Clare Cunningham
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Clare Devine-Cunningham is a fictional character in long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks. She was played by actress Samantha Rowley in 2005-06 and is currently played by actress Gemma Bissix.
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[edit] First Appearance
Hired for New Year's party, now with a full time job at The Loft, a love interest for Max Cunningham, and after causing a rift between Max and Sam "O.B." O'Brien, Clare's mysterious behaviour has raised some suspicions as to whether she is using Max.
[edit] Clare's dark side
A disturbing side of her character was revealed when her boyfriend Max took his brother Tom Cunningham on holiday. After discovering that newcomer Sean Kennedy was wealthy and ambitious she forgot all about Max and seduced Sean in the nightclub's office. Mel Burton (now deceased) caught Clare and Sean together, but Clare used Mel's alcoholism against her when she attempted to expose the sexual encounter. She convinced Max that Mel was lying, and caused a lot of friction between Max and OB.
She has schemed to get rid of OB and has played the perfect, loyal girlfriend and an unsuspecting Max eventually proposed to her. More recently, after Tom overheard things to make him suspicious, she has tried to turn Max against Tom. More recently, Clare has been conning money out of Max, first she was given £5000 to refurbish the Loft, but only spent a fraction of that and kept the bulk of it for herself. Also, she told Max the new CCTV system from Warren Fox would cost £3k, but she managed to get in for £1k. After deciding that she could no longer stay with Max, as he wanted a baby, she made up a story about her being infertile. She told Max that she needed to go to London to see a doctor, when she was really inquiring about emigrating to New Zealand. She then returned to Hollyoaks and told Max that she could have an operation in America but it would cost £50,000 when she really wants the money to help her start a new life.
Warren got her addicted to cocaine and when Max found out he took it to impress her. This resulted in a heart attack which he needed to take medication for but Clare has been toying with it, in the hopes that Max will die from another heart attack and she will be given £500,000 as insurance. She's been keeping Max upstairs in the bedroom and driving visitors away, saying he needs rest. When Max tries to leave the flat, looking for a Christmas present for Tom, O.B finds him and is shocked at his deathly appearance. After arguing with O.B, Clare decides to take Max and Tom for a Christmas "he [Max] will never forget." Her plan originally was to have Max die in isolation so she would have less evidence on her hands. However, when Clare discovered that Max had found out she had tampered with his medicine, she changed tactics. She locked Tom in the car and threw his jacket in the lake, then ran to Max screaming that Tom was drowning. As Max slowly started to drown, O.B came running, punched Clare and rescued Max. She was then taken to the police station and was questioned, but due to a lack of substanial evidence she was released without charge.
[edit] Clare's Return
After dropping out of sight for a month, Clare returned to the village in January of 2007. She marked her return by picking Tom up at his school without letting anyone know. Max and O.B. were frantic with worry, and when Max returned to his flat, he found Clare and a terrified Tom. Clare then made it very clear that she planned to take Max for everything he has. She then wound him up to the point where he attacked her, then he and Tom ran from the flat. When he returned, he found that she had changed the locks and planned on selling up both the flat and the Loft, and will keep the proceeds. Max pleaded with her through the door that he needed his heart medication, and she agreed to give it to him on the condition that he arrived alone. She opened the door a crack, then O.B. showed up and tried to ram the door open. Clare was hit in the head and fell back onto the floor. Bloodied and enraged, she vowed to make Max pay. She proceeded to hit herself in the face repeatedly, then called the police to report domestic assault. Max, O.B. and Tony then arrived to physically throw her out of the flat, and as they were tossing her out onto the street in her bathrobe, to Clare's delight, the police arrived. Max was arrested for assault, and spent the night in the cells. Max is now a truly broken man, and wants to leave the village with Tom. Clare now has possession of The Loft, thus left Max and Tom alone to get on with her life.
