Joanne Cardsley is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Rachel Leskovac. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 17 September 2015. Joanne's arrival on-screen was not announced prior to broadcast. It was later reported she had joined the show as a regular cast member. Producer Bryan Kirkwood was glad to cast Leskovac because he admired her previous work as Natasha Blakeman on Coronation Street. Joanne is introduced as an old friend of Simone Loveday (Jacqueline Boatswain). She is characterised as an intelligent and successful solicitor but has a troubled personal life. Driven by loneliness she concocts schemes and behaves in a manipulative manner. The character made her final appearance on 5 December 2016 at the end of Leskovac's one-year contract.
Her main storyline has seen her become fixated on stealing Simone's husband Louis Loveday (Karl Collins). The pair had an affair fourteen years earlier which was depicted during flashback scenes. However, Joanne wants to resume the relationship despite Louis being adamant that he wants nothing to do with her. Since her introduction, Joanne has tried to seduce Louis on numerous occasions, blackmailed him and thrown herself in-front of his moving car. She has locked Simone in a van, sabotages her relationship and manages to move into her home. In addition, Joanne has sex with their son Zack Loveday (Duayne Boachie) and manipulates their "daughter" Sonia Albright (Kiza Deen) to secure her place in the Loveday household. Writers continued to develop the character's presence as a homewrecker and played her trying to snare Joe Roscoe (Ayden Callaghan) from his girlfriend Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe). Hollyoaks also formed an on-screen friendship with James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan). The character's actions have led to critics of the genre branding her as scheming, devious and a bunny boiler. Hollyoaks press team even released a statement claiming Joanne is "one of the most talked-about bunny boilers in soaps."
Casting Leskovac had to complete a screen test with Karl Collins who plays Louis Loveday prior to securing the part. They had never met but worked on the scene prior to recording and she believed they instantly worked well together. The character debuted on-screen unannounced during a special episode of Hollyoaks which focused on the backstory of the established Loveday family. It was later reported that Leskovac had signed a contract to appear on the show on a regular basis. The actress released a statement expressing her excitement to be playing a "challenging" role in the show. Producer Bryan Kirkwood was happy to have secured Leskovac because he had admired her work on fellow soap opera Coronation Street, where she portrayed Natasha Blakeman.
Development
Characterisation and introduction
Joanne is characterised as career a driven character who has achieved success in her legal career. But emotionally she is troubled and through her loneliness she schemes to get what she wants. Leskovac has described Joanne as an "interesting character with a lot of depth and intensity but she's also very vulnerable too." Leskovac has described her character as an intelligent woman. She can often let her heart rule her head which helps to create the storylines writers pen for Joanne. At the point she arrives in the show Leskovac acknowledged the character as a "home wrecker". In Joanne's backstory she had split with her husband and is a "lonely" character.
Joanne was introduced during an episode set in 2001, the day that Lisa Loveday was abducted. Prior to the episode airing it was revealed that Lisa's father was hiding a secret about his whereabouts that day. Joanne features in the episode as Simone Loveday's (Jacqueline Boatswain) best friend. During the episode it was revealed that Louis and Joanne were having an affair at the time of Lisa's disappearance.
Manipulating the Lovedays
In October 2015, producer Kirkwood revealed that he was keen for the Lovedays to have a strong marriage. But believed they should have made mistakes and the introduction of Joanne would help to explore Louis' past. Sophie Dainty from Digital Spy reported that Joanne would arrive in Hollyoaks village and blackmail Louis. The story begins as Louis received a letter warning him that his past will be exposed. He then receives a photograph which prompts him to meet up with his blackmailer who is revealed to be Joanne. She explains that her ex-husband has left her in debt and she needs £5000 from Louis or she will expose their affair. He gives her £200 which angers Joanne and she threatens to visit Simone. Louis is nervous about Joanne's presence in the village and starts to argue with Simone. Joanne informs Louis she will leave and asks her to join him for a drink to say goodbye. This makes Joanne believe that there are still feelings between them and she decides to stay. Writers then played the character thinking of schemes to make Louis resume their former affair. Louis tries to forget about Joanne's blackmail but she sends him a card which he hides from Simone. Joanne then sneaks into the Lovedays home and dresses provocatively to seduce Louis. When Louis returns home he is shocked and angered by Joanne's behaviour.
Leskovac told Laura Heffernan from Inside Soap that she expected fans of Louis and Simone to be unhappy with Joanne's meddling. But she thought it made Joanne an interesting character to portray. Joanne visits Simone and offers her a job at her law firm. This leaves Louis worried that Joanne will reveal the truth and he tries to persuade Simone not to accept the job. Joanne then decides to try to seduce Louis once again. Leskovac believed that her character was not crazy but rather "just truly, madly, deeply in love with Louis". She explained that Joanne is fixated on the chemistry the pair used to have. Her actions are not full of malice but she has "tunnel vision" where Louis is concerned. Louis sternly rejects her latest advances which hurts Joanne's feelings. The actress said that her character is desperate to remind Louis of what they used to have. But the problem is that she is holding onto something that happened years before and perceiving their affair to be more than it was. She then causes more trouble by visiting Simone and making Louis believe she is about to reveal the truth and then doing the opposite. Leskovac concluded that her character is "on a mission to win Louis back at any cost."
