| Blessing Chambers | |||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Modupe Adeyeye | ||||||||
| First appearance | 21 February 2014 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 21 November 2014 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Created by | Jonathan Larkin | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||
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Blessing Chambers is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, portrayed by Modupe Adeyeye. She made her first appearance on 21 February 2014, with the character and casting having been announced earlier that month. Adeyeye had to audition several times for the role and tried to enjoy the role as she was unsure if she would be successful. Hollyoaks producer Bryan Kirkwood was a fan of the actresses' work after seeing her in EastEnders: E20. Blessing was introduced as a glass collector at a strip club that ends up being fired when Dennis Savage (Joe Tracini) gets her into trouble. Blessing was characterised as not having had much luck in her past and thus she moves to Hollyoaks for a fresh start and new opportunities. Blessing was also characterised as being a colourful character and having a colourful dress style, which was different to Adeyeye's style. The actress teased that Blessing would be a big character and would bring happiness to the lives of Dennis and others.
Blessing was later revealed to be a transgender woman, which was used to explore the character's backstory. Hollyoaks scriptwriter Jonathan Larkin revealed that he had the original idea for the character after being inspired by a friend of his in addition to actress Laverne Cox's character in Orange Is the New Black and journalist Paris Lees. Larkin explained that the soap wanted to educate people through Blessing's storylines and to give viewers going through similar experiences as Blessing a storyline that they could relate to. Hollyoaks worked with organisations The Gender Trust and All About Trans throughout the storyline and held workshops with the latter. Blessing faces mixed responses when her transgender status is revealed, and Dennis initially breaks up with her as he feels that he was lied to, but they later reconcile.
Blessing's other storylines have included being attacked by Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice), trying to track down her parents and trying to help her friend Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson) escape her abusive relationship. The character was used in both serious and comedy storylines. Blessing was also used to tackle the issue of self-harm, with the character cutting herself on a few occasions. Blessing was later written out of the soap opera and last appeared on 21 November 2014, departing alongside Dennis. Her exit storyline involved her being tracked down by Dennis and Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) after stealing his diamonds. Blessing received positive reception from critics and she was seen as the most high profile transgender character in British television during her stint on the soap.