Juliet Nightingale
Juliet Nightingale is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Niamh Blackshaw. Hollyoaks announced the character and Blackshaw's casting on 4 September 2018, with the character making her first appearance as Juliet on 21 November 2018. Juliet was introduced as the half-sister of Romeo Nightingale and the daughter of Donna-Marie Quinn and was brought into the soap as part of the decision to expand their family. Juliet is later revealed to be Mac Nightingale's daughter. The shock twist links her to the established Nightingale family, especially Marnie, who she forms a close bond with. Juliet is initially shown to be an aggressive and harsh character, with an initial storyline seeing her bully Brooke Hathaway due to seeing them as an easy target. However, throughout her tenure, her vulnerable and emotional personality has been explored.
Later storylines see Juliet form a relationship with Sid Sumner, as well as getting groomed into a county lines drug trafficking ring. A flashforward scene aired at the end of 2019 sees Juliet admitting her love for Peri Lomax and kissing her. The scene formed the start of a sexuality arc that was previously unannounced. The storyline sees her questioning and eventually accepting being a lesbian, before admitting her feelings for Peri and the pair getting together. Both actresses have praised their onscreen relationship and enjoyed working together. After Juliet's release from prison following her involvement in the drug ring, Blackshaw hoped that she would settle in the village and form a meaningful relationship with Peri. However, the pair are stalked, manipulated and spied on by Timmy Simons, as well as being involved in an explosion that leads to Juliet and Peri's engagement.
2022 saw the character have an affair with Nadira Valli before reconciling with Peri, as well as being diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. It was eventually confirmed that Juliet's cancer would result in her death after Blackshaw had made the decision to leave after five years as a mainstay on Hollyoaks. Juliet's final scenes aired on 8 June 2023. For her portrayal of Juliet, Blackshaw was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2019 Inside Soap Awards and later the British Soap Award for Best Leading Performer in 2023. Viewers of the series showed a positive reception to Juliet's relationship with Peri, with many rooting for them to stay together throughout their tumultuous storylines. They have also been given the portmanteau "Jeri" by viewers.
Casting and characterisation
The character and Niamh Blackshaw's casting details were announced on 4 September 2018. The reasoning behind Juliet's introduction was due to a decision to expand the existing Quinn family. Juliet is introduced as a new Year 11 student at Hollyoaks High School, placing her in direct scenes with established characters Imran Maalik, Oliver Morgan and Brooke Hathaway. She was billed as a "damaged and vulnerable young girl who lashes out at the world by bullying others". Blackshaw expressed her excitement at joining the cast and said that she was extremely grateful to receive the role.Prior to her debut appearance, Blackshaw said that Juliet will bring drama and that she will have a big presence on the soap. She explained that Juliet's mother, Donna-Marie Quinn, "has always taught her to be the one on top, in order to survive". Juliet has little interest in school since she "doesn't see how it's going to help her get to where she wants to be in life". Therefore, rather than being studious, Juliet chooses to procrastinate and disrupt "in as many ways as she can think of" to entertain herself and her behaviour has effects on other students. Blackshaw admitted that "Juliet has a lot to learn, and she's going to make a lot of mistakes before she starts settling down". After Juliet's character is explored further, Blackshaw stated that she loves portraying her vulnerable side alongside her aggressive ways, and said that Juliet's aggressive behaviour is "just a façade".
When asked what her favourite thing about Juliet is, Blackshaw replied that it is Juliet's ability to say things that nobody else feels they can. She described her as "fierce" and "feisty" and noted that she is not afraid to call people out. She admitted that her character can sometimes go too far with people, but opined that Juliet using her attitude in the right way is a good thing. She felt that Juliet always means well, and despite doing bad things, she always does them with good intentions. Blackshaw has expressed her deep love for her character, owing her feelings to having played her for several years. She felt that due to wearing Juliet's costuming more than her own personal styling, it had led her to understand her character well.
Development
Family issues and fixation on Darren Osborne
In January 2019, Juliet was revealed to be the daughter of Mac Nightingale, linking her to the established Nightingale family. Juliet forms bonds with Marnie and James. However, when it is revealed that James framed Donna-Marie for Mac's murder and that everyone in the family knew but her, she loses her trust in them, especially Romeo. Blackshaw explained that his betrayal hurt her the most, saying: "He's been her rock and now she's been betrayed by him as well. It's like the final loss in her life, and it just drives her down a dark path, because she's got no-one left." Juliet makes plans to leave the village. Explaining her character's reasoning, Blackshaw stated: "Juliet is really angry, upset and very unforgiving. She's not happy at all! She doesn't like that she's been lied to by the people that she thought cared about her". Juliet also feels confusion regarding love interest Sid Sumner, and with the culmination of feelings, Juliet decides that she "just wants to get out, hoping it will solve a few problems."After she decides to stay, Blackshaw stated that Juliet's relationship with her family would remain complicated. She said that Juliet loves Romeo "more than anything" but noted that their relationship changes as the pair get older, due to Juliet realising that Romeo is busy living his own life, which isolates Juliet and makes her feel lonely. Blackshaw also stated that despite Juliet loving Donna-Marie, she "finds it hard to cope with her when she puts her addictions above her children". Despite Donna-Marie constantly letting Juliet down, Blackshaw said that Juliet "never loses hope that one day her mum will stop taking drugs, get a job and look after her".
