Ruth Osborne
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1 January 1996
5 August 2008
| Ruth Osborne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Terri Dwyer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1996–2001, 2003–2004, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 11 1 January 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 2357 5 August 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Phil Redmond (1996) Jo Hallows (2003, 2004) Bryan Kirkwood (2008) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crossover appearances | Brookside (1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ruth Osborne (also Benson) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Terri Dwyer. She first appeared in January 1996[1] as the cousin of Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay), and departed in 2001. She made guest appearances between 2003 and 2004, and another in 2008. Dwyer expressed interest in returning full-time in 2009.
Her notable storylines included a "controversial lesbian affair" with Jasmine Bates (Elly Fairman),[2] and relationships with Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards), and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard). Another storyline saw her form a relationship with Lewis Richardson (Ben Hull) which ended when he physically assaulted her, and due to feeling guilty committed suicide.
Ruth was introduced by producer Phil Redmond in January 1996 as the cousin of established character Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay). Her family were introduced ten months later and are still part of the serial today. Dwyer was cast as Ruth after auditioning for the part. On getting the role Dwyer said "they took a big risk on me. I had done nothing in terms of acting, and for two years I never understood why I wasn't sacked. I thought I was appalling." On her audition Dwyer said "here were all these girls from stage school, and I came away thinking I didn't stand a chance. Three auditions later, I got the job."[3] Dwyer first auditioned for the role after driving a friend to an audition for a role at Hollyoaks which she entered herself for fun and later got the job. On her initial time on the show Dwyer has since said "'Looking back at my first scenes, I think 'Oh no, how could they possibly televise this?'. For the first two years I kept expecting to be sacked".[4]
Dwyer quit Hollyoaks in 2001. She said "I played Ruth for six years and I think the audience was bored of her and I was bored of playing her."[5] Ruth returned again in 2008 for her father's funeral. Of a potential return, Dwyer said in 2009 "if Hollyoaks came to me with a great script I would definitely go back".[6]
Characterisation
Dwyer described the character saying "I like Ruth but she does my head in a bit. She whinges a bit much, is a bit miserable and gets on my nerves".[7] On Ruth Dwyer also said "She engages her mouth before her brain!"[8] The Daily Mirror described her as "chic but sensible Ruth" and "troubled".[9][10] The Sunday Mail labelled her "sexy".[3]