Collins was upset with the storyline because he believed the Lovedays were a great family whose love could be seen on-screen. He had expected them to "live happily ever after". But Collins was happy with the opportunity to portray the drama Joanne and Louis' affair created. Boatswain said that the scenario of her best friend Joanne and husband Louis having an affair would leave her devastated. Writers began to escalate drama and make Joanne's schemes more extreme. Simone plans to watch her son Zack Loveday (Duayne Boachie) play an important football match. But Joanne becomes jealous and steals notes Simone has prepared for a legal presentation. Simone has to miss the match to rewrite her notes. Later Joanne locks Simone in her van and invites herself to stay with the Lovedays claiming her boiler is broken. With Simone trapped in her van she takes over a romantic meal Louis had prepared for his wife. When Louis and Simone argue Joanne seizes the opportunity to try to seduce him again. Having failed once again Joanne decides she needs to gain more leverage on Louis and jumps in front of his car. Louis is left fearing that he has killed Joanne, but she is later discharged from hospital. Joanne keeps the fact Louis was driving a secret from Simone giving her another secret to use against him.
Hollyoaks then began promoting a story in which Zack would be unfaithful with a mystery woman. Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter) catches her boyfriend and the woman having sex. The show refused to make the identity of the female public. When the episode was broadcast it was revealed to be Joanne in another scheme. Boachie told Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap that his character is "devastated" to be caught with Joanne. He finds it "really embarrassing" and asks Theresa to keep it a secret. Simone finds Joanne's bra hidden behind her sofa and realises that she has slept with Zack. She orders Joanne to move out and later throws pasta sauce over her. This prompts Joanne to reveal that Louis was driving the car that ran her over.
Snaring Joe Roscoe In July 2016, the show released a trailer previewing advance storylines. It showed that Joanne would develop romantic feelings for Joe Roscoe (Ayden Callaghan) and attempt to steal him from his girlfriend Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe). Digital Spy's Kilkelly reported that Joanne would also have a one-night stand with Liam Donovan (Maxim Baldry). The story commenced after Joanne learns that her mother, Janet Cardsley (Ruth Evans), is dying from Alzheimer's disease. She has sex with Liam in order to forget her worries. The following day Joanne tries to spend additional time with Liam and is unaware that he wants nothing more to do with her. The events formed a "bad week" for Joanne and her sadness catches the attention Joe who consoles her. His kindness causes Joanne to take an interest in him. When Janet dies from her illness Joanne decides to take action. Firstly, Joanne plans to take revenge on Liam for humiliating her. Leskovac told Sarah Ellis from Inside Soap that her character is angry with Liam and herself for letting him hurt her. She was vulnerable and grieving for her mother and became to intense with Liam causing him to feel intimidated by her. She added "now she feels very foolish, and he just can't get away with that."
Leskovac described Joanne and Joe's first encounter as a "classic romantic moment" in which a "gallant Joe" helps her. She then makes eye contact with him and thinks "he's just gorgeous". She told Ellis that her character would not be phased that Joe is in a relationship with Mercedes. She described Mercedes as "a force to be reckoned with" and noted her character is "not the shy and retiring type" either; so the personalities would cause "fireworks" during scenes. Metcalfe told Hayley Minn from OK! that "Joanne's a real bunny boiler. Rachel (Leskovac) plays a fantastic bunny boiler and we should be worried." Leskovac branded Joanne "devious" and described their competition to win Joe as a "delicious battle".
The story showed that writers had invested time into developing the character as a homewrecker. The actress defended her character, explaining that as with previous stories, Joanne's intentions originally come from a "good place" rather than "malicious". The "very driven" Joanne cannot grasp the idea of Joe being with Mercedes, as he could instead be with her. Leskovac concluded that her on-screen counterpart views herself "very stable, loving and kind, and she's willing to take on his kids and be the girlfriend he deserves."
The story also made way for Hollyoaks writers to develop Joanne's main friendship with fellow scheming character James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan). Joanne explains her want of Joe; and James reveals he wants to steal Scott Drinkwell's (Ross Adams) boyfriend John Paul McQueen (James Sutton). The duo team up and place a bet on who can snare their potential love interests away from their partners first. Leskovac was happy to work alongside Finnegan on the story because she had previously worked on other projects with him. She explained that he is a "phenomenal actor" who prompts her to elevate her performance in scenes. She thought the characters were "brilliant" together, adding "aside from the naughtiness, you'll be seeing a softer side to both characters. It's nicer than dismissing Joanne as a bunny boiler - she's a hopeless romantic really."