Joanne Cardsley

“	Do you know how many times I have been used by men in the past? And I swore I would never let my guard down again, I thought he [Freddie Roscoe] was different. But, he's just a lying, cheating rat like the rest of them.	„
	~ Joanne to Mercedes McQueen and Joe & Freddie Roscoe.

Joanne Cardsley was a supporting antagonist in the British soap opera Hollyoaks from 2015 to 2016.

She is a solicitor who became obsessive over Louis Loveday. The pair had an illicit affair, during which Louis' daughter, Lisa, was kidnapped by Margaret Smith.

She was portrayed by Rachel Leskovac.

Personality[]

Joanne was shown in the past to be stable, intelligent and affectionate toward Louis during their affair in the early 2000s. As the years progressed, Joanne became increasingly unstable and obsessive over Louis, following him to Hollyoaks to reignite their affair. Joanne became less respectful of Louis' boundaries, such as failing to recognise his marriage to Simone Loveday.

Toward the end of her plotline, Joanne is shown to have suffered a breakdown of some description, resulting in her being institutionalised.

Physical appearance[]

Joanne is a short, Caucasian woman with medium-length blonde hair. She wore makeup, and often dressed in business attire. She carried handbags frequently and has brown eyes.

Biography[]

Background[]

At some point, Joanne qualified as a solicitor, meaning she would have had to have completed the GDL. It is unknown how she met Louis, but at some point did and started a romantic relationship with him. During this relationship, Louis was married to Simone Loveday, with whom he had two children, Lisa and Zack.

On one day in the early 2000s, Louis was due to collect Lisa from school, but instead had met Joanne. During this encounter, Lisa was abducted by Margaret Smith, who pretended to be a friend of Simone and Louis.

Hollyoaks[]

In September 2015, Joanne begins to send threatening letters to Louis, claiming that she will tell Simone of their affair. Joanne then arrives in the village of Hollyoaks to put further pressure on him and demand she bail him out of her debts. At first, Louis is unable to make the payment as he cannot afford it, but after Joanne threatens to tell Simone of their affair, Louis agrees and demands Joanne not return to Hollyoaks.

Joanne later returns, now delusional that Louis maintains his feelings for her. She proceeds to try seduce Louis, who rejects her advances and tells her to leave the village for good. Instead, Joanne visits Simone and offers her a job at her firm to interfere with their marriage. After Louis begs Simone not to take the job, but she does so anyway without Louis knowing.

Joanne then manipulates the situation so that Louis can discover Simone lied, causing friction in their marriage. With this friction, Joanne then attempts to comfort Louis whilst leaving Simone trapped in a car. Louis once again demands Joanne leave Hollyoaks, and agrees to do so, before purposely being hit by a car.

Whilst Joanne is recovering, Simone offers Joanne to live with her, and whilst doing so sleeps with their son, Zack. The pair are caught by Zack's girlfriend, Theresa. This is then discovered by Louis, but decides not to tell Simone to protect their already fracturing relationship. Simone later discovers Joanne's bra, leading her to learn of their fling. Simone then ousts Joanne from the house, and a fight ensues where Joanne lies that Louis intentionally ran her over.

Joanne starts a friendship with fellow solicitor James Nightingale, but betrays him when she takes a job role he was applying for. Joanne's erotomania sparks up again when Liam Donovan has casual sex with her, but is put off by her intensity to start a relationship, and rejects her. Scorned, Joanne uses his fear of birds against him by releasing a chicken into his hair salon.

Joe Roscoe discovers Joanne who is upset by her mother's deteriorating health. She finds him attractive, despite his relationship with Mercedes McQueen. After Mercedes is arrested for drug dealing, Joanne takes her opportunity and begins a relationship with him whilst Mercedes is behind bars.

Joanne tells Joe that Mercedes is a drug dealer (of which he is unaware), resulting in Joe jilting Mercedes at their wedding. Joe confesses to Mercedes his affair with Joanne, and starts an official relationship with her. However, Louis learns of this and tells Joe of Joanne's true, manipulative nature. On hearing this, Joe goes to repropose to Mercedes on a ferris wheel, which is tampered with by Joanne, leaving the pair suspended. A nearby explosion causes Joe to fall to his death.

It is then revealed that Joanne told Margaret that Simone was beating Lisa, which is why she kidnapped Lisa, making Joanne the true mastermind behind the abduction. Joanne and Simone get into another altercation, where Simone is stabbed by Joanne with a paper knife. When Mercedes learns of the stabbing, she also confronts Joanne for her involvement with Joe and being involved in his death. Louis arrives, and tells Joanne he hates her, causing Joanne to have a nervous breakdown. She is arrested and confined, where, in a delusive state, tells a police officer that Louis is her husband and is coming to save her.

Trivia[]

It is possible that Joanne's namesake came from Roanne Bardsley, a screenwriter for Hollyoaks.

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1990s
Dennis Richardson | Rob Hawthorne