Nigel Bates made a comeback to EastEnders in 2024 after a long absence of 26 years, and many viewers who remembered the show from the 90s were hoping his stepdaughter, Clare, would return as well. While it took Nigel’s developing dementia to bring him back to Walford, Clare is now also set to reappear.
Everyone has been excited about this heartfelt reunion, but Gemma Bissix shares that she’s been ready to return as Clare ever since Paul Bradley came back to play her on-screen father. Bissix first portrayed Clare in 1993, when she was only nine years old.
She admitted she was hoping for this, telling TopMob, “I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I wasn’t.”
Around this time last year, when I returned to Hollyoaks to play Clare Devine (I’ll talk more about her later), my agent reached out to EastEnders to see if they were interested in having me back. They said they had considered bringing Clare back to the show, but not for a while yet. I kept it a secret, just in case it didn’t end up happening.
Fortunately, that’s happened, and it’s particularly sad given Clare’s situation. Nigel’s health has gotten worse, and his wife, Julie Bates, and close friend, Phil Mitchell, are no longer able to look after him at home, so he needs to move into a care facility.
Nigel, who is quite disoriented, requested to see his daughter after many years of not being in contact. However, when she visited him in the hospital, he didn’t recognize her.
According to Bissix, Julie called Clare to say Nigel is sick, but didn’t share the severity of his condition. Clare believes Julie intentionally withheld this information to upset her. Julie is upset that Clare hasn’t contacted Nigel, while Clare feels hurt that Nigel didn’t reach out to her either – both feel abandoned by the other.
Clare felt excluded after Nigel married Julie. She’d been close to Nigel for years, ever since losing her mother, Debbie, when she was young. She didn’t have a relationship with her birth father, Liam, who was in prison, and considered Nigel her real father. However, she might have subconsciously felt the difference of not being biologically related to him, especially as she got older.
Hints of a rift between Nigel and Clare first appeared in 2008, when the character Bissix briefly reappeared. We saw that the once innocent and kind schoolgirl had become calculating, predatory, and deceitful – it was no surprise her father had disowned her.
“All of that strong, assertive behavior was just an act,” Bissix explains. “Clare was really looking for a place to fit in and was still grieving her mother’s death. Near the end of those months in 2008, we began to see her true personality, but the viewers had already lost interest. She’s grown up a lot since then.”
It’s wonderful to see Clare as she was in the nineties. She still has a bit of an edge, but that’s just how she protects herself, and we see that armor come down in some really powerful scenes with other characters. I have some great moments with Paul, of course, and also with Karen Henthorn and Steve McFadden, who I really love working with.
Learning that Nigel’s health is declining brings up a lot of difficult feelings for Clare. It reminds her of the grief she felt thirty years ago when Debbie passed away, and Bissix suspects her character also regrets not having more time with her father.
Clare assumed Nigel would always be in her life and didn’t realize she should appreciate him more. Now she worries she might have waited too long to apologize for keeping her distance and not connecting with him – the chance to make things right might be gone.
Clare receives unexpected support from Lexi Pearce, a young girl who understands her grief. Lexi, played by Isabella Brown, lost her own mother, Lola Pearce-Brown, in 2023 when she was very young, giving her a unique connection to Clare’s situation.
Clare and Lexi have a natural connection because they share similar experiences at the same stage of life, according to Bissix. They connect when Clare discusses her mother, Debbie, and remembers Nigel’s support. Revisiting those past events through Clare’s memories also reminded Bissix of their own beginnings on EastEnders.
Bissix describes herself as a boisterous and dramatic child. At eight years old, she started weekly after-school drama classes. Soon after joining an agency, she landed an audition for the TV show EastEnders, unaware of how much it would change her life.
She recalls getting the role simply because she resembled Nicola Duffett, the actress playing her mother. She also believes she was able to read the lines with enough confidence. As a nine-year-old, she explains, you either deliver your lines convincingly or sound unnatural.
Producers were immediately impressed by her talent and initially hired her for three episodes, but she proved so valuable that her role expanded to six years.
