List of Hollyoaks Characters (2007) - Melissa Hurst

Melissa Hurst was originally a friend to Sarah Barnes, whom she met when the two worked together on a modelling shoot. Through Sarah, Melissa met and grew close to Hannah Ashworth after discovering she is bulimic, an illness which Melissa also suffered from. Melissa helped Hannah to be subtle and hide her eating disorder, encouraging her to exercise regularly, go without food and to stay away from her family and friends so that she is not 'tempted' by food or alcohol - even persuading Hannah to stay at home when her family went to France.

This period of the Ashworths being in France, leaving their house to Hannah and Gilly for the duration saw Melissa become a central character in the show’s plot. Melissa spent almost the whole of this time living at the Ashworths claiming she didn't want to go home, as her Mum would have forced her to eat. Hannah promised that she and Melissa would get through bulimia together and the girls soon started an extreme work out regime drinking only water and eating very little. Melissa had difficulties with Gilly Roach who thought she and Hannah were taking drugs because of the change in Hannah's personality, a fear also shared by her friends Sarah, Nancy Hayton and John-Paul McQueen whose suspicions were reinforced when Sarah overheard Hannah and Melissa in the SU bar's toilets about "disposing of the evidence" and later the same evening, Hannah passing out.

Upon the return of the Ashworths from France, Hannah’s mother Suzanne Ashworth was concerned as to how skinny Hannah had become. Melissa sarcastically stated that she had given Hannah drugs, resulting in Melissa being banned from the house. Melissa though continued to visit Hannah, angering Gilly. Hannah and Melissa threatened to say he had raped Hannah if he spoke out against Melissa. In spite of these threats, Gilly alerted Rhys Ashworth to his concerns about Melissa and she was forcibly ejected from the Ashworth's barbecue. Melissa had complained about a headache during the barbecue and continued to feel unwell as, after being ejected, she and Hannah stood in the rain waiting for a taxi. Melissa collapsed and was admitted to intensive care.

Hannah visited Melissa in hospital and told her she was all she had in the world and she was happy they met. Melissa tells her she's a true friend. Hannah applies make-up to Melissa, who was so weak she couldn't open her lip gloss. There was a montage showing the wires, drips, Melissa's bones sticking out and Hannah's family looking for answers back at her home. Hannah cries throughout this entire segment. The song "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant played throughout.

Melissa eventually engineered a plot to escape to Milan with Hannah, through fear that if she stayed in hospital and continued to be force-fed she would have got fat. Hannah agreed to the plan because she was fed up with her family interfering in her life. The two friends successfully escaped the hospital the next day, but had to return to Hannah's home to retrieve her passport; where Rhys and Suzanne grab her to prevent her from going. Melissa argued with Hannah's family before the stress of the situation caused her to collapse from a heart attack and despite Suzanne's attempts to revive her, Melissa died shortly after. Hannah then cradled Melissa's body, crying hysterically.

Melissa's death was one of the few episodes to not feature a wrap-up scene following the end credits.

In the episode following her death, a vision of Melissa reappeared to Hannah, as Hannah struggles to cope with her grief and is terrified that her mother will use Melissa's death to force her to eat. Hannah is seen trying on Melissa's dress (during the scene we see a flashback of Melissa proudly modelling the size zero dress for Hannah) Hannah however struggles to fit into the outfit, and a vision of Melissa appears and zips it up for Hannah, before vanishing.