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Guest Character Profiles > Holly Hoyland Chaya Broadmore, Lucinda Armstrong Hall

Holly Hoyland 2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
Born: 2007
Parents: Isabelle Hoyland and Karl Kennedy
Siblings: Malcolm, Libby and Bill
Family Tree: Hoyland and Kennedy

The unusual conception of baby Holly took place in August 2006, when former partners Karl Kennedy and Izzy Hoyland had a one-night-stand. Karl was already dating his ex-wife Susan Kinski again, but, after a heart-to-heart with Izzy at Scarlet Bar, she took him home. And, thanks to a mixture of alcohol and sleep medication, Karl believed he was sleeping with Susan, while a lonely Izzy took any opportunity of comfort she could find, only to realise what had happened the next morning. She lied to Karl that she slept on the couch and, after finding herself pregnant, left Erinsborough.

Eight months later, Izzy was living in London, in the midst of an affair with married Premiership footballer Pete Gartside, when Karl and Susan arrived for a holiday. A heavily pregnant Izzy was struggling to cope, after the press exposed Pete’s affair with her and he ended things. But Susan, despite Izzy being ‘the other woman’ in her marriage only a couple of years earlier, agreed to help and arranged a meeting between Pete and Izzy. Susan convinced him that what he had with Izzy was the real thing and his marriage was beyond repair and the lovers were reunited. The following day, Karl and Susan were remarried on a cruise boat on the Thames, but Izzy was also on board, determined to tell Karl the truth about the baby, only to suddenly go into labour. Baby Holly was delivered safe and well by the man who didn’t realise he was her father, and Izzy decided that she couldn’t spoil Susan and Karl’s big day by revealing the truth. But as Susan ran back to the ambulance to return Izzy’s bag, she overheard Pete and Izzy discussing Holly’s paternity and, after agonising for a few days, told Karl the truth, once they were back in Erinsborough.

After getting in touch with Izzy, Karl agreed with her decision that he should stay out of Holly’s life as she grew up, then she could be told who her father was when she was old enough to accept the news. However, knowing that he had another daughter on the other side of the world was too much for Karl to ignore and, a few days later, much to Susan’s horror, he decided to fly back to London and spend some time with Holly. And, eventually, Susan came to accept that Holly and Izzy would always be a part of Karl’s life, and even agreed to be godmother to the child.

Over the years, Karl visited Holly in London when he could, but was not a big part of her life. He and Susan were in for a shock when they received a call from Izzy, who explained that she'd put Holly on a plane to come and stay with her dad for a few weeks. Though Karl was worried that he hadn't been to see her in person for a couple of years, he hoped that she'd still be happy to stay with him, as they spoke regularly on Skype. His fears seemed to be unfounded, as Holly was a polite and well-adjusted little girl - however, as she was left alone with Susan, she suddenly turned nasty, making it clear that she had no interest in spending time with, or even being nice to, her stepmother. Susan relayed her concerns to Karl, but he just put Holly's behaviour down to jetlag and the unfamiliar surroundings. Susan attempted again to bond with Holly the next day, when Karl was unexpectedly called in to work, but Holly told her that she didn't want to spend time with an old woman, and would rather be with her mum, who was young and fun. Later, Susan again told Karl that she was struggling to get along with Holly, but he failed to see the problem, as his daughter was always such a little angel around him, and Susan was left wondering if she and Holly could ever be friends.

When Karl started looking at some of Holly's drawings, he began to realise that perhaps Holly's problem wasn't with Susan, but with Izzy. He tried to get his daughter to open up about her feelings, and she eventually admitted that she felt like her mum had abandoned her, in favour of Neville, her new boyfriend. When Karl tried to reassure her, and pointed out a portrait on the wall, of Karl and Susan's children - Mal, Libby and Billy - it gave Holly an idea. Whilst Callum and Bailey were babysitting that evening, she drew a picture of herself and climbed on a stool to tack it onto the bottom of the portrait. Unfortunately, she fell from the stool in the process, but the incident made Karl realise how much Holly wanted a stable family and, despite the ongoing tension between Holly and Susan, he decided that he was going to apply for permanent custody of his daughter.

When Karl asked Holly whether she'd like to stay with him in Australia, she happily agreed to it, but when Izzy didn't put up a fight for her daughter, it quickly became clear how unhappy Holly was. When Susan and Holly managed to patch up their differences, Susan became concerned that Holly wasn't being honest about her feelings, and would just say anything to please the adults around her. As Holly spent the day with neighbour Lauren Turner, she admitted that she was worried about starting at her new school and that she'd be bullied because her dress was too long, but Lauren could also see that Holly was holding back about something. Susan eventually made Holly be honest, and Holly admitted that she wanted to go home, to be with her mum and her friends in London. Susan broke the news to Karl, who was upset, but after a chat with Holly, he made her see that he just wanted what was best for her, and that if she wanted to be with her mum, then it was fine with him. Karl then decided that he was going to go back to England with her, to help her settle in, and told Holly that he would come and see her at least twice a year, so they could have a closer relationship. Holly then said her goodbyes to everyone she'd met in Erinsborough, and Susan told her that she would be welcome to come and visit again whenever she wanted.

