After seemingly being killed by Grace Black in November, Mercedes had actually been living the life of luxury on the French Riviera.
But one person who wasn’t shocked by Mercedes’ comeback was actress Jennifer Metcalfe. In fact, it was the 31-year-old’s idea.
Speaking to Closer Online at the Tesco Mum of the Year awards, Jennifer opened up about keeping the secret. She said: “It was so difficult. When they first agreed to me having four months off, I just said, ‘Oh fantastic’.
“It was kind of my idea, then something amazing came out of it. I just wanted to kick back for four months and have plenty of sleep. After nine years, it’s an amazing job, to appreciate it I just needed to recharge my batteries.”
While Jennifer was certain Mercedes was going to be fine, the viewers had no idea which meant she had the difficult job of keeping quiet.
She continued: “Mercedes was never going to die, we agreed that before I left. For me I was always coming back, so it just feels like I’ve had a nice long holiday. For the viewers I think it’s quite interesting.
“I just tried to avoid it, I completely stayed off Twitter for four months. I had people messaging me like, ‘I can’t believe you’re leaving.’ I just wanted to be like, ‘I’m not, I’m not!’”
And what did Jennifer do with her time off? “Slept, ate, saw my friends and family, went on holiday, went to the gym – just relaxed. I just saw everyone I needed to and touched base in Leeds. I just had a lovely, relaxing four months.”