Mandy Richardson
Mandy Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Jayne Dunn. She first appeared on 7 October 1996 and has been involved in various storylines, including dealing with sexual abuse while she was a child by her father Dennis, the suicide of her brother Lewis, and an on-off relationship with Tony Hutchinson before the couple married. Mandy had a miscarriage causing her to hit Tony. Mandy and Tony had a daughter together who they named Grace, only for her to die from sudden infant death syndrome. This led to the character and Dunn's exit from the serial in 2006. Dunn made a brief return in 2007 before making a return for six months in 2008. Dunn reprised her role as Mandy in 2010; in September 2011, Dunn announced her departure from the soap, and Mandy made her last appearance on 2 September 2011 before departing off-screen. Dunn later returned to her role in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013. In June 2017, it was announced that Dunn had reprised the role again and that Mandy would appear from July alongside Luke Morgan, played by Gary Lucy. Mandy returned on 26 July 2017. In November 2021, it was announced that Dunn's contract with Hollyoaks had been terminated due to starting an OnlyFans; viewers of the soap criticised the decision and Dunn herself voiced her disappointment with the production team. Her final scenes aired on 27 December 2021, and Mandy was given an off-screen departure on 31 January 2022.
Storylines
1996–2008
Mandy first appears as a schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a model and becomes romantically involved with Ollie Benson. It is revealed that Mandy's father Dennis had sexually and physically abused her when she was younger. Mandy takes a stand against her father and he is sentenced to seven years in prison. Mandy's life slowly returns to normal and she begins a relationship with Luke Morgan. When Luke is raped by Mark Gibbs, he feels ashamed and ends his and Mandy's relationship. Unaware of the true reasons for Luke splitting up with her, Mandy embarks on short-lived relationships with Darren Osborne and Ben Davies. Luke admits the true reasons for ending the relationship to Mandy, who agrees to support him.Mandy is then shocked to discover that her mother Helen Cunningham is expecting a baby with Gordon Cunningham but Mandy helps deliver her half-brother, Tom. Mandy's life got changed when her brother Lewis Richardson commits suicide following debt problems, which causes Mandy and Helen's relationship to suffer. After Mandy and Jamie Nash sleep together, Adam Morgan confronts her about her behaviour and the pair are involved in a car accident, which leaves Adam paralysed. Mandy and local barman Toby Mills begin a short relationship, which Toby ends. Mandy and Adam then begin a secret relationship, which ends when she sleeps with Luke again. Due to losing both Adam and Luke, Mandy confides in friend Laura Burns, who becomes obsessed with Mandy. Laura attacks Mandy and locks her in her flat, later attempting to kill her. Mandy's stepbrother Max Cunningham rescues her with the help of Adam, Tony Hutchinson, Becca Hayton and Laura's brother Brendan. Laura is later sectioned.
Mandy discovers her mother is having an affair with Tony, which soon ends, and also discovers that her father, who is dying of liver cancer, is being released from prison. After Dennis' release, Mandy confronts him and refuses to forgive him. She then buys him alcohol to make his death come sooner. When he eventually does die, Mandy begins to rebuild her life, turning to Tony for support despite his former affair with Helen. They become a couple, but soon cheat on each other; Tony with Ruth Osborne and Mandy with Ben. Despite this, they continue their relationship. When Helen and Gordon are killed in a car accident, Mandy is given guardianship of Tom, but later puts him in Max's care. Mandy's emotional turmoil worsens when she suffers a miscarriage, which causes her to hit Tony. After Tony is arrested for hitting her back, Mandy admits to abusing him first, they seek counselling and eventually marry in Rome. Shortly after returning, Mandy falls pregnant and gives birth to Grace Hutchinson. Grace dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A devastated Mandy is unable to talk to Tony about her daughter's death, turning instead to his brother Dominic Reilly. After sharing a brief kiss, Mandy leaves Tony and the village.
Mandy returns in 2007 for Becca's funeral after she is killed in prison. Mandy tells Tony that she is pregnant and in a serious relationship with a man named Mark. Months later, Tony receives a letter from Mandy informing him that she had given birth to a girl named Ella. Mandy returns to Hollyoaks again in June 2008 with Ella to attend the wedding of Max to Steph Dean. On her arrival, she reveals she and Mark have split up. Mandy and Tony's partner Jacqui McQueen begin a feud, Jacqui believing Mandy to be a threat. After the wedding, Max is run over and killed by Niall Rafferty. Mandy then decides to stay in Hollyoaks, becoming a wedding planner with Louise Summers. Mandy works closely with Louise's fiancé Warren Fox, which causes Louise to become suspicious of them. Mandy's stepsister Cindy Cunningham then makes Louise believe Mandy and Warren are having an affair. However, this pushes Warren further away from Louise, who turns to alcohol. Following more accusations from a drunken Louise, Mandy and Warren sleep together and begin an affair. Louise apologises for her behaviour. Cindy is suspicious of Mandy and Warren after finding Mandy's underwear. Louise then attacks Cindy, believing she is trying to split her and Warren up.
