We’re all set for a bumper Christmas in Carrigstown, five Fair City stars have been telling us.Adn as for 2026, well, read on…
Kiara Noonan (Nikki)
It’s quite a warm christmas for Nikki. Kira and Mondo are over at Cass’s for Christmas, and Kira and Nikki don’t get on. Nikki loves to wind kira up, and Kira being Kira, takes it all so seriously! Darren makes a wish for Seán to be his stepdad.Seán and the kids have a lovely discussion in the episode – a lovely moment – and it ends with a hug. Cass brings the kids up to bed for a story. And Nikki and seán find themselves under the mistletoe… and I will leave that there!
I think people really wont a happy ending for Nikki, but you never know. It’s one of the best things about soap: you just never know what’s going to happen. I know lots of people were thinking, ‘Oh, Nikki and Doug…’ when all this happened with Doug and Erica and the wedding and stuff. Before that, people were saying, ‘Nikki and Seán…’, and now we’re going to go back to, ‘Is it going to be Nikki and Seán?’ Or is there going to be someone else? The writers write so well for Nikki on our show, and I’ve noticed the public are starting to really warm to her. she’s a single ma doing her best.
Harry and Callie, who play Darren and Kim, are great kids. They’re so professional.They come on set, they know their lines, they’ll have a little folder with their scripts in. They’re brilliant.I love when the kids are in with us because we’re all going to have a laugh. We’ll sit and have lunch and find out, ‘How are you getting on in school?’ and stuff like that. Their parents and myself are friends on social media. I adore working with Ryan Andrews, who plays Seán.He’s an absolute gentleman, and he’s great with the kids. Lynseyann [Mulvey-Bowe], who plays Kira, actually only lives five minutes down the road from me. We’re quite good friends; we’re talking all the time.She’s an absolute angel. Stephanie [Kelly], who plays Sash, we have been friends 15/20 years. You have a natural chemistry with people who are your friends.
If I had one wish for Nikki in 2026, I would like to see her actually settle down and have a job – and I don’t mean her working a few shifts on the sly in the pub so that the social welfare don’t find out! – but not lose that spark, that cheeky spark that she has about her. I think we’re actually going to see a bit of Jacinta and nikki together in the New Year, which I have been dying to see! They both have that dublin thing about them. No filter, definitely!
Gerard Jordan (Steo)
This Christmas is going to be a topsy-turvy one. It’s going to be one where Paul and I are kind of going at each other, tit for tat. does Steo get one up on Paul? We’ll have to see – on Christmas Day. It’s one of them! It’s for the audience to decide who gets one over the other.It’s pretty much very even between them over the Christmas period, I would say.
It’s really enjoyable to play as well because there’s a big surprise coming at Christmas/going into the New Year. Myself and P
I love playing Pete as a peacock. But it’s not just being the peacock, it’s the fact that he goes afterwards, ‘What’s the problem?! What’s wrong with all of ye?!’ The self-awareness bypass! But he has a good heart, you see, and Pete has an awful job to do with Nora, Jacinta, and Renee creating hell for him. they seem to be a thorn in his side any time they come with principles or ideas. It just sends him ’round the twist – and he has some of that coming at Christmas as well! They’re on to him again!
What would I like to see happen Pete in 2026? Oh geez, that’s a tough one! If Pete was given any authority at all, it’s a bit of a danger! The best thing he could do is get lucky, but if he’s the architect of anything to do with himself, it’s a disaster! If he’s controlled to a certain extent, then it’s fine. Pete as a city councillor?! Oh absolutely! We haven’t had any political shenanigans in the program for quite a while. I think the last councillor we had was Dermot!
Neilí Conroy (Sharon)
Sharon’s been in the thick of it all year, really.Anto (played by Paul Ronan) died. So, this Christmas, they’re just back from Spain with the baby – her, Ger, and Hayley. They scatter anto’s ashes on Christmas morning.
This Christmas,they’re going to have a naming ceremony for the baby,but Sharon and Emma want a christening! That makes for a bit of craic as well,kind of light after the hellish kind of few months before. Christmas is a bit of fun. We end up actually having dinner in the Raffertys’ – me and Ger and Hayley! we weren’t going to do Christmas [after Anto died], and Emma’s ordered loads of food because she thinks there’s going to be loads of people there. And then we go ’round for our dinner – and she lets on she made it! And then the cat’s out of the bag. So,it’s kind of fun. it’s not too heavy like it has been for us.
It’s really good fun working with Tina [Kellegher, who plays Ger], Rebecca [Grimes, who plays Hayley], and Tara [Flynn, who plays Emma]. Hayley’s baby has three grandmothers: me, Ger, and Emma! The poor child! The baby is lovely, and I got to hold him in a scene! For just a few seconds, but that was great. He’s absolutely gorgeous.It’s always good craic doing Christmas scenes because it’s so bizarre. And then you feel you’ve done Christmas yourself!
My hopes for Sharon in 2026? I don’t even know what’s happening next week! We don’t hear anything! I’m not going to say romance because that’s such a cliché. I suppose to get her some space, some time on her own, and a bit of a life away from minding everyone, and to get over the death of her husband. Sharon’s grief was kind of overshadowed by the baby and by Hayley’s grief and hayley’s injury then [in the car crash]. So, Sharon didn’t really get the space to grieve. I would
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