User:DaniloDaysOfOurLives/Blessing

Blessing Chambers is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, portrayed by Modupe Adeyeye. She made her first appearance on 21 February 2014, with the character and casting having been announced earlier that month.

Casting and creation
In February 2014, it was announced that actress Modupe Adeyeye had joined Hollyoaks as new regular character, Blessing Chambers. The character's was also spelt "Chamber" in the announcement. Adeyeye had already begun filming at the time of the announcement and she made her first appearance as Blessing on 21 February 2014. Blessing was described as being "strong" and "colourful", but it was teased that viewers would soon find out that Blessing has not had "a lot of luck in the past". Hollyoaks scriptwriter Jonathan Larkin explained that he worked with Adeyeye in workshops and believed that she was very natural in her approach and had great instinct. Larkin revealed that Hollyoaks producer Bryan Kirkwood was a fan of Adeyeye after seeing her in EastEnders: E20 and wanted to work with her again, with the role feeling "perfect" as she "can be larger than life but she can also bring vulnerability and heart, and that's what we wanted for Blessing". He added that Adeyeye is not transgender herself, which was "definitely something that was not taken lightly, but she's an actress, and a good one, so I don't think she will disappoint". Larking had the original idea for the character and revealed that Blessing had been "buzzing" around his head for a while and that he felt a need to tell the story of a transgender woman arriving to the Hollyoaks village for a long time. Larkin considered the character to be his "brainchild", but admitted Blessing ended up being a "group effort" due to writers, storyliners and producers adding their inputs and further "layers that might not have been there in the first place" to characters. Discussing how he came up of the idea for the character, Larkin called the character an "amalgamation" of different people, explaining:

"'My good friend Ngunan, who's a radio DJ, inspired the first incarnation, the funky smart girl with heart and attitude. Having watched Orange Is the New Black and seeing Laverne Cox's character Sophia, the similarities with the Blessing I wanted to write were shining through. The tough exterior, the warm nature, coming from a hard knock life but never forgetting to be a glamorous ray of sunshine... it all just fitted together perfectly. Having read up on Paris Lees and her backstory, the inspiration just kept on coming and it felt like it was finally Blessing's time to shine.'"

Adeyeye knew about Blessing's history when she accepted the role and was very excited to be part of the storyline, commenting, "It's challenging, but I think if life's not challenging, it's not really worth living. I love being under pressure and not knowing what's going to happen each day, because it makes me push myself". The actress did one-to-one sessions with All About Trans to prepare for the role and remained in contact with the organisation later on in her stint, which she found helpful.

Development
Blessing is first introduced as a glass collector at a strip club which established character Dennis Savage (Joe Tracini) visits in February 2014. Dennis ends up getting Blessing in trouble with her boss, which puts Blessing's job and flat above the club – which is "currently all she has" – in jeopardy.

In April 2014, it was announced that a storyline would begin which would see Blessing as transgender. The storyline was also used to explore the character's "secret" backstory. Hollyoaks worked with organisations The Gender Trust and All About Trans in order to portray the storyline realistically and sensitively. The soap's writers had been influenced by transgender journalist and activist Paris Lees and by transgender actress Laverne Cox. Adeyeye found researching the character "really inspiring", adding that she hoped that Blessing's "story of a young trans woman who is loud and feisty and unapologetic proves to be a good role model. I hope that the people who need to be touched by her story will be." Hollyoaks had previously had another character, Jason Costello (Victoria Atkin), come out as transgender in 2010. However, it was explained that this storyline would be different, as it would focus more on Blessing's relationship with Dennis, and also because Blessing is further into her transition, having already started hormones for example.

In an interview with Digital Spy, Hollyoaks scriptwriter Jonathan Larkin praised the workshop that soap held with All About Trans whilst researching the character, saying that whilst he already knew some transgender people, he thought it was great get new input from other trans people in the story and character. Larkin got to know more about the "focused, personal take" on what it is like to transition though having one-to-ones with the workshop participants, explaining, "Having that human face-to-face interaction is imperative when trying to write the character going through their day-to-day struggles". Speaking about the aims for the character, Larkin explained that the soap wanted to tell "good stories" with Blessing, and to give readers who are going through similar stuff as Blessing a storyline that they can relate to. Larkin added that the soap also wanted to show viewers who do not any trans people that they do not have "two heads", adding that "Ignorance is bred from lack of visibility and lack of awareness. By the time people learn of Blessing's trans status, they'll have known her for a few months and will realise she's no different to the girl they've been enjoying on screen so far. They just know a bit more about her". Larkin disclosed that the Hollyoaks team felt that they had a big responsibility with Blessing being the "most high-profile trans character on UK TV" due to the departure of Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh), but that they were happy that they were passed the "trans torch" and wondered if other shows would "follow suit", as he was shocked by the lack of transgender people on TV.

