'Hollyoaks' star wants smaller plots

Hollyoaks star Gemma Merna has admitted that she wants to have smaller storylines in 2009.

The actress claimed that her character Carmel McQueen deserves a break after being at the centre of high drama on the Channel 4 soap for months.

Carmel has tied the knot with Calvin Valentine (Ricky Whittle) this year but later faced heartbreak after being caught up in a church explosion which killed her sister Tina (Leah Hackett).

"This last year has been mental for me," Merna told the Daily Star. "The McQueens have had a huge year and I have been in the middle of it. It's been great, don't get me wrong, but it has been absolutely exhausting.

"I would like to see Carmel and Calvin settle down in the New Year and start to enjoy being married. I don't think they are ready at all to have children, but you never know what the future holds for them. They are a popular couple and if you ask me they are the best in the show - but I guess I would say that."

Asked about her own personal life, Merna replied: "I feel very lucky with everything I have got in both work and at home. Everything is just the way I had hoped and I just want that to carry on into next year."