV involving kids being hurt I get a lump in my throat and have to give her a cuddle when she's asleep!" Despite promising Cindy would change, in an interview with Radio Times, Waring stated that viewers have not seen the last of her unpleasant side, which she dubbed "uber-Cindy". She commented: "I'm excited about . It's so much more exciting to play a character with character. I see as a 'fun bitch' rather than a nasty one like Tracy or Clare Devine. Cindy has a swagger and delusions of grandeur and I think people love to hate that."
Writers have used Cindy to depict mental health issues. Waring was happy that Cindy is seen on-screen with mental health problems because it helped raise awareness amongst viewers. In conjunction with the storyline, Waring decided to support a Sunday Mirror backed campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Reintroduction (2004, 2008)
In 2004, Stephanie Waring reprised the role once again. She returned alongside Liz Stooke who plays her mother, Angela Cunningham for the funeral of her father, Gordon. Waring continued to appear as Cindy to explore the aftermath of Gordon's death. Cindy is featured at odds with her siblings over the inheritance money due from their parent's will. In addition, Cindy is unhappy with how Mandy is looking after their youngest brother, Tom Cunningham. Dunn told Alison James from Soaplife that Cindy is critical of Mandy and accuses her of being negligent around Tom. Dunn added that "Cindy hits a nerve. Mandy lashes out saying she supported Cindy when she was in trouble and Cindy should now do the same for her." When Mandy is given sole responsibility for Gordon and Helen's will, Cindy is upset. Dunn explained that Cindy just wants her inheritance and to resume her life away from Hollyoaks. Mandy being in charge of the will halts that plan. Dunn concluded that the will storyline put Cindy, Mandy and Max "at loggerheads" with each other and caused family disputes.In 2008, it was announced Hollyoaks producer Bryan Kirkwood had decided to bring back Waring to reprise her role as Cindy for the wedding, and funeral, of her on-screen brother Max. Speaking to Digital Spy in 2009 of her return, Waring stated: "It's flattering to think the return's been successful because I was a bit worried. At first I thought, 'How are we going to make this work?' but Bryan was very clear with what he wanted. He was going to bring Cindy back as this larger than life character. We don't actually know what went on in Spain and what changed her over these last few years and we find out a little bit why in Hollyoaks Later which kind of brings it round full circle."
She continued about her future with the soap: "I don't have any plans to leave — I'm very, very happy. I say bring it on to whatever the producers want to give me. I do have a couple of projects that I'm working on myself. I have something that I'm currently writing — I wrote something a few years ago and I'm currently working on that. I like having something of my own as well as Hollyoaks." During 2009, Waring signed an 18-month contract to stay on the soap. She told PA: "I am contracted until next April so a long time yet. I'd love to stay as long as they want me. I got an 18-month contract, which they offered me last September. I was really surprised. They are usually six months or a year."
Cindy's 'gold-digging' personality became clearer after her return. Cindy and Darren Osborne decided to scam Tony Hutchinson out of his money. However, the character changed her plans and decided not to marry Tony for his money. Talking about the conclusion of the storyline, Waring stated: "I think she's definitely out for what she can get — she's always going to be up to something! We're going to have to see what happens with this but I don't think she'll change who she's become over the last eight years in Spain. It's important that we see she's not this one-dimensional gold-digging tart, though. There were some episodes in normal Hollyoaks where we saw this a little bit when she thought Tony was just with her for her looks and Holly didn't want to be like her. In Later this spills out again and we get to see more of the Cindy there once was before moving to Spain." In another interview, she said: "She uses her outer image to hide who she really is inside and in Later we discover she's just a normal girl who wants to find love and security and have a secure life with her daughter and have a family — she's found that in Tony." After their postponed wedding, Cindy admitted her plans to Tony and the pair split up, however they agreed to get married, which they did in Hollyoaks Later.