| Character Profile | List of appearances |
Clare Devine (née Black; previously Cunningham) was the daughter of gangster Fraser Black and Tracey Donovan as well as the younger sister of Grace Black and older half sister of Adam, Liam and Jesse Donovan.
Clare is remembered for her cold, devious, and villainous ways; striking a feud with gangster Warren Fox and O.B. as well as later killing three people, but most importantly her relationship with Max Cunningham.
Clare was subjected to a classic soap whodunnit in June 2007 in a storyline titled Who Pushed Clare Devine? due to Clare making a lot of enemies by that time. Clare departs in September 2007 after making too many enemies, but would later return in May 2009 as part of Warren's exit storyline. Clare was then seen again four years later between March and October 2013. She would eventually be killed off after being purposely struck by a driven car by fellow villain Paul Browning.
Biography[]
1982-2005: Backstory[]
Clare is born in June 1982 to the dangerous gangster, Fraser Black and her timid alcoholic mother, Tracey Donovan alone with her older sister, Grace Black. The two girls where raised by Fraser and witnessed countless crimes such as multiple beatings and in some cases murder. During her late teens or early adulthood Clare slept with with Fraser's right-hand man, Trevor Royle, and fell pregnant with his child but Fraser found out Clare was pregnant and not knowing it was Trevor's baby pushed Clare down a flight of stairs causing her to lose the baby.
2005-2006: Arrival & Conning Max[]
Clare is first seen when she arrives for an interview at The Loft in December 2005 and both Max Cunningham and O.B. take an instant attraction towards Clare. Clare manages to settle in Hollyoaks rather quickly and goes in dates with both Max and O.B. but eventually chooses to be with Max and their relationship goes from strength to strength and Clare is eventually asked by Max to move in with him to which she agrees.
Clare soon finds herself making a lot of friends with the local females especially that of both Mandy Hutchinson and Louise Summers and helps Louise try and scam her ex-husband Sean Kennedy, who flirts with Clare none stop but Clare although enjoys it at first she seems to want to be loyal towards Max and by Clare's dark side starts to be more noticeable by April 2006 when she after months of fobbing off Sean eventually sleeps with him and this is spotted by Mel Burton but when Mel attempts to expose their affair, Clare uses Mel's alcoholism as a means to defect it towards Mel but Tom overhears a conversation between Clare and Sean but Clare manages to talk Tom around that she and Sean where just joking.
Clare then finds herself in the of a feud with O.B. who is clicking on towards Clare's lying and scheming this causes Clare to plot against O.B. and she manipulates Max and drives a wedge between Max and O.B. and eventually Max proposes to Clare whom accepts she also tells Max that she needs £50,000 for an infertile issue however Clare plans to leave Hollyoaks village, O.B. finds this out but Clare plants drugs in him so he gets arrested, Clare later stays and ends up sleeping with Warren Fox who she has a lust/hate relationship with and thanks to The Loft's CCTV footage they are caught by Mel and Sophie whom show O.B. the three then later meet and threaten Clare to leave Max or they will show him the evidence of her cheating seeing no option Clare leaves in a panic and packs her bags but Sam Owen has escaped prison and sets The Dog on fire which kills Mel and Sophie, Clare then takes the tape from O.B. who is in a coma and destroys it.
Clare along with Warren starts to take cocaine and they are eventually caught by Max, Clare blames the sexual abuse she endured as a child but Max takes Cocaine in an attempt to impress Clare but ends up having a heart attack and its afterwards when Clare discovers that Max has life insurance worth £500,000. Seeing pound signs Clare then plots to kill Max in order to get the money at first Clare tempers with Max's medication and also keeps him in his room away from people he loves by Christmas, Clare puts a plan into action when she takes Max and Tom away at a cabin where she tricks Max into believing that Tom has drowned but this was not the case and due to Max being weak due to Clare tampering with his medication is unable to swim Clare is taunting towards Max and its seen that Tom is locked in the car by Clare but luckily O.B. has managed to track them down and punches Clare before jumping in the Lake to save Max. Clare is then arrested but released but not without Max now realising her true intentions.
