Hollyoaks star Nikki Sanderson has revealed that she would like her character Maxine Minniver to find love with Darren Osborne.
The pair have become close friends since Maxine's on-off boyfriend Dodger Savage left the village, but viewers have seen that Darren (Ashley Taylor Dawson) is secretly hoping for more.
Speaking to Digital Spy at the TRIC Awards yesterday (March 10), Sanderson confirmed that she has seen "a very positive" fan reaction to the possibility of a Maxine and Darren romance.
She explained: "I think a lot of people would love to see Maxine and Darren get together, I think because they're both very similar. They are both originally comedy characters and they've been knocked down and they've been through tough times - hard times - but they've stood back up, brushed themselves off and faced the world and are carrying on.
"I think they're very similar in personality and they're both kind, caring, loving and fun - and I think the audience would love to see them get together. It'd be great [if they did]. I love Ashley and I think it would be fantastic to be able to work with him."
Sanderson added that she doesn't think Maxine would be moving on too quickly from Dodger if she did decide to make a go of things with Darren.
What to Read Next
"It's been quite a few months. Obviously she's going to be in a situation where she's going to be careful and protect her heart because her heart was broken when Dodger left," she said.
"She loved Dodger, and obviously with what she went through with Patrick she's had a difficult last couple of years. So she's going to be very protective of her heart, but I think she deserves a bit of happiness."
Sanderson also warned that Patrick (Jeremy Sheffield) will be causing trouble for Maxine for the foreseeable future as he continues his attempts to regain control of her life.
She said: "Patrick has got a hold over Maxine still because of Minnie. He doesn't like the fact that Maxine's left, because Patrick is all about having control and he doesn't have control of Maxine anymore.
"So he's going to use any way he possibly can to manipulate and control her from afar. So yeah, it's going to continue and I think there's always going to be that distasteful, horrible, bitter taste in her mouth with Patrick."
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.
