Hollyoaks boss Lucy Allan has confirmed a new nemesis for Mercedes McQueen in 2023.
Mercedes will be taking centre stage in a new storyline later this year, which will see her going up against someone else in the village.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, executive producer Lucy Allan said: "Mercedes has had a tough year.
"We kept her away from love for a long time, but she is currently finding and struggling with love. Mercedes and Felix will be a big theme for us running through this year.
"I saw some stuff on one of the forums talking about Felix and how he should stay away from her otherwise he'll be dead within a year because we know there is this sort of black widow legacy that is Mercedes McQueen.
What to Read Next
"She is looking at new beginnings, new relationships, but also she is going to find a new nemesis within the village to up against as well. Expect to see McQueens at war."
Allan also confirmed the show's plans to explore more issue-based stories, with a huge plot being lined up for later on in the year.
"Obviously one of the main temples of the show is the social issues that we look at and so there are more coming", she said. "This will be off the back of what we have explored these last 18 months, broadly looking at misogyny in all its many forms.
"While that storyline is coming to its major peak in terms of that siege next week, we've got another story kind of bubbling underneath that, which will be our huge social issue kind of for the second half of 2023 and then taking us through the whole of 2024. I can't tell you what it is at the moment, but in many ways I think Hollyoaks is the only show that has got the right kind of characters within it already to look at that issue in all its spectrum.
"It will be one that brings the whole community in it, while pivoting around one of our most loved characters in the show."
Our full interview with Hollyoaks producer Lucy Allan can be found here.
Hollyoaks airs new episodes from Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first-look screenings at 7pm on E4. Selected omnibus episodes are available via Amazon Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Hodder & Stoughton The Unwelcome Visitor: The Sunday Times Bestseller