Warren ends his affair with Mandy, who, devastated, tells Louise the truth. After slapping Mandy, Louise tells her that Warren had murdered her previous husband, Sean Kennedy. A shocked Mandy reluctantly agrees to set Warren up before stealing his money. However, unknown to Mandy, Louise plots to kill Warren and frame her. On the wedding day, CCTV footage of Warren and Mandy is shown to the wedding guests by Jacqui and Myra McQueen. Warren finds the gun Louise had planned to kill him with, resulting in him confronting and then suffocating her. Mandy decides to leave the village once more with Tony. Tony and Mandy go travelling, deciding to give their relationship another go. However, when Mandy tells Tony that she may not be able to have children of her own anymore, he is upset and returns to Hollyoaks, leaving Mandy stranded in a foreign country.
2010–2011
In October 2010, Mandy arrives at Steph's house. Darren asks Mandy why she is back and she reveals she came back to see Steph. Mandy and Tony talk over a bottle of wine and almost kiss. Mandy and Frankie Osborne argue over custody of Tom. Tony begins to avoid Mandy after seeing her, so she confronts him about why he left her abroad. It is revealed that Mandy is in a relationship with Warren and they are planning to take revenge on Tony. Mandy discovers Tony is in debt and Dom had gone to Warren for money. Tony's restaurant Il Gnosh is burned down by an unseen arsonist. The fire spreads and Steph and Malachy Fisher are killed. Mandy then meets Warren, believing he caused the fire. Panicking, she attempts to end their relationship, but he manipulates her after convincing her that he is the only person she can talk to and that he will solve all of her problems.Mandy tells Tony that she wants to get custody of Tom, angering Frankie who tells Mandy she will not let her take Tom. Mandy tells Frankie that she will get custody because she is Tom's legal guardian. After months of Warren receiving threatening text messages, Mandy is exposed as his stalker. Mandy leaves the village after she tells Tony she originally wanted revenge on him and tells Tom she will be back for him. Mandy arrives at Cinergy after Cindy appoints her as manager. Upset about the way Cindy is spending Texas Longford's deceased grandfather's money, Mandy teams up with Texas and they decided to make fake art pictures so Cindy will buy them. Cindy discovers that Mandy has been scamming her but later forgives her, telling her she would have given her money if she needed it. Mandy and Tony reignite their relationship and begin living together. Tony and Mandy begin looking for jobs and after Tony gets a job as a chef he returns home to discover Mandy has left him a note and has left Hollyoaks.
2017–2021
Mandy returns six years later when it is revealed that she and Luke are back together. Mandy makes Luke promise that he will call her when he is on verge of drinking alcohol. However, Luke continues to drink alcohol continuously. Mandy is later revealed as Warren's secret stalker, after she begins sending him anonymous text messages and threats. Mandy continues to stalk Warren further, but when he attempts to threaten her, Mandy threatens to tell his fiancée Sienna Blake about his affair with Grace Black. Due to Luke's alcohol habit becoming uncontrollable, social services decide to take Mandy's daughter Ella Richardson, into temporary foster care as they feel that Ella is not safe with Luke's alcohol addiction. Mandy later kicks Luke out and turns to Tony. Tony attempts to help her but Mandy kidnaps Ella. However Ella runs away from the garden of the Cunningham household, leading to Cindy's lodger Milo Entwistle finding her and taking her to the police station. Mandy is arrested, but released and Ella is put back into care. Mandy becomes suspicious of Milo as he becomes obsessed in getting the Cunningham family back together. When an unknown person puts a threatening graffiti on Tom's car, Mandy and Cindy agree that Tom should move in with the Cunninghams. The Osborne's refuse but realizing how save Tom will be, they agree. Later that day it is revealed that Milo was responsible for the death of Mandy's mother and stepdad when as a youth, he accidentally crashed his van into Helen and Gordon's car. When Mandy wants to get a job at The Hutch in order to prove to social services that she is suitable to get Ella back, Tony refuses as he is angry at Mandy for always bringing trouble. This causes Mandy to slap him and Diane to kick him out. Diane gives Mandy a free trial at The Hutch, much to Tony's rejection. Tony later apologizes to Mandy leading to a kiss which is interrupted by Diane. Luke returns to reconcile with Mandy but he discovers