The following year, as Karl mentioned to Susan one day that he missed having lots of family around him, she arranged for Holly to fly over for a surprise visit during her school holidays. Karl was delighted to see her, and was even more pleased when he started performing some of his songs for her and he realised that she already knew all of the words, as he'd sent her a CD of his songs. Karl was impressed with her voice as she sang along with him, and decided to enter Holly into a children's talent quest at the community centre. Holly seemed to like the idea, and she agreed to perform one of Karl's songs, Free As A River, with her dad supporting her on guitar. However, when she got up on stage to perform, with all eyes on her, Holly panicked and ran from the building. Karl tracked her down, and she admitted that she only liked singing to him, but not in front of other people, and she'd only gone along with the idea because she thought it would make him happy. Also during her stay, Holly managed to solve a mystery, when she spotted Victor Cleary - the main suspect in the murder of Kate Ramsay - in a photo and said that he was a friend of her mum's, allowing the police to identify him and his motives for the shooting. Holly then got to briefly catch up with her half-sister Libby, and Libby's son Ben, who arrived for a visit just before Karl took Holly to the airport and she returned home to London.

Karl continued to make regular visits to Holly in the UK, and during one visit in 2017, they went to see Toadie at the hospital, after he was hit by a black cab whilst in London. Over the year that followed, things would change drastically for Izzy and Holly, after Izzy met a much older man named Clint. When word came through that Holly had been dumped on Mal and Catherine for Christmas, Karl, and later Susan, flew out to join them. They returned home to Australia a few weeks later, with Susan furious that Izzy hadn't even bothered to meet them to hand back Holly, but it wasn't long before they found out everything that had been going on. Izzy arrived in Erinsborough dressed as Geri Halliwell, for a 1990s-themed party being thrown for Toadie, and was promptly, but accidentally, clipped by Susan's car. At the hospital, it became clear that Izzy and Holly had some big news to share, and the next day Izzy revealed that she had married Clint the day before his death, and had now inherited £41 million.

It was clear that Susan hated having Izzy so close by, and matters only grew more complicated when another secret came out - Izzy wanted Karl to father another child for her, so that Holly had a full sibling. As Karl mulled over the idea, Susan was kept in the dark and was horrified to stumble upon some pregnancy pamphlets in Izzy's hotel room, then to learn that Karl hadn't completely dismissed the idea. Izzy had been playing to Karl's ego, offering to donate $20 million to the hospital's new research wing, and to make sure it was named after Karl, and he was concerned that she would withdraw her money if he refused to give her another child. However, when he did turn her down, Izzy found another way to get what she wanted - stealing a sperm sample that Karl had given during a trial at the hospital and using it to attempt to impregnate herself. The tension between the adults soon started to have an effect on Holly, who started drinking after finding out what her mum had done, then blackmailing her into signing the paperwork for the hospital donation in front of Karl and Susan, as well as agreeing that they would stick around in the area. Soon after, during a birthday party for Susan at The Waterhole, Karl learnt that his sample had been taken, and he quickly worked out who had taken it, with Izzy saying that it was too early to find out if it had worked yet.

Things then quickly started to fall apart for Izzy, as Clint's daughter arrived in town and forced her to return all of the inheritance that hadn't been spent yet, then the pregnancy test came back negative. After a frank conversation with Karl about her problems, it looked like Izzy and Holly might be staying in Erinsborough, until Karl found Izzy waiting with a taxi on Ramsay Street. She handed over a letter for Holly and explained that she felt that her daughter would be better off with Karl and Susan, before leaving. Holly was left deeply affected by what her mum had done, but did her best to settle in at Erinsborough High and to get to know her dad. But as Susan went to spend a few days in Oakey with Ben and Libby, and Karl learnt that, because they had lost Izzy's donation, the new hospital wing would not be going ahead and Karl was out of a job, Holly began to feel guilty about the way Izzy had messed up the Kennedys' lives. During work experience at the hospital, Holly decided to try and help out her dad by taking some of the research files, believing that Karl could work on them and prove to COO Clive Gibbons that he was a worthy employee. It wasn't long before Clive found out what had happened, when Holly was caught trying to return the files, but she pleaded with Clive to give Karl another chance. The following week, Clive contacted Karl and offered him work at the hospital, compiling the data from the research that had already been done.

Meanwhile, Holly surprised everyone when she announced that she'd been accepted onto an exchange programme between Erinsborough High and the school where Libby worked in China. Susan was touched as Holly explained that she hadn't told anyone about the application as she didn't think she stood a chance - particularly as her mum had laughed at her previous request to go on an exchange to Romania. However, when Karl finally found out, he refused to allow Holly to go, feeling that he'd be letting Holly down if he didn't become a bigger part of her life and sent her off to China. But as it became clear how important the exchange was for Holly, he agreed to let her go, but only if she went back to London first, and attempted to patch things up with her mum. Holly agreed to give it a try, before setting off on her new adventure.

Trivia Notes
• When she arrived in Erinsborough in 2013, Holly's age had been increased slightly to 8-years-old, though she was born on screen in 2007 and should only have been 6-years-old
• Chaya Broadmore played Holly in one episode, when she was born in London, in 2007. Lucinda Armstrong Hall took over the role when the character was reintroduced in 2013

Magic Moments
Episode 5179: Holly's Birth
Episode 6686: Holly's Return