| Darcy Wilde | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Aisling Jarrett-Gavin | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2017–18 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 13 March 2017 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 26 April 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Darcy Wilde (also Osborne, originally credited as Rebecca) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Aisling Jarrett-Gavin. Her casting and the introduction of Darcy was announced in January 2017, with the character making her first appearance on the episode broadcast on 13 March 2017. Darcy has been characterised as scheming, which has earned the character a reputation for being devious in British media, with the character been referred to as Devious Darcy in Hollyoaks media and by critics. Darcy was first mentioned in 2016 as the former fiancée Adam Donovan (Jimmy Essex), who had disappeared and was presumed dead. Adam's new girlfriend, Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson), begins digging into Darcy's disappearance and tracks Darcy down, which leads to Darcy moving to Hollyoaks in order to win Adam back.
Jarrett-Gavin revealed that Adam is the love of Darcy's life and that she is working to get him back. Darcy tries to get Adam back by telling him that he is the father of her son, Toby Wilde (Lucas Haywood), though Adam stays loyal to Maxine. She continues scheming by meddling in their wedding and engagement party, and she later begins a relationship and engagement with Adam's brother, Jesse Donovan (Luke Jerdy), in order to get closer to Adam and win him back. Darcy's plan is successful when Adam gets back together with her, but their happiness is threatened when she accidentally kills Adam and Jesse's mother, Tracey Donovan (Lisa Maxwell), who had found out that Adam was not the biological father of Toby. Adam then breaks up with Darcy when he finds out that his own father, Glenn Donovan (Neil Roberts/Bob Cryer), is Toby's true biological father.
Following the end of her storyline with Adam, Darcy was not written out, with the actress revealing that Darcy would get involved with another Hollyoaks family. This was revealed to be the Osborne family family, which begins when Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna) takes Darcy under his wing. Darcy then tries to con Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) out of his money, but she is thwarted. Thinking that Jack is dying, Darcy manipulates Jack into thinking that he has feelings for her and the two begin a relationship, much to the anger of Jack's family, who try to unsuccessfully expose Darcy's antics. Jarrett-Gavin explained that Darcy is trying to take Jack's money in order to provide the best possible life for Toby. The actress enjoyed working with McKenna and revealed that it was her favourite experience on the soap. When Darcy finds out that Jack is no longer dying, she attempts to poison him. Despite having second thoughts, the plan puts Esther Bloom (Jazmine Franks) in hospital when she consumes the poisoned drink intended for Jack. This ends Darcy and Jack's short marriage and leads to Darcy's departure, who leaves with Toby in order to escape paying for her crimes. Darcy made her last appearance on 26 April 2018, which was not announced prior.
Darcy has received a mixed reception. Some critics were excited for Darcy's arrival and the storylines it would create. Jarrett-Gavin revealed that viewers had mixed reactions towards Darcy, and she explained that she did not mind that some viewers hated Darcy as it meant that she had completed her portrayal of the character right. Critics and fans expressed disgust at Darcy's age-gap relationship with Jack, with Hollyoaks cast member Jessica Fox, (Nancy Hayton), also disliking their relationship. Some fans expressed happiness over Darcy's departure, whilst several critics and fans expressed joy when Darcy was caught out and exposed during her time on the soap.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).