Storylines
Mandy first appears as a schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a model and becomes romantically involved with Ollie Benson (Paul Leyshon). It is revealed that Mandy's father Dennis (David McAllister) had sexually and physically abused her when she was younger. Mandy takes a stand against her father and he is sentenced to seven years in prison. Mandy's life slowly returns to normal and she begins a relationship with Luke Morgan (Gary Lucy). When Luke is raped by Mark Gibbs (Colin Parry), he feels ashamed and ends his and Mandy's relationship. Unaware of the true reasons for Luke splitting up with her, Mandy embarks on short-lived relationships with Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) and Ben Davies (Marcus Patric). Luke admits the true reasons for ending the relationship to Mandy, who agrees to support him.
Mandy helps deliver half brother Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins) following their mother Helen Cunningham's (Kathryn George) pregnancy. Mandy's brother Lewis Richardson (Ben Hull) commits suicide following debt problems, which causes Mandy and Helen's relationship to suffer. After Mandy and Jamie Nash (Stefan Booth) sleep together, Adam Morgan (David Brown) confronts her about her behaviour and they pair are involved in a car accident, which leaves Adam paralysed. Mandy and local barman Toby Mills (Henry Luxembourg) begin a short relationship, which Toby ends. Mandy and Adam then begin a secret relationship, which ends when she sleeps with Luke again. Due to losing both Adam and Luke, Mandy confides in friend Laura Burns (Lesley Crawford), who becomes obsessed with Mandy. Laura attacks Mandy and locks her in her flat, later attempting to kill her. Mandy's stepbrother Max Cunningham (Matt Littler) rescues her with the help of Adam, Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard), Becca Hayton (Ali Bastian) and Laura's brother Brendan. Laura is later sectioned.
Mandy discovers her mother is having an affair with Tony, which soon ends, and also discovers that her father, who is dying of liver cancer, is being released from prison. After Dennis' release, Mandy confronts him and refuses to forgive him. She then buys him alcohol to make his death come sooner. When he eventually does die, Mandy begins to rebuild her life, turning to Tony for support despite his former affair with Helen. They become a couple, but soon cheat on each other; Tony with Ruth Osborne (Terri Dwyer) and Mandy with Ben. Despite this, they continue their relationship. When Helen and Gordon Cunningham (Bernard Latham) are killed in a car accident, Mandy is given guardianship of Tom, but later puts him in Max's care. Mandy's emotional turmoil worsens when she suffers a miscarriage, which causes her to hit Tony. After Tony is arrested for hitting her back, Mandy admits to abusing him first, they seek counselling and eventually marry in Rome. Shortly after returning, Mandy falls pregnant and gives birth to Grace Hutchinson. Grace dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A devastated Mandy is unable to talk to Tony about her daughter's death, turning instead to his brother Dominic Reilly (John Pickard). After sharing a brief kiss, Mandy leaves Tony and the village.
Mandy returns in 2007 for Becca's funeral after she is killed in prison. Mandy tells Tony that she is pregnant and in a serious relationship with a man named Mark. Months later, Tony receives a letter from Mandy informing him that she had given birth to a girl named Ella. Mandy returns to Hollyoaks again in June 2008 with Ella to attend the wedding of Max to Steph Dean (Carley Stenson). On her arrival, she reveals she and Mark have split up. Mandy and Tony's partner Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) begin a feud, Jacqui believing Mandy to be a threat. After the wedding, Max is run over and killed by Niall Rafferty (Barry Sloane). Mandy then decides to stay in Hollyoaks, becoming a wedding planner with Louise Summers (Roxanne McKee). Mandy works closely with Louise's fiancé Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas), which causes Louise to become suspicious of them. Mandy's stepsister Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) then makes Louise believe Mandy and Warren are having an affair. However, this pushes Warren further away from Louise, who turns to alcohol. Following more accusations from a drunken Louise, Mandy and Warren sleep together and begin an affair. Louise apologises for her behaviour. Cindy is suspicious of Mandy and Warren after finding Mandy's underwear. Louise then attacks Cindy, believing she is trying to split her and Warren up.
Warren ends his affair with Mandy, who, devastated, tells Louise the truth. After slapping Mandy, Louise tells her that Warren had murdered her previous husband, Sean Kennedy (Matthew Jay Lewis). A shocked Mandy reluctantly agrees to set Warren up before stealing his money. However, unknown to Mandy, Louise plots to kill Warren and frame Mandy. On the wedding day, CCTV footage of Warren and Mandy is shown to the wedding guests by Jacqui and Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane). Warren finds the gun Louise had planned to kill him with, resulting in him confronting and then suffocating her. Mandy decides to leave the village once more with Tony. Tony and Mandy go travelling, deciding to give their relationship another go. However, when Mandy tells Tony that she may not be able to have children of her own anymore, he is upset and returns to Hollyoaks, leaving Mandy stranded in a foreign country.
In October 2010, Mandy arrives at Steph's house. Darren asks Mandy why she is back and she reveals she came back to see Steph. Mandy and Tony talk over a bottle of wine and almost kiss. Mandy and Frankie Osborne (Helen Pearson) argue over custody of Tom. Tony begins to avoid Mandy after seeing her, so she confronts him about why he left her abroad. It is revealed that Mandy is in a relationship with Warren and they are planning to take revenge on Tony. Mandy discovers Tony is in debt and Dom had gone to Warren for money. Tony's restaurant Il Gnosh is burned down by an unseen arsonist. The fire spreads and Steph and Malachy Fisher (Glen Wallace) are killed. Mandy then meets Warren, believing he caused the fire. Panicking, she attempts to end their relationship, but he manipulates her after convincing her that he is the only person she can talk to and that he will solve all of her problems.
Mandy tells Tony that she wants to get custody of Tom, angering Frankie who tells Mandy she will not let her take Tom. Mandy tells Frankie that she will get custody because she is Tom's legal guardian. After months of Warren receiving threatening text messages, Mandy is exposed as his stalker. Mandy leaves the village after she tells Tony she originally wanted revenge on him and tells Tom she will be back for him. Mandy arrives at Cinergy after Cindy appoints her as manager. Upset about the way Cindy is spending Texas Longford's (Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove) dead grandfather's money, Mandy teams up with Texas and they decided to make fake art pictures so Cindy will buy them. Cindy discovers that Mandy has been scamming her but later forgives her, telling her she would have given her money if she needed it. Mandy and Tony reignite their relationship and begin living together. Tony and Mandy begin looking for jobs and after Tony gets a job as a chef he returns home to discover Mandy has left him a note and has left Hollyoaks.
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