Gerard McCarthy (Kris Fisher, 'Hollyoaks')

Hollyoaks actor Gerard McCarthy takes his character Kris Fisher to Ireland next week for a five-episode run of late-night shows, Hollyoaks - Later. Kris and brother Malachy (Glen Wallace) head home for a week in order to reveal their secrets to their mother, Ma Fisher (Gemma Craven). However, all doesn't go quite as expected. Here, Gerard chats to DS about Kris exposing his cross-dressing ways, Malachy and Mercedes's (Jennifer Metcalfe) will-they-won't they nuptials, and Ma Fisher's dirty little secret.

Why are Kris and Malachy in Ireland?
"Well, they go home to tell mum that dad's dead, Malachy's HIV positive, and Kris wears women's clothes and sleeps with boys sometimes. So we try to break all this to her as softly as we can, but don't really succeed."

They leave their dead dad Eamon in the pub, don't they?
"In the first episode, it's dad's cremation. Some unknown cheap airline has lost Kris's suitcase, leaving Kris with none of his clothes, so he's wearing some of Malachy's. He goes to the cremation wearing a suit and by the time they come back with the urn and ashes, Kris's suitcase has arrived. He then has full access to his entire wardrobe! Whilst everyone else is downstairs mourning dad, Kris goes upstairs and dresses up as Kylie Minogue… He wears this fantastic white 'I Can't Get You Out of My Head' costume, with the white hood and slits up the side, right up to his waist. That's complete with thigh-high PVC boots. He goes to the wake, where everyone else is dressed in black… Ma Fisher throws him out of the house because this is the first time she's seen this.

What happens next?
"Malachy goes after him and it's the first time that Malachy actually admires his brother for what he's done. They both have a secret that they're hiding from their mum. Kris has come out to her, but Malachy's still keeping his secret. They bond in the pub over their dad's ashes and they get very drunk. Three or four o'clock in the morning, they stumble home and realise they've left dad in the pub, but they leave him there! The tag scene of the episode is the urn sitting in front of the pub fire with a cap and glasses on, with a packet of cigarettes next to it!"

It's a whirlwind of secrets during their stay as they learn one of their mother's, too, don't they?
"Yeah… We find out that Ma Fisher has been having a bit on the side! So the two boys aren't the only ones with secrets. Basically, if you break down the strands, the Ireland story is all about secrets within the Fisher family. By the end of episode five, everyone knows where they stand. All of the secrets are out and it all slots together. It's quite funny, too, because during the episodes, Kris and Malachy come face-to-face with their ex-girlfriends. It's only when we meet them that we realise why Kris had to leave home."

And I hear you do a fantastic cover of B*Witched's 'C'est La Vie'?
"You find out when Kris, Malachy and their ex-girlfriends were younger, they wanted to be an all-singing, all-dancing group. They used to watch pop videos, learn them and perform in front of a mirror. Malachy's ex-girlfriend decides one night in the pub that she's going to re-enact one of the routines in the pub. Kris thinks it's a ridiculous idea and wants no part in it. She ends up going for it and there's this scene in a little Irish pub where everyone's over the age of 65, drinking pints. About 30 seconds into the routine, it cuts to Kris who's doubled over the bar in hysterics, before cutting to a scene in her head which depicts what she thinks she look like. In her head, everyone in the bar is dancing, doing B*Witched's 'C'est La Vie'. We're all dressed head to toe in denims and in her imagination, she thinks she's on Top Of The Pops!"

And you do a Kings Of Leon cover, too?
"Yeah. Basically, in the final episode of the week, Malachy asks Mercedes to marry him there and then - no planning, no picking dresses, no nothing. It's the most mismatched wedding ever. And the priest comes out of the pub and he's drunk! So Kris ends up stand up with a couple of guys who can play instruments and they do a version of the Kings of Leon song 'Use Somebody'. When I turned up to rehearsal, I thought I'd be getting the Kings Of Leon - with the bass guitarist, drummer and maybe keyboard. Instead, I had an acoustic guitar, a violin and a Bodhrán drum and I thought 'What is this?!' Only then did they tell me that I'd be doing an Irish version! It sounds a bit like something The Corrs would do!"

> Click here for more from Gerard McCarthy in Soap Scoop