After the events of her troubled family life, Juliet is seen to form an "inappropriate fixation" on Darren. She forms a crush on him, believing that he feels the same way. Dawson, who portrays Darren, stated Darren "genuinely thinks he's helping" by becoming involved with Juliet, since the two bond over both having family issues. He also stated that Juliet had the potential to ruin Darren's life with accusations, since she is "a messed up little kid" with "all the power". Blackshaw agreed with his comments, adding that the reasoning behind Juliet's obsession with Darren is due to not having a primary caregiver whilst growing up. She explained that this meant that when Darren gives Juliet advice and cheers her up, she "latches" onto him. She also commented: "Darren is the first guy outside of her family that’s put himself out there and made himself available to her emotionally so she has latched on to that and taken it the wrong way completely. She genuinely thinks he likes her back, she really does. It just shows how naive she is and she genuinely has no doubt. His reaction is such a shock. I don't even think Mandy's on her mind."
Bullying Brooke Hathaway and friendship with Sid Sumner
When Juliet joins Hollyoaks High, she is in the same year group as Imran, Oliver and Brooke. Blackshaw stated that upon their initial interactions with each other, they do not like each other due to Juliet's "attempt to prove that she's tough and not to be messed with", which leads to people disliking her. Juliet begins to target Brooke, who is autistic, in a bullying storyline. Brooke is an easy target for Juliet and Juliet uses any opportunity she has to put Brooke down. Blackshaw explained that Juliet's intention is not to hurt Brooke, but to make herself feel better due to her issues at home. The actress added that Juliet does like Brooke as a friend, but that she does not know how to treat Brooke due to not having had friends before her arrival in Hollyoaks. Imran and Oliver see the way that Juliet bullies Brooke and do not want to be associated with her until she redeems herself. Blackshaw stated that due to be being bullied herself, it was therapeutic to switch the narrative and play a bully. She also noted that it was important for Hollyoaks to show the vulnerability of autistic people and praised co-star Grant for their part in the storyline. Blackshaw promised that Juliet would learn from her mistakes, grow and "develop a sense of right and wrong", adding that viewers would sympathise with her character to an extent. The storyline climaxes when the teenagers go to a festival together. Juliet's intention is to drink alcohol and have fun in the crowd, but Brooke does not enjoy the festival as much as her. Juliet bullies Brooke into joining her fun and the scenes see Brooke collapse due to sensory overload. On the scenes, Blackshaw opined that her character is "used to being mean and spiteful to everyone" and is "messing up all the time and she keeps going back to the Juliet she was before, which means bullying the easiest target she can find."Juliet's first romantic connection is with classmate Sid, with whom she begins a relationship with. However, when Juliet does not feel ready to have sex with him, he labels her frigid. This leads to Juliet questioning their relationship, as well as her sexuality in general, and the pair break up. Sid confesses that he still loves her and she confides in him about realising that she is a lesbian. Blackshaw noted that at that point, their dynamic changed from a romantic one to that of a friendship. She stated that Juliet and Sid have a really good friendship and are "soul mates rather than lovers", with no romance between them. Blackshaw added that their breakup was inevitable as "it's very rare that the first person you love is the person you end up with", and that rather than people continuing to ship them together, they should be happy because Juliet is finding a new love, even if it is not in the format they expected. When the pair became involved in a county lines drug trafficking storyline, Blackshaw stated that without Sid supporting her, Juliet would "crumble", adding: "it's only because the two of them work as a team that they're able to go to a local party, and they manage to do what is asked of them." When asked who cares for Juliet the most, she replied that Sid does. She explained that despite having other connections, Sid would "probably die for her". When Sid fakes his death in order to free Juliet from prison, Blackshaw explained that Juliet is devastated to hear of his death, labelling Sid her platonic soulmate. Since the last time Juliet saw Sid was when Jordan had been stabbed, Blackshaw said it made Juliet think "When was the last time I gave him a hug?". When he is revealed to be alive, Blackshaw commented that her character is more angry than relieved and would be thinking: "How flipping dare he! Why would he put me through that absolute trauma of that, and not tell me? Why was I not the number one person that knew?!" Blackshaw agreed with her character and said that Juliet should have been told that it was fake.