Future of Channel 5 drama with Hollyoaks star revealed after one series
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The gritty drama debuted on Channel 5 last year and became an instant hit.
The network announced The Hardacres' return and gave fans a hint what they could expect in the second series.
Channel 5 said in a statement, saying: "The new season charts the Hardacres as they settle into Hardacre Hall and turn their attention to reshaping the world around them with all the ambition, friction, and fallout that entails."
The second series will also run for six hour-long episodes with no confirmed air date as yet.
Hollyoaks star, Claire, plays Mary on the show who is the matriarch of the Hardacre family, and is key to turning her family's fortunes around.
"What's interesting about Mary is she feels deeply for all the family members, all the people around her, and she does connect with them," the actress said ahead of the show's debut in 2024.
"Even though she finds there is a distance that comes later on, she regroups everyone – she's the anchor, the pioneer, the entrepreneur. She's the mother, the wife, the daughter.
"She's certainly not a wallflower."
Claire shot to fame on Hollyoaks and is best known for her role as Jacqui McQueen.
She is married to fellow actor Emmett J. Scanlan who she met on the set of the Channel 4 soap.
Hollyoaks star Claire Cooper leads the cast in Channel 5's the Hardacres
Other familiar faces in the series include much-loved actress Julie Graham, The Borgias' Liam McMahon, Coronation Street star Adam Little, Shannon Lavelle and Bridgerton's Zak Ford-Williams.
In the first series, the Hardacres family start as a poor family, whose fortunes suddenly change for the better thanks to a turn of events.
Their lives transform from living in a grimy fish dock to moving into a huge country estate and joining high society.
Along with confirming the return of The Hardacres, Channel 5 also announced a raft of other new and returning show, including a Christmas special of the hit crime drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries.
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EXCLUSIVE Revealed: How Martine McCutcheon ended up bankrupt for a second time after her work dried up and she blew her fortune on high spending
Martine McCutcheon appeared to have a golden financial future at the height of her fame thanks to roles in EastEnders the hit movie Love Actually. But MailOnline revealed exclusively on Saturday how she had gone bankrupt for a second time while her company owed £175,000 to the taxman. The astonishing reversal in her fortunes after a career - which included having a number one single and an Olivier Award as a West End stage star - have led to questions about what happened to the millions of pounds she earned. Now we can disclose that friends believe her money was frittered away thanks to her high spending habits and her acting work largely drying up in recent years. McCutcheon, 49 has previously admitted being obsessed with buying luxury goods such as Ralph Lauren sheets and Gucci bags. She has also made some highly questionable spending decisions such as paying 'thousands' to the Mafia to allow her glitzy wedding to her husband Jack McManus, 40, to go ahead in 2012 in Lake Como, Italy. Her poor health has also hit her earnings potential with her having been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) in 2011 and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in 2022. The final straw appears to have been the break-up of her marriage last year to singer songwriter Jack which apparently forced her to sell their five bed marital home in Surrey for £1,355,000. One source close to the star told MailOnline: 'Martine remains one of TV's most recognisable faces and a much-loved personality. 'You would think her performances in those two juggernauts alone would guarantee her work for life, but it hasn't worked out that way. 'She was well paid for both roles, but they were both more than 20-years-ago, and money does not last for ever if you do not invest it wisely. 'It has not helped that she loves the finer things in her life, and it is no secret that she has spent more than she should have done over the years. 'She has had bits and pieces of TV work recently – but nothing has come close to being a blockbuster role that might get her out of her financial mess. 