Trigger warning: This article contains discussion of child sexual abuse.
Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox) hides the fact that Darren (Ashley Taylor Dawson) is missing from the family in Hollyoaks next week as the patriarch’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Darren, as viewers know, has had a lot to cope with as of late, struggling to know how to support Frankie (Isabelle Smith) while also being there for ill son JJ (Ryan Mulvey), who sexually abused her.
With JJ in hospital following his leukaemia diagnosis, Frankie decided that she would get tested for a bone marrow transplant so that the abuser could go to court and pay for what he’s done.
Darren, meanwhile, has been struggling with the whole situation and, following JJ temporarily flatlining last week, he opened up to Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard), who encouraged him to go home and speak to Nancy (Jessica Fox).
But Darren never came home.
The much-loved character, who was very clearly struggling with his mental health, dropped his phone in The Dog carpark and disappeared.
Jack (Jimmy McKenna) was left terrified and subsequently reported his son missing to the police. Nancy, however, has been struggling to get her head around the situation, especially with Morgan poorly and Frankie in need of support.
And things were complicated further when the police arrived at their doorstep, with a detective confirming that Darren’s items had been recovered in an abandoned car.
What happens next remains to be seen but it seems as though Jack and Nancy are keen to keep Darren’s disappearance a secret.
Upcoming scenes will see Jack reach out to Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham), asking him to help Nancy with the kids – though he refrains from revealing all the details.
He and Nancy continue to hide the fact that Darren is missing.
But does Frankie know that her dad has gone missing? Or have Nancy and Jack kept her in the dark too to protect her?
You’ll have to wait and see, but Frankie does speak to Nancy later in the week, asking for her honest opinion on whether she thinks she should be a bone marrow donor for JJ.
The question is: just what will Nancy’s answer be?
