Stephanie Davis channels ex Jeremy McConnell into heartfelt performance

Big Brother star Stephanie Davis had Hollyoaks viewers in tears over her ‘incredible’ portrayal of a rape victim on Tuesday night.

Her character, Sinead O’Connor, is currently involved in a difficult storyline with on-screen husband, Laurie Shelby – played by Kyle Pryor – after he has raped her.

Steph, 26 – who recently returned to the soap after she was axed in 2015 – put her heart and soul into Tuesday night’s performance, which saw her character go to the police. It was labelled ‘unbelievable’ by fans of the show.

‘I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Steph Davis is an absolutely brilliant actress, gets better every episode, real tears, real emotion.. has put her heart & soul into this storyline.. if she doesn’t win best actress then something’s wrong, wow,’ one viewer tweeted.

Her performance even resonated with real-life victims of this kind of abuse. ‘I can’t congratulate you enough on playing that difficult role so well! For someone that has experienced that kind of abuse, you had me in tears all the way through, but the courage you show is unbelievable and I honestly believe you will help many women out there to speak up Txx,’ one tweeted.

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Prior to the emotional scenes airing on television, Steph – who is now smitten with co-star Owen Warner – opened up about how her own experience of being in a toxic relationship with ex-boyfriend Jeremy McConnell helped during filming.

‘I was like, “Are you lot writing my life story here?! I’ve just got happy and now you’re making me relive it all!” It was hard. I really struggled with parts of the storyline. But I have found it cathartic, too,’ she revealed.

‘I had to tap back into the emotions I didn’t want to tap back into. I’d closed the book on that chapter, but to make this story believable, I just had to go back into it. I had to be strong. Hopefully people will see that when they watch it.’

READ MORE: STEPHANIE DAVIS OPENS UP ON ADDICTION AS SHE REVEALS SHE ‘WANTED TO DIE

The mum-of-one – who has been nominated for Best Actress at the Soap Awards said she is doing it for ‘all those who have been in this type of relationship, going through this or still in this.’

We salute you, Steph!

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