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EastEnders was incredibly popular in the mid-1990s. Before streaming services and with fewer TV channels to choose from, episodes often attracted around 20 million viewers. For nine-year-old actress Bissix, being on the show meant instant fame and the chance to work alongside some of television’s biggest stars.
“I’ll never forget Steve McFadden coming up to me on my first day,” she laughs. “He asked me if I knew my lines. I said yes quite confidently. Then he took my script away and told me to recite them! I was terrified, but he said you’ll never be scared of anything else ever again! Steve really helped me, he is a masterclass. EastEnders is where I learnt my craft, how to conduct myself and be professional.
I do remember one time getting in trouble on set! Susan Tully and Letitia Dean were filming a scene, and I just had one line at the very end. They were both in really good spirits that day, and it took us about six or seven tries to get it right. Finally, they nailed it, keeping perfectly straight faces. But then, when I walked in to deliver my line, I burst out laughing and ruined the whole take! It was so funny, but after that, I never lost it on camera again!
Bissix grew up around famous actors, and she credits one actress in particular with boosting her confidence. She said Barbara Windsor was a strong supporter and really helped her as a child. Windsor was known for expecting everyone to know their lines and could be quite firm, but Bissix appreciated that because she was raised with similar discipline. Bissix was eager to please Windsor, and Windsor was always quick to offer praise when she saw effort or good work.
Looking back, I really owe a lot to Barbara. She was instrumental in helping me find a new agent after I left my first agency as a child actor, and incredibly, I’m still with that same agent today. It meant so much to me when her husband, Scott, told me after she passed away that Barbara always spoke so fondly of me – it’s still a little shocking and incredibly heartwarming to think about. I’ve held onto those little good luck cards she and Martine McCutcheon sent me when I moved on in ’98, and they’re a sweet reminder of that time.
When Bradley left the show, Clare’s storyline ended, and it seemed like Nigel found happiness, moving to Scotland with his new partner, Julie Haye. Bissix recalls being relieved to leave, explaining, ‘I’d been on EastEnders since I was nine, and by sixteen, I felt like I’d missed out on a normal childhood. It had become all-consuming, like a hobby that takes over your life, and I was ready to just be a kid again.’
Before becoming known for her soap opera roles, Bissix explored various careers, including working as an electrician and a bra fitter at Marks and Spencer. In 2006, she dramatically returned to television as Clare Devine in Hollyoaks – a character vastly different from the one she played on EastEnders.
I’m generally a cheerful and approachable person, so it was fun to play such a cold-hearted character who enjoys killing. It’s completely different from my own personality! My character, Clare, is like the tough, confident persona you wish you had when dealing with bullies.
I recently returned to Hollyoaks for some filming, but I can’t share any details about what’s happening! It won’t be a long-term return, as my character, Clare, is someone who appears and disappears. She couldn’t really settle down in the village because of all the trouble she’s caused in the past. But if Hollyoaks needs some excitement, Clare is always there to deliver it!
Compared to the dramatic world of Hollyoaks, actress Bissix says she’s finding her work on EastEnders more satisfying. She appreciates the show’s realistic acting and genuine emotional performances – you can’t even tell when Clare Devine is pretending to cry! Bissix feels EastEnders is more believable, and she especially connects with her character, Clare Bates, who she feels is very similar to her own personality.
Bissix is thrilled to be working at the place where her career began. With Nigel now receiving full-time care, his time may be limited, which will allow Clare to visit him more often.
Bissix points out that Nigel, sadly, won’t be with us forever. His passing will be a great loss. Meanwhile, Clare is leaving, but she’s managed to improve relationships, particularly with Julie.
It would be interesting to see how their relationship as stepmother and daughter develops, and for them to support each other. I’d like to think Clare would come to a funeral if one were to happen, but there are no definite plans right now.
I recently caught up with the actress, and she shared a really sweet thought. She told me Clare, her former character’s counterpart, is happily married with a child, and she’s hoping to reconnect with them someday. She even floated the adorable idea of her own 10-year-old daughter playing Clare’s child in a future project – honestly, the thought just warmed my heart! It would be a fantastic full-circle moment.
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2026-03-02 23:07