Former Hollyoaks stars Gemma Atkinson and Davinia Taylor were united in Manchester to celebrate International Women's Day at a glamorous charity event. And naturally there were some memories shared of their time on the Chester-set soap.
The stars were among a host of ladies heading out to Menagerie bar on New Bailey to support events guru Julie Perry's annual International Women's Day charity lunch.
While the two actresses both first found fame on the hit Channel 4 soap, they never actually filmed on it at the same time. Davinia played party girl Jude Cunningham when the show first started back in 1996, while Gemma was Lisa Hunter from 2001-2005, and reprised the role again last year.
Davinia was one of the speakers at the lunch, hosted by TV presenter Jenny Powell, talking about her journey to "optimum health" through bio-hacking. Meanwhile Strictly star Gemma joined as a guest to support the event, which was raising funds for Emmeline's and Perry's Pantry foodbanks.
Looking back at when they first started on Hollyoaks, Gemma fondly recalled: "I just loved it. It was like being at Uni, but getting paid!"
Davinia laughed: "I was a Hollyoaks original, an OG!"
There was also much for the two pals to catch up on since those Hollyoaks years. Hits Radio presenter Gemma has recently announced she is expecting her second baby with partner Gorka Marquez and tenderly cradled her bump as she posed for photos with Davinia at the glitzy event.
Davinia, who can now add best-selling author to her CV after the success of her book about her weight loss experiences and biohacking, has also just launched her first podcast Hack Your Health. And she told guests at the event how discovering biohacking has been the turning point in her journey to optimum health.
Davinia, 45, has lost three stone since adopting the techniques in her life. She also revealed she's taking part in her first marathon next month.
She said at the event: "People might see the before and after pictures... but what changed in me was my mental health, and my body followed. What I was putting in my mouth was directly affecting my mental health.
"You feel sluggish and you feel inflamed, and life gets a bit tougher when you feel like that."
Explaining biohacking, she said: "It sounds really space-aged and complicated, but what you're doing is you're hacking, youre fast tracking into your biology to see what works for you. What works for me, might not work for you.
"Nine times out of ten we follow the same biological nuances, but there are definite little tweaks in our stresses, from your childhood trauma, your adult trauma, that means you can't do exactly the same as others, you need to know your own chemistry and you need to know your reactions and then you can hack into your own mind, body and soul.
"You can sleep better, you can talk better, you can run better if you want to, be a better mum, better sister, better friend, better whatever, because you are working with your body rather than against it, so that's what it is.
"It's just bespoke health. No one is going to look after your health like you are."
The event, titled She Believed She Could, so She Did, also saw a tear-jerking speech from campaigner and lobbyist Abi Blake, who almost died at the hands of her violent boyfriend. She managed to escape the relationship, and is now using her experiences to help others make changes and stay safe.
Meanwhile Davinia also spoke honestly about the highs and lows in her life, and how she's been able to transform her physical and mental health through biohacking. She said "I think it's saved my life. I've danced with the depression label for years.
"I'm a recovering alcoholic, that nearly took me off, I didn't know that was all hormonal based, I just thought I was a loser and a bad mum - but I wasn't, I had a hormonal imbalance.
"I had to dig deep, and it was only by digging deep I found this, and it all seemed so simple. I need to feed my brain and my body follows."
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