Definitely not

Jack's child with Dawn is called Beth - she was adopted out at birth. However, it all came out when she was a little girl and got sick needing a transplant and Jack was the only match. It was that which caused Celia, Jack's first wife and the woman we believed to be Darren'4 mum to divorce him and move to America. Jack also has another daughte with Celia, Ruth who was a major character for the first 5 years or so. Beth did turn up briefly looking for her burth family when was was in her late teens before Max died.

So, jack has 3 biological children, Ruth, Darren and Beth. Frankie has 5 biological children Jake, Debbie, Craig, Steph and unnamed older son that was adopted out who is Esther's father. Both that oldest son and Steph are now dead.

Mandy and Cindy are step sisters and both Tom's half sister.

Thanks kitkat I've never heard of Beth. I knew about Debbie and Esther's father but forgot about them. Imagine Tom's Christmas card list

True. Though she's lived in the village off & on for years now. I know there is the age difference but that still doesn't explain why for most of the show's run while the characters have been on the canvas they have never really shown them interacting let alone them being family.

I don't get it.

I think that although they do know that they are brother and sister, they don't really feel like it in the same way they both felt about Max or Cindy did Dawn or Jude because Cindy wasn't around for his first few years and all through that dreadful time of Gordon and Helen's deaths.

That makes sense but i still think it's a odd way to portray them. Surely someone that young who has lost so much family would wanna be close to the ones he has left?

So, Tom was born to Gordon and Helen Cunningham. His maternal half-siblings are Mandy and Lewis, and his paternal half-siblings are Max, Jude, Dawn, and Cindy. Dawn died before Tom's birth, and Lewis committed suicide when Tom was a toddler.

After his parents were killed in a car crash, Tom lived with Max. When Max was run over and killed, Tom lived with Max's widow, Steph. When Steph died in a fire, Tom stayed with Steph's mother and stepfather, Frankie and Jack.

Jack's daughter Ruth used to be in a relationship with Tom's late half-brother, Lewis, and Jack has a daughter (adopted out) with Tom's late half-sister, Dawn. So there are several connections between Tom and the Osbornes, but they are not blood-related.

Not much point now, he will be sixteen next year

Really? He doesn't seem that age at all yet, has his voice even broken?


What happened to Esther's parents? How did she end up with Frankie?

Wasn't Tom a Mellenim baby - born NYD 00? So he's 14 now and will turn 16 in a little under 18 months - Jan 16.

Esther's father, Frankie's son who she was adopted at birth died. I can't remember what happened to her mother but she doesn't appear to be around.

He is only 14, the actor is maybe 15 tho.

I loved the clip of him looking at the photo of Mr C and Helen at the end of last nights episode. Was nice they tied that in. I loved the Cunningham family, as an old skool fan they were Hollyoaks to me.

On the Tom the grim reaper theme - Peri got too close and suddenly both her parents (ok technically her parents) are dead.

If Tom was adopted by Jack and Frankie, that means that Beth Cunningham is his biological niece through half-sister Dawn and adoptive half-sister through adoptive father Jack. Also Esther would be his adoptive niece as well. Interesting how he doesn't interact with Cindy who is his half-sister or Holly who is his niece. And Hilton is his only biological nephew.

She also narrowly escaped death with her brain tumour.

He was a New Year's Eve baby, so technically 1999 and still about a year & a half until he's 16.

The actor who plays him is 6 weeks older than the character, so currently still 14

Thanks. I remembered it was over the xmas week episodes of Millennium but couldn't remember whether it was NYE or NYD. It must have been Mike Dixon and Rachel Jordache's baby that was born NYD over in Brookside. So Tom was born the asme episode as Rob Hawthorne died then? I think i've still got them somewhere - I loved Rob.

6 weeks really isn't much difference as most child actors are 1 or 2 years older than their characters and usually look it. Probably a reason that He has always been so good in the role.

I didn't watch back then (being only 8 I wasn't allowed to watch soaps really), but according to Wikipedia he died on NYE yes

Ellis has played Tom from birth so I guess that's the reason for the small age difference, a credit to the actor really that they kept him, as most soaps will change a few times during their childhood, especially when they hit around 13. I think Ellis looks younger than 14 though, Ruby who plays Peri looks slightly older than him but she was born almost a year later than him. Persephone who plays Nico has just turned 17 in real-life, but I don't think she looks much older than Ruby

I remember Rob dying very, very clearly and how it tied into Millennium Eve and the countdown to midnight.

I think Ellis (and Tom) is realistic for many 14 year old boys - they often do look much younger until puberty properly hits at which point they seem to age several years in only a few weeks. Likewise 14 year old girls often look much oder - girls do tend to hit puberty and have the change from children to young women much earlier than boys - I know I looked much older than my male school friends at that age, indeed people tended to think I was the same age as my brother when we were in our teens and he is 4 years older than me!

Standard Hollyoaks, mix a bit of happiness with misery!

I feel 14 year old lads at my school looked older than Tom... but then it's been 9 years my memory's not great