'It's a real shame as she's immensely talented with a wealth of experience. Hopefully she can turn things around, but she's had a real tough time.' McCutcheon was said to be earning just £1.50 an hour as an assistant in Knicker Box before she shot to fame in 1995 at the age of 18 when she played Tiffany Mitchell in EastEnders. She stayed in the BBC1 show until 1998 when her character was killed off, and went on to launch a pop career, having a number one hit in 1999 with her song Perfect Moment. A Laurence Olivier Award followed in 2002 when she played Eliza Doolittle in the National Theatre's stage production of My Fair Lady. And Hollywood stardom beckoned in 2003 when she played Natalie, the Downing Street tea lady who caught the Prime Minister's eye in the romcom Love Actually, alongside Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley and Colin Firth. McCutcheon was widely acclaimed for her role as the love interest of the premier played by Grant, and she went to America where agents lined her up for meetings with movie producers But a Tinseltown career failed to materialise, and she instead turned to literature with her novel The Mistress becoming a top ten bestseller in 2009. McCutcheon's personal fortune was estimated as being at between £1.5m and £2m before she found herself another moneyspinning role as the face of Dantone's UK advertising campaign for its Activa yoghurt. But a look at her career in recent years shows shows how work and long term money-making opportunities appear to have largely passed her by since then. Her last major TV appearances were as herself in The Masked Singer in 2021 and a stint on Celebrity Gogglebox the previous year, in which she starred alongside her ex-husband Jack. McCutcheon's big screen role was in 2018 coming-of-age comedy film The Bromley Boys, about a teenager's support for his local team Bromley FC, described as the 'worst football team' in Britain in the late 1960s. Her last notable drama role on the small screen was even further back when she had a brief stint in Midsomer Murders in 2013. McCutcheon previously admitted that her world came crashing down following her diagnosis of ME in 2011, after previously fighting Lyme disease, which can cause fever, and Fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that creates pain throughout the body. The condition left her temporarily confined her to a wheelchair and battling extreme tiredness and depression while she stayed at home for a month, not wanting to see anyone. She claimed the illness was sparked by the pressures of her role in My Fair Lady back in 2001, coupled with her hectic lifestyle at the time. Martine said previously: 'I became a complete workaholic, I went to work and then I'd go to some shuzzy do, and I tried to escape. Around the time of My Fair Lady, everything was perfect, and I just got ill and it all fell apart for me.' She added: 'You think you can do it all, but all you do is hurt yourself. It all did and then I was a wreck.' Pouring her heart out on Loose Women in 2016, she said: 'It was a real pressure especially on matinee days and then as well as shoots and relationships, and I think that's why I got ME. 'I got a virus, infections and I don't think anything else would have stopped me but that.' She added: 'It stopped me in my tracks. It was horrible. I've learnt a lot. But still now I'm here going: "Should I be here?" 'But now instead of back then, there's another voice saying "Yes, yes you should!" My Fair Lady's producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh previously spoke about how her determination for perfection caused her so much stress. He said: 'She'd be hysterical, beating herself up and saying, "It wasn't perfect, it wasn't perfect." You'd go back and say, "It was terrific, listen to the audience." Six years later, McCutcheon revealed she was suffering with further health issues after being diagnosed with ADD shortly after her brother LJ tragically died aged 31 in 2022. Speaking about the moment she was told of her ADD condition, she said: 'At first I went into denial, completely into denial, because my brother had passed away. 'I've been diagnosed with ME, and I just thought, I can't take this diagnosis on and whatever it means. I need to just keep going at life the way that I am. 'And in a way, I was kind of right. And then when I did finally look at it, I cried, I cried, cried and cried, I grieved, and it was just for if only I'd known how different things could have been, how much more with ease I would have been able to have done things. 'I do look back and see a lot of struggle with what I did. People just sort of think, oh, you know, she had the Midas touch. 'She'd do this, she'd do that. But I was always told by agents, why don't you just stick with one thing, because then you could go all the way to the top in it and stay there. 