'Hollyoaks' star Nikki Sanderson thinks it's a "good thing" that her character Maxine Minniver's Munchausen's Syndrome is out in the open.
Nikki Sanderson
The 35-year-old actress' alter ego Maxine had been lying about being ill in a bid to keep her husband Damon Kinsella (Jacob Roberts) but now her secret is out and she has been isolated in the village and has lost her man as he's been sent to prison for stealing charity money to help the love of his life.
Nikki has enjoyed the challenge of portraying a character with a factitious disorder like Munchausen's Syndrome as it is a condition that not many people know much about.
In an interview with the new issue of Inside Soap magazine, she said: "I think it's a good thing that it is out in the village. Munchausen's isn't something a lot of people have heard of, so it's good that it's being talked about more on screen, and it's a bit more in the public domain."
Nikki is sure that viewers of the Channel 4 series will have sympathy for Maxine and understand that her condition made her behave badly, but she thinks the other residents in the village will take some time to forgive her and accept that she lied about being seriously ill and even took donations because she has a mental health problem.
She added: "I get why people wouldn't have any sympathy for her at first, because as far as everyone can see, Maxine's being a devious, nasty person. But you wouldn't blame someone with a mental health issue for their actions, so why would you blame someone with Munchausen's?"
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