the kiss between Mandy and Tony leading to a fight between the two men.After Mandy helps Luke overcome his rapist Mark Gibbs once again, they reconcile. She proposes to him and he accepts, despite already being married to a woman named Scarlett. Mandy later regains custody of Ella after social services can see that she and Luke are functioning as a couple now he's sober again. Mandy's wedding dress becomes damaged by Luke as an attempt to delay the wedding so he can divorce Scarlett in time. Darren takes the blame for damaging the dress, and as Mandy becomes upset she and Darren kiss. They agree to forget the kiss and Mandy and Luke marry. However, during the wedding reception, Luke's teenage son Oliver Morgan arrives. Mandy promptly breaks up with Luke and sleeps with Darren, who has himself split from wife Nancy. Mandy is left feeling guilty after sleeping with Darren and agrees to give Luke another chance. Mandy and Darren begin an affair behind Luke and Nancy's back. Darren calls off the affair but after Jack has a heart attack, he turns to her for comfort and they kiss. Mandy is surprised to find out about his past with Sienna and confronts Darren. She is further jealous when a drunk Leela Lomax makes a pass at him. Mandy and Darren continue their affair and meet up in the Bean at night, however, they are caught on CCTV. Fortunately, Darren distracts Esther Bloom long enough for Mandy to delete the footage. Mandy and Luke move into a new flat with Ella and Oliver. Mandy begins to think that Luke may be cheating on her and confides in Darren leading to them sleeping with each other again. However Luke arrives home and Darren hides under the bed. Luke proposes to Mandy and she accepts and they have sex while Darren is under the bed. They decide to get married in Florida but before they are about to leave Darren begs Mandy not to marry him but she does. During Luke's party, Mandy gets jealous when Scarlett gives Luke a present and they have a catfight.
In June 2018, Luke discovers that Mandy is having an affair after finding text messages on her phone and turns to drinking again. Sienna blackmails Mandy and Darren over the affair and demands £2000. Darren refuses to give it to her but Mandy does. Luke suspects Tony to be the mystery man and punches him. Darren ends his marriage to Nancy and him and Mandy decide to run away together. However, Nancy suffers an MS attack and they decide to end their affair. When Nancy finds out that Mandy was going to leave Luke she confronts her and Mandy confesses that it was Darren. Nancy furiously slaps Mandy and Mandy is forced to tell Luke. Luke pleads with Mandy not to leave him and promises to give up drinking but Mandy tells him it's too late. Luke is sentenced to two years in prison for assaulting Scott Drinkwell. In October 2018, Mandy and Darren decide to give their relationship another go., but Nancy decides to go for revenge. Mandy discovers she is pregnant and tells Darren who is pleased. Mandy supports Darren during the custody hearing, but Nancy finds a worried Mandy in the toilet when she is bleeding. At the hospital, Mandy and Nancy have a heart-to-heart and Nancy decides to end her revenge plan. The doctor tells them that her baby has spina bifida. The next day, Nancy tells Mandy that she needs to tell Darren. Darren continues to support Mandy through her pregnancy, but Mandy starts to doubt whether Darren is the baby's father as the dates do not add up. When Oliver tells Mandy that a relative of Luke's once had spina bifida, Mandy visits Luke in prison and tells him that he might be the father. Mandy keeps the suspicion a secret from Darren, until after the birth of DJ, she is forced to reveal that Darren may not be the father. A DNA test is taken and Oliver revealed Darren as the father but unknown to the pair, Oliver lied about the DNA tests and Luke was the father but he kept it secret for five months.
Luke is released from prison and stays with Mandy and Darren. Mandy is upset to find out that Luke and Cindy had slept together and orders one of them to leave. Luke decides to leave and Darren becomes jealous that Mandy still has feelings for Luke, but she denies this. After regretfully sleeping with Nancy, Darren develops depression and him and Nancy file for divorce. He eventually tells Mandy who is extremely supportive. Darren feels like everyone is starting to treat him differently so he talks to his therapist, he then speaks up and starts to slowly return to his normal self with Mandy's support.
In January 2022 Mandy leaves the village with DJ to start a new life in LA.
In January 2024 Ella is killed in a road accident. Mandy does not attend her funeral and no explanation is given as to why.