TikTok star and Teenage Cancer Trust supporter Shell Rowe opens up about her cancer diagnosis and road to recovery in new episode of Hollyoaks IRL

The BAFTA nominated docu-series Hollyoaks IRL is back for a second series. Previous episodes have discussed the parallels between the drama’s recent storylines and real-life experiences involving women’s safety, alcoholism, incels and knife crime.  

The fifth episode, which is now available on Hollyoaks’ social media platforms sees  cast member Niamh Blackshaw discussing cancer in young people with online influencer and Teenage Cancer Trust supporter Shell Rowe, who is currently in remission.

Niamh plays the character of Juliet, who in Hollyoaks, has recently been given the life-changing news that she has an aggressive form of Hodgkin lymphoma. This is something which Shell experienced in real life, getting the shock diagnosis during her second year of university.  

The two women discuss the importance of having a support system around during treatment. This is something Juliet found hard to accept at the beginning of her cancer journey in Hollyoaks, opting to push her family and friends away instead. Shell opens up to Niamh about how valuable her girlfriend and family’s support has been throughout it all, saying, “My girlfriend Hannah has been absolutely fantastic; everyone always asks me how I stay positive, and I always say it’s because of Hannah.”   

Living with grade four cancer and having to undergo a range of treatments, Shell was in high levels of pain and in hospital receiving radiotherapy on her 21^st birthday. Intent on making sure Shell still had a quality of life throughout this, and wanting to celebrate the milestone, her girlfriend Hannah turned their garden into a fairground, “She was always doing things for me to make me smile or surprising me” says Shell. 

Through the process - along with making vlogs documenting the reality of living with cancer and going through various treatments - a TikTok, inspired by her Dad, led Shell to receive over a million likes and gain masses of views and followers. Niamh herself also became a follower prior to the storyline. Speaking to Shell in the IRL episode, Niamh says, “It was so strange when I found out you were helping with the story, I was like ‘I recognise that name, where do I recognise that name from?’ And I’d been watching your TikToks for ages.”  

Wanting to give back to Teenage Cancer Trust, which has supported her through her ordeal, the growing influencer decided to use the videos to encourage people to donate to the charity and raise awareness of the huge challenges facing young people with cancer. 

Shell, who has been in remission for 10 months, emphasises the importance of shows such as Hollyoaks in highlighting hard hitting issues like teenage cancer in an authentic and honest way. 

She comments: “Hollyoaks got in contact with me via Teenage Cancer Trust. With their storylines they try and speak to people to be as well informed as possible, which I think is fantastic, because we need that representation on screen and it’s so important to get it right. Because it’ll make a huge impact, people seeing that storyline, you know, maybe people will be able to spot the symptoms earlier, it really is fantastic.” 

Research from Teenage Cancer Trust has found that less than half of 18-24-year-olds can spot any of the main signs and symptoms of cancer in young people, and the charity are urging people to educate themselves by visiting Signs of cancer | Teenage Cancer Trust.

Claire Monger at Teenage Cancer Trust said: “We are really thankful to Shell for opening up about her own experience of being a young person with cancer, and all the challenges this brings. And we have been so impressed by Niamh’s portrayal of Juliet as she struggles to come to terms with her diagnosis and the impact of treatment on her life. Juliet’s ongoing storyline and this IRL episode will do so much to raise awareness of cancer in young people, and we’ve been more than happy to support the Hollyoaks team with their development.”