2007: Feuds, Whodunnit and Departure[]
Clare returns a month later in January 2007 as she picks Tom up from his school without Max noticing and is left in a panic but he and O.B. find Tom with Clare and Clare threatens to make Max's life a living hell as well as making a disrespecting remark about Max's deceased father, Gordon Cunningham this prompts Max to attempt to attack Clare but Clare again manipulates the situation when she starts attacking herself to make it look as though Max attacked her this leads Clare to ring the Police and they arrive as Max, O.B. and their friend,Tony Hutchinson throw Clare out and Clare is happy when Max is taken to the station by Calvin Valentine but thanks to both O.B. and Tony being there Max is released.
After this Clare is finally signed over full ownership of The Loft by Max who in return gets his house but Clare now finds herself clashing with Warren who was employed as the manager under Max the two often clash as Warren himself is after The Loft she becomes further annoyed when Warren employs his lacky, Justin Burton but Clare manages to use this to her advantage when she starts to seduce Justin in an effort to get him to spill on Warren's dodge dealings. Clare then eventually finds Sean's wallet whom has been murdered by Warren, Clare attempts to use Sean's credit card but fails and as a bargaining chip keeps his wallet but Justin retrieves it as Clare rings the Police to report Warren for Sean's murder but his released and is angry when Warren is released thinking fast Clare exposes Justin's and Warren's sister, Katy Fox's relationship this lead Warren to attack Justin and Clare rings the Police as his doing so but again is released.
During and after all of the above Clare manipulates Louise into having an abortion but with Calvin believing that is was a miscarriage Clare gleefully tells him the truth which caused them too split up. Also continuing her feud with Max, Clare rings Social Services on him and lies when she tells them that Tom is unsafe with Max as she feels that Max is physically abusing Tom and Clare stoops even lower when she tells Tom his the reason that baby Grace died and that he will soon cause Max to die this obviously scares Tom who Clare takes pleasure in upsetting.
By June 2007, Clare has made that many enemies due to her schemes and manipulation of others. It soon comes back to bite Clare one night when she is attacked and left for dead when she's pushed off The Loft balcony buy she's unaware who it was as it could be a number of people, Max for her trying to kill him and getting Tom taken away from him, O.B. for Clare taunting him over the deaths of Mel and Sophie, Louise for Clare ruining her relationship with Calvin, Warren for the long-standing feud between them as well as blackmailing him over Sean's murder and Calvin for talking Louise into getting an abortion at first Clare tells The Police its Warren this leads him to be arrested and charged but by August 2007, Warren is found not guilty as he has an alibi is Mercedes McQueen as he had slept with her at the time of the attack.
Clare is then bought out by Warren in September 2007 who buys The Loft off Clare for £500,000. Clare is then outed by everyone who hates her but her big shock is when she's about to leave and is told by Justin that he was the one who in fact pushed her as he had heard Clare bad mouthing his deceased sisters Mel and Sophie, Clare gets her revenge by kidnapping Katy and is chased down by Warren, Justin and Max which leads to Clare driving off a cliff into a lake, Warren saves Katy but Clare is no where to be seen the four of the assume Clare is dead however this is not the case as Clare is seen arriving at an airport taking to what seems to be a wealthy businessman.
2009: Revenge on Warren[]
Clare returns in May 2009 in order to carry out her revenge on Warren as everything that has gone wrong in her life all links back to him she knocks an oblivious Warren unconscious and ties him to a chair she taunts him but is struggling to go through with killing him Calin arrives and sees Warren in trouble but decides to leave as he wants Warren out of his sisters, Sasha Valentine's life, Clare also plans to rinse Warren out of every penny he has as Clare later, Hannah Ashworth arrives who is looking for Justin thinking its Justin who Clare also wants revenge on and has been trying to get Warren to get him to The Loft hits out but knocks Hannah out as Clare threatens Warren with a match after pouring alcohol all over the club, Hannah awakens and attacks Clare and this leads them to both fall over the stairs knocking them out The Loft burns down but not before Clare and Hannah escape/are saved the fire seemingly killed Warren who was thought to have died. Clare is arrested for Warren's murder the following week after being punched by Sasha. Warren is in fact revealed to be alive over a year later in October 2010 having survived his encounter with Clare.
2013: Return/Death[]
Some point before returning to Hollyoaks village in March 2013, Clare managed to meet Paul Browning while in Las Vegas and plans to scam Browning while working with Mercedes who is now the wife of Browning the two women plan a fake kidnap and ransom scenario so Browning pays up. Clare along with Mercedes demands £100,000 or Mercedes will be killed but Browning manages to click on its Clare she also tries to get Browning to buy The club now knowing as Chez Chez. Browning agrees to do so but as they are about to sign for partnership, Clare leads on that she already knew Mercedes prior to this clicking on Browning rips up the contract which angers Clare.
