Jeremy Sheffield kept trying to make Nikki Sanderson laugh when they filmed her labour scenes.
The ‘Hollyoaks’ actress – who plays Maxine Minniver – admits it was "frightening" trying to convincingly depict giving birth on screen but her co-star, who portrays demon headmaster Patrick Blake, did his best to lighten the mood.
She said: "It was frightening. It was amazing and fun to do, especially with Jeremy – though he thought it was funny to laugh in my face all the way through."
And Nikki – whose alter ego goes into labour in the midst of the train crash that rocks Hollyoaks village next week – admits she was relieved to have been praised for her work by one of the show’s advisers.
Speaking at a screening of the ‘Hollyoaks: End of the Line’ train crash episodes in London this morning (07.11.14), she said: "Having never given birth myself, it’s one of those things where you hope people will look and go, ‘It’s kind of like that’ … I was just glad there was no blood and guts but could just do it with my facial expressions.
"The midwife on set actually said she thought I’d had kids."
The 30-year-old actress loves playing Maxine because her storylines have been so diverse during her two years on the show.
She said: "I love the diversity of Maxine, she came in as quite a comedic character then we’ve had the domestic violence story … She goes through so many emotions, it’s like playing 10 different characters in one woman."
‘Hollyoaks’ airs weeknights on Channel 4 at 6.30pm, with first look episodes on E4 weeknights at 7pm.
Jeremy Sheffield laughed during Nikki Sanderson’s labour scenes
