| Esther Bloom | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jazmine Franks | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2011–2018 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 18 January 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 30 April 2018 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Paul Marquess | ||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | Hollyoaks Later (2013) | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Esther Bloom is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by actor Jazmine Franks. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 18 January 2011. Franks had previously auditioned for roles in the show. She did not think that she had secured the part of Esther and concentrated on her studies until she was informed. As an open lesbian, Esther is comfortable with her sexuality. Since her inception she has shared a friendship with the character Ruby Button (Anna Shaffer) but has long been subjected to her "bitchy" comments. She is characterised as having a "selfless consideration for others" despite being a "proverbial punchbag" for many characters. Esther found confidence when she decided to pursue a fashion career. Franks has said that upon doing so Esther's style also changed.
Esther's first romance is with Tilly Evans (Lucy Dixon) and through them the serial depicted a same sex kiss. Their involvement ceased when Tilly chose to remain single. In 2012, a series of storylines focused around the character were devised. Esther wins an internship with Company magazine. Off-screen the magazine's staff noticed Esther's liking of fashion and contacted Hollyoaks with the storyline idea. The character was later given a storyline focusing on effects of bullying, in which Maddie Morrison (Scarlett Bowman), Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis) and Ruby tease Esther. The bullying of Esther began to worsen and the production team set up a cross-over website titled DocYou to engage the audience with Esther's story. On 11 April 2018, it was announced that Franks would be leaving the show after 7 years and Esther departed on 30 April 2018.