'Now I look back and I think, my God, it was a blessing that I couldn't, or didn't want to focus on the one thing.' Incredibly, the seeds of McCutcheon's financial implosion appear to have been planted at the time of her glitzy and expensive fairytale wedding to her husband on the shores of Lake Como, five years after they met. Jack later revealed they incurred 'hidden costs' and had to stump up 'thousands' to the Mafia to let off fireworks on the lake. When the mobsters discovered they had sold the rights to the photos and coverage of the big day to Hello magazine, they demanded more cash, which Jack refused to pay, leaving McCutcheon in fear of her life. She once recalled: 'I went, "Oh my God, there's going to be a dead horse's head in our bed!". I was petrified. I was like, "Don't stand your ground now, Jack. Please be quiet". But he wouldn't make another donation.' McCutcheon's mounting debts came home to roost within a year of their wedding day. When she was forced to sell her £25,000 engagement ring. It was also reported that she had suffered a string of 'horrific' miscarriages in the early years of her marriage. She said at the time: 'I just thought my health, money, career have all been taken from me, and now even my engagement ring — the one thing that represents what is solid in my life — has gone.' Things took a turn for the worse when she declared herself bankrupt for the first time in 2013 due to reportedly racking up £187,000 of debts, including £150,000 owed to HMRC. McCutcheon is believed to have been discharged from her bankruptcy in 2014 and got back on her feet financially. She and her husband were able to splash out £1.3m on buying their dream detached home in Surrey in June 2022, but the couple revealed last August that they were splitting up after 18 years together. It later emerged that they had put their home on the market three months earlier in May last year with an asking price of £1.5m. They later reduced the price to £1.25m – meaning they faced making a loss on the property – before securing a sale in January this year for £1,355,000, according to Land Registry records. On top of everything else, McCutcheon has spoken about having bouts of crippling anxiety and battles with her weight. She was reported last year to have lost five stone, dropping three dress sizes thanks to a strict Cambridge Weight Plan diet, although she said she occasionally took a break to enjoy pizza or a gin and tonic. A bankruptcy order in her married name – Martine McManus - was made in March at the County Court in Guildford, Surrey after a petition was filed against her last November by a finance firm called LDF Finance which she owed an unspecified sum of money to. It is not known if the Official Receiver will apply for a public examination of her bankruptcy which would disclose her financial affairs to the world. MailOnline disclosed on Saturday how McCutcheon's company Raven Music Ltd which she launched in February 2017, was wound up by a judge at the High Court on June 4 this year after a petition from HMRC. The company's last accounts filed in February 2023 showed it had assets of £272,977 including more than £211,000 in cash in the bank in February 2022. But at the same time, it had debts falling due for payment in the future for £255,693, including £110,000 in Corporation Tax and £64,790 in other HMRC payments, payable in the 12month period after February 2022. The current financial position of the company has not been disclosed. It had faced a notice for compulsory strike off in February last year, but it was suspended two weeks later. McCutcheon revealed in an Instagram statement last August that her husband had walked out on her. She wrote: 'After much thought and consideration, Jack has decided it's best for us to separate after 18 years together and I accept his decision.' McCutcheon later added: 'I continue to send Jack, all the love, luck and happiness for the next chapter of his life.' The actress also previously once admitted she was 'materialistic' with a love of luxury goods. She once said: 'I love nice things – I consider Ralph Lauren sheets to be a necessity, not a luxury – but I've known what it's like to be poor. 'I'm a Taurean, so I'm very passionate and determined and materialistic. Down the years I've spent a lot of money and saved a bit of money and had a lot of fun. 'And yes, if it all ended tomorrow and I could never afford another Gucci bag, then I think it's safe to say that I've got enough to be going on with.' In an interview with BBC4's Woman's Hour, she admitted that she turned into a recluse when her marriage first came under strain. She said: 'I didn't want to answer my phone. I didn't want to answer the front door, go outside and I would panic out of nowhere and have to pull over when I was driving because I felt this huge fear and couldn't breathe.' The actress added: 'I genuinely felt I was losing my mind. I didn't know if I really was or if it was something that was perimenopausal. 'It would just come on out of nowhere and when I spoke to my specialist about it she said, 'You know this is sadly the case for many women.'