Larkin teased that Blessing would get a mixed reaction from the village when they find out about her being trans, adding, "It's not a bed of roses but then it's not wall to wall misery either". Larkin believed that many of Blessing's issues are due to her always thinking the worst, which Larkin related to as he was like that when he came out as gay, adding, "Expecting people to just cut you off, hate you, be horrible… and a lot of that is just your self-loathing manifesting itself". Larkin explained that because of this, there would be "pleasant surprises" when people take Blessing to their hearts for who she is, but that it would not be easy due to there also being bigotry and ignorance, though Larkin believed that Blessing would "prevail" due to being a "tough cookie". Larkin teased that Dennis would not understand straight away, adding that Dennis will "react quite badly to start, which I think is a very human thing. He says the wrong thing, freaks out… It wouldn't be a story if he just accepted it. Nobody wants to watch a soap about people skipping along with no hurdles, no hiccups." Larkin called Dennis and Blessing's romance – like the others on the soap – a "rollercoaster" and questioned whether Dennis would do the right thing. The scriptwriter also teased that Blessing would be involved in other fun and dark storylines, and commented that it was great to put Blessing in other characters' storylines as "she's a bit of a firecracker, there's no telling what chaos she'll cause! Her heart's in the right place though".

The storyline sees Dennis and Blessing grow closer, with Blessing keen to take their relationship slowly. Dennis then "lays his heart on the line" after finding a testicular lump and, fearing the worst, needs support Blessing and his friends. As he knows he can rely on Blessing, he confides in her about the lump and later decides to "live life to the full" and tells Blessing that he would marry her immediately if he could. Blessing rejects Dennis after being freaked out by his "pushy attitude", but she later confides to Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) that she is a transgender woman and she was originally named Tyson Delaney, and that she is hesitant as Dennis does not know. Blessing also reveals that she has a "troubled" background and spent time in a Young Offender Institution before moving to Hollyoaks for a new life. Explaining why Blessing confided to Tony, Adeyeye explained that Tony is "just there" when she is feeling so stressed and needs someone to release to. The actress added that Blessing would love to be honest with Dennis and will be honest with him eventually, but added that Blessing feels she cannot be honest as she is scared of losing him, adding, "I think it's just one of those things, if you really love someone and you really have a great bond with them, I think it's harder to tell them the truth than someone you don't care about". It is revealed to viewers that Blessing's parents, who are unaware of Blessing's transition and true identity, have hired a private investigator to track her down, which worries Blessing. Although Blessing pleads with Tony to keep her secret, he urges her to tell Dennis; she tries to tell him initially, but this does not happen as he decides to move out following her rejection.

Blessing decides to tell Dennis about her past when he finds Missing person posters about "Tyson". Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy hinted that this would be a "big week" for blessing. When Blessing confides in Dennis that she is transgender, he is initially stunned and unhappy as he feels that Blessing has lied to him. Tracini added hat Dennis is also "obviously shocked" when Blessing eventually confesses to him due to a lot of stuff having happened in the lead up to the reveal, and that "all of the things [Dennis] could have gone through in his head, this just doesn't enter into it." Tracini himself was unsure of how he would react if he was in that situation, saying, "I hope that in human beings just as a thing is that if you fall in love with the person, it doesn't matter about anything else because you love them and not anything else". Adeyeye explained that "Dennis is shocked, as any other man would be. He's not used to hearing something like that. He met Blessing as Blessing and he didn't know that she used to be Tyson Delaney". However, the actress did not believe that that would be the end of their relationship as she believed that they are "better" and "stronger" than that. Tracini teased that the couple would try to deal with the revelation, as this is not something that they have gone through on that level. He added, "It's just watching them struggle with finding a balance between both of their personalities and what they're both going through and at the same time trying to stay together through it because they love each other".

Writers also created conflict between Blessing and Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice). The "unlikely pair" are matched in a Speed dating event and Finn's sister, Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis), who wants revenge against her family, deliberately causes trouble between them by tampering with Blessing's comment card. Believing that Blessing has called him a freak, Finn shows his "nasty side" by calling Blessing a "skank" and shoving the card down her top. In another storyline, Finn attacks Blessing. Larkin had previously teased that Blessing's future storylines would involve violence.

Larkin had previously teased that they had written Blessing's mother.

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a576655/hollyoaks-blessing-chambers-gives-dennis-relationship-ultimatum/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a581937/hollyoaks-dennis-begs-blessing-not-to-leave-spoiler-pictures/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a586724/hollyoaks-maxine-minniver-escapes-from-patrick-new-spoiler-pictures/

Larkin had previously teased that Hollyoaks would tackle the issue of self-harm through Blessing's character.

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a589669/hollyoaks-blessing-chambers-to-collapse-after-self-harming-spoiler-pictures/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a609360/hollyoaks-dennis-savages-final-scenes-to-air-next-week/

Reception
Following the announcement of Blessing coming out as transgender, Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy speculated that Blessing would become the "most high-profile trans character" in UK television. Kilkelly later called Blessing's revelation to Dennis "brave". Paris Lees wrote in an article that Blessing had been "brightening up Hollyoaks" and also called Blessing "most high profile trans character on British television". Lees wrote that Blessing's story of spending time in a male juvenile detention centre making her realise that she wanted to live life as a woman upon release was a story that Lees "know[s] well". Lees also "made no secret of the fact" that she believes that trans actors play trans roles better.