Nikki Sanderson suffered from whiplash after filming an altercation on the set of ‘Hollyoaks’.
The 31-year-old actress – who has starred as Maxine Minniver on the Channel 4 soap since November 2012 – has revealed she "got bruising and whiplash" while filming scenes with her on screen partner Patrick Blake – played by Jeremy Sheffield – who abuses her.
It took the brunette beauty three weeks to recover from the incident although she insists she only has herself to blame.
She explained: "Jeremy is brilliant, we get on very well. We can push the boundaries. I would say, ‘Do this harder, grab me more severely’.
"I did get hurt a few times. I got bruising and whiplash for three weeks because when he was supposed to have hit me I twisted too quickly.
"It was my own fault but when I hit the floor I didn’t do it how they told me to land."
Nikki added she couldn’t be happier that tackling the theme of domestic abuse in the series has encouraged real-life victims to speak out.
She said: "Lots of people have come up to me in the street or written to me.
"One time on Newsnight a woman was telling her story anonymously about how for years she was beaten and just thought that was normality.
"Then she said she started watching Hollyoaks and she realised she was in a domestic violence relationship. Eventually she called the numbers recommended at the end of the episodes.
"It was just in time because she said the beatings were getting so severe, the next time she thought she would have been dead."
The star also believes the show’s gritty storylines have given it the upper hand over rival soaps and are responsible for landing it in the best soap and continuing drama prize categories at this year’s TV Baftas.
She told The Sun newspaper: "Over the last couple of years Hollyoaks has worked really hard and strived to be at the forefront of soaps.
"For many years it was seen as the underdog but now it’s doing extremely well."
Nikki Sanderson got whiplash on set
