ITV drama Footballers’ Wives became staple viewing in the noughties, known for its outrageous moments, wild sex scenes and shocking deaths – and launching the careers of stars including Hollyoaks hunk Gary Lucy.
Following the lives of the footballers at Earls Park Football Club and their wives and girlfriends, the series recently returned to streaming services in 2021 – much to the delight of fans.
The programme also featured some of the biggest names in soaps, including EastEnders icon Gillian Taylforth and Coronation Street’s Ben Price.
Following the news that Gary Lucy’s character Luke Morgan will be leaving Hollyoaks after a flash back scene in the soap showing Luke’s funeral, many viewers will be wondering what Gary will do next.
After the actor hinted back in 2018 that he would be open to rejoining a reboot of Footballers’ Wives, Daily Star has taken a look at some of the wildest and some of the most shocking moments involving soap stars in the programme.
Jackie and Jason’s pool table romp
(Image: ITV)
EastEnders icon Gillian Taylforth is famous for playing Kathy Beale in the BBC soap, but landed another iconic role when she starred as Jackie Pascoe-Webb in Footballers’ Wives, alongside Hollyoaks’ Ray McCormick actor Cristian Solimeno as footballer Jason Turner.
The two soap icons collided (quite literally) in the first ever series of Footballers’ Wives, in one of the programme’s most memorable – and steamiest – scenes.
Though Jason was married to Tanya Turner, he had a saucy pool table romp with Jackie – who also happened to be the mother of his team mate Kyle Pascoe, played by Hollyoaks hunk Gary Lucy.
Fast forward a few months later and the story became even wilder, when Jackie ended up pregnant with Jason’s baby.
In a bid to keep the affair a secret, the baby was adopted by her son Kyle and his wife Chardonnay, after the couple had problems having a baby of their own.
Tanya Turner kills Frank
Footballers’ Wives is known for its outrageous plots, with all the action beginning straight from the get go in episode one.
Hollyoaks’ Reenie McQueen star and EastEnders’ Vanessa Gold actress Zoe Lucker played the villainous Tanya Turner, who attempted to kill Earls Park Football Club boss Frank – twice.
The first episode saw Tanya attack Frank, causing him to hit his head, and in a panic, she pushed Frank’s car to the side of the road alongside her husband Jason, to make it appear that he had injured himself in a car accident.
Frank survived, and as Tanya was left in debt following the death of husband Jason, she married Frank, but wanted out of the relationship – and concocted a vile plan to get rid of him.
Knowing he suffered heart problems, Tanya had a raunchy night of romance with Frank – subsequently causing her husband to have a heart attack and die in one of the show’s most shocking scenes.
Tanya was known for a raunchy scene or two, even surprising fans when she got into a steamy entanglement with Coronation Street Nick star Ben Price, who played Conrad Gates in the show.
Their raunchy scene saw the two having sex on top of a washing machine, giving viewers a glimpse of Ben Price’s bottom in the process.
Speaking about Tanya’s now famous raunchy scenes, actress Zoe Lucker told The Mirror: “I can’t believe I did some of those sex scenes – I’d never do that now. I was semi-naked most of the time!”
Katie Price joins Shannon and Harley’s wedding
Casualty’s Max Walker star Jamie Davis played Harley Lawson in Footballers’ Wives, who married Shannon Donnelly – only for the wedding to be upstaged by a surprise celebrity cameo.
Footballers’ Wives was used to some of the biggest celebrities at the time turning up in the show, including the famous Joan Collins appearance, but Katie Price’s cameo has to be one of the most iconic.
(Image: Shed Productions)
Katie Price was a surprise guest at Shannon and Harley’s wedding, seen spending the evening with Darius Fry, who had originally joined the programme as a character in the spin off, Footballers’ Wives: Extra Time.
Coronation Street actor Peter Ash, who played Darius in the programme, could be seen dancing with Katie throughout the wedding – with Katie even landing a speaking role in the show too.
Bruno Milligan accidentally shoots Conrad Gates
(Image: ITV)
Two more soap icons collided in Footballers’ Wives – this time in a brutal showdown between Coronation Street’s Nick actor Ben Price as Conrad Gates, and Hollyoaks’ Ben Bradley actor Ben Richards as Bruno Milligan.
An angry Bruno was trying to find his wife Lucy, who had left him to escape his abuse, and was embarking on a relationship with a man called Doctor Giles.
While trying to find the Doctor, Bruno accidentally fired his gun at a man he thought was Giles, but instead the victim turned out to be Conrad – who died instantly in one of the drama’s most unexpected deaths.
Chardonnay’s accident
(Image: Carlton TV)
Hollyoaks heart throb Gary Lucy might be known to viewers as Luke Morgan, but he is also known to a generation of fans as footballer Kyle Pascoe in Footballers’ Wives.
Kyle was involved in some of the soap’s biggest plot lines, including his marriage to glamour model Chardonnay, played by Gary’s future Hollyoaks co-star Susie Amy – who also appeared in rival soaps Coronation Street and Casualty too.
However, Kyle and Chardonnay’s wedding was nearly called off after a horrific accident.
Chardonnay was celebrating her upcoming wedding in the first ever series of Footballers’ Wives, but disaster struck when she was harassed by fans at her hen party.
Her breasts later caught fire after an accident involving the fans, in one of the drama’s most harrowing and shocking scenes ever.
Fortunately Chardonnay recovered, and she and Kyle celebrated their marriage – but it was not to last as both characters subsequently died in later series.
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
