Hollyoaks star says she feels ‘useless and helpless’ in secret health battle
The actress has been nominated for Best Dramatic Performance at the 2025 British Soap Awards and has opened up about her health condition
Isabelle Smith, who joined Hollyoaks just last year, has swiftly become a standout talent on the soap. Portraying the character of troubled teen Frankie Osborne since January 2024, she’s already clinched the Best Newcomer title at the Inside Soap Awards within eight months and is in the running for Best Dramatic Performance at the upcoming 2025 British Soap Awards scheduled for 31st May.
Before her rise to fame, Isabelle was working on supermarket checkouts, a stark contrast to her current success. “It’s just been very surreal – I never expected any of this to happen,” she reflects in an interview with the Mirror.
“I was working in the supermarket before I got my job at Hollyoaks so it’s been a whirlwind.” The actress has captivated audiences with her portrayal of Frankie, who has faced severe abuse from her brother JJ and has delved into drug dealing.
Despite the demanding nature of these storylines, Isabelle also copes with a personal health challenge. “Endometriosis affects me every single day as I’m sure it does a lot of women,” she shares.
Having undergone a laparoscopy at 21 to address the condition, where cells akin to the womb lining grow elsewhere in the body, Isabelle continues to experience daily symptoms. This includes, chronic pelvic pain and heavy bleeding, reports the Mirror.
“It’s been nearly three years since I had that and it hasn’t gotten any better,” she discloses. “When I’m on set, I’m just mindful that things might take me a bit longer. If I’ve done Pilates, I need to remember that I probably need a rest day in between. I get really bad fatigue so when I’m filming long days, sometimes I come home and I just go straight to sleep because my body’s so exhausted. I try to keep my blood sugars up with snacks and make sure I have a hot water bottle and ibuprofen on hand, just in case.”
Isabelle, 23, has learnt not to overexert herself at work and to prioritise her health. “That’s coming more with age – the power of being able to say no to things and putting my health first,” she admits.
“I’ve not been very good at doing that but I’m getting a bit older now and my friends and family are so understanding. I need to say, ‘No, actually I can’t do that because I need to rest,’ which sometimes makes me feel a bit useless and helpless but everybody reminds me that it’s just my body and I need to take care of it.”
After a taxing day on set, Isabelle finds solace in the company of her boyfriend Adam Seel, with whom she shares a home in Manchester. She explains: “We film in Liverpool so my drive home is where I do a lot of my de-stressing,” adding, “I’ll put on some good music, call my boyfriend to have a debrief then we’ll have tea and watch a good series.
“If I’ve had a bad day, I’ll put on Married At First Sight because that always cheers me up. I’ve got a little cat because I’ve grown up with animals and we didn’t have one here so I was feeling a bit down. So we adopted a cat and it’s crazy – they really are like emotional support animals.”
The actress is gearing up for some intense episodes ahead as her character Frankie’s harrowing sexual exploitation storyline unfolds. The plot thickens as Frankie’s parents, Darren and Nancy, desperately search for her after she’s abducted by a gang that has been manipulating her.
A dramatic turn of events sees Darren locating her at a manor house, but with the gang thwarting their escape, the outcome remains uncertain. “We’ve been exploring sexual and criminal exploitation and Frankie is somebody who is very vulnerable at this time in her life,” explains Isabelle.
“She’s not really sure who she can trust so she’s fallen into another trap. Frankie has been taken, she’s not sure how she’s going to get out and I think she’s in a little bit too deep. She’s quite isolated and that’s when the sexual exploitation side of things really ramps up – there’s going to be some harrowing scenes but it’s so important that this stuff is given a spotlight because it does happen in real life.
“It can be very intense and quite overwhelming to film, but I just remind myself of why we’re doing this and how it’s helping so many people.” Regarding her tenure on Hollyoaks, Isabelle reflects that she already has an inkling about when she might exit the show.
“I think I know in my head and I think they know as well – but Frankie is here for a while longer,” she comments. “But in the world of soap, I could get hit by a bus – you don’t know what’s going to come through with each script and that’s what makes it so fun and fresh.”
Looking ahead to future opportunities, Isabelle reveals there are particular talents she’d eagerly collaborate with. “I’d love to work with Siobhan Finneran – I think she’s incredible. A dream would be to work with Jodie Comer. Just all these powerhouses of women.”