Mercedes clocks on that Clare has also been lying to her and attempts to call it quits on scamming her husband but Clare has none of it and knocks out Mercedes and holds her for ransom for real. Mercedes' older sister Jacqui manages to get the money Clare is asking for but the bag is unintentionally taken by student Leanne Holiday. Clare takes drastic action when she locks Mercedes in a cage and threatens to set some aggressive dogs of her Clare also knocks our Browning by hitting with a rock and locks him in the cage with Mercedes before fleeing after fleeing Clare sneaks into The Dog and scares Tom who is shocked as well as terrified on seeing Clare, Clare accuses Tom having her ransom money a scared Tom pleas to Clare that he does not have it but Jack and Darren Osborne manage to realise Tom is in danger and Clare attempts to flee but Darren manages to stop her and Clare is then arrested and sent back to Prison.
Clare is seen months later when its revealed that she is the daughter of Fraser Black who visits her with his lawyer, Jim McGinn, Fraser promises that he will get Clare out of Prison but Clare is not pleased seeing Fraser and it's clear that there is no love for her father but Jim manages to get Clare off after been threatened by Fraser to do so after her release Clare is given The Loft by Fraser and its revealed that she sets out to harm her father and enlists the help of Trevor Royle who is Fraser's main guy but Trevor backs out but after Fraser cuts him out he opts back in before it's also revealed Clare was in fact pregnant with Trevor's baby in her later Teens as she had slept with him but Fraser pushed her down a flight of stairs which caused Clare too loose the baby. Clare plans to kill Mercedes and the rest of her family during Mercedes' 30th birthday who Clare gives The Loft as a free venue. Trevor gets a bomb from one of his contacts and Clare plans to blow up The Loft with it with The McQueens inside however Sinead O'Connor sees Trevor thinking it's a bag of money steals it and takes it to the flat of Ste Hay and Doug Carter who are having a leaving party, Clare then later detonates the bomb after struggling with Trevor who realised Kathleen-Angel McQueen was at the party, Clare not realising it's been moved denotes it anyways which causes the falt to explode which kills, Leanne Holiday, Doug Carter and Ash Kane. Clare tells Mercedes it was meant for her and her family angry this causes the women to fight but Clare is killed when shes purposely struck down by Browning whom has escaped Prison.
Kill Count[]
Murders[]
- Ash Kane, 17th October 2013 - Died from injuries sustained in explosion caused by Clare.
- Doug Carter, 17th October 2013 - Died from injuries sustained in explosion caused by Clare.
- Leanne Holiday, 21st October 2013 - Died from injuries sustained in explosion caused by Clare.
Attempted Murders[]
- Max Cunningham, 27th December 2006 - After tampering with his medication for weeks, Clare tricks him into jumping into a lake telling him Tom is drowning but after Max jumps in he realises Clare tricked him, and is too weak to swim out. Clare watches him start to drown, but O.B. shows up and saves him.
- Justin Burton, 19th September 2007 - Kidnapped Justin's girlfriend and Warren's sister Katy Fox and ordered Warren to kill Justin as revenge for him trying to kill her, but Warren and Max try to fake his death instead but Clare see's through their ploy.
- Justin Burton, 29th May 2009 - Lured him to The Loft with Warren's phone planning to kill him and Warren, but Hannah Ashworth showed up and Clare attacked her by mistake.
- Warren Fox, 29th May 2009 - Knocked him out and tied him up in The Loft and after mistakenly attacking Hannah. Clare sets fire to The Loft and is immediately attacked by Hannah and they both crash through the banister landing on the first floor knocking them both unconscious and Warren is later saved by Dale Greer.
- Mercedes McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Attempted to blow her up during her birthday party in the The Loft as revenge for her sending her to prison but Sinead O’Connor took the bag with the bomb inside, mistakenly thinking it was full of money, to Ste Hay and Doug Carter's leaving party resulting in the deaths of Ash Kane, Doug Carter and Leanne Holiday.
- Jim McGinn, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including him.
- John Paul McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including him.
- Nana McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Phoebe McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Theresa McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Carmel Valentine, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Kathleen-Angel McQueen, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Lindsey Roscoe, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
- Cindy Cunningham, 15th October 2013 - Tried to blow up the whole McQueen family including her.
See Also[]
Gallery[]
