HOLLYOAKS viewers were left in tears tonight as Jesse Donovan was laid to rest in heartbreaking funeral scenes.
The hairdresser, played by Luke Jerdy, keeled over in the street last month before he could reveal that Grace and James were Mercedes McQueen’s killers.
As Alison Moyet’s Only You played, Jesse’s wife Courtney was seen gazing at his coffin – before breaking down in tears while making a sad speech referring to their wedding.
She said: “It was supposed to be the happiest day of his life, not the last. I’ll never understand why something so cruel had to happen to my husband. My kind, loyal, innocent Jesse of all people.”
One wrote: “This is so sad” alongside a string of crying-face emojis.
Another tweeted: “Hollyoaks is breaking my heart.”
It looked at one point like James might own up to what he and Grace had done – before she bundled him out of the room.
Courtney told the assembled mourners: “I keep thinking, what if I’d stayed with him that night and hadn’t left him on his own. Maybe I could have saved him.”
James then cut in: “It wasn’t your fault. Sorry, but you have to know the truth” before Grace grabbed him and forced him into a side room.
He told her: “If this is the only way to clear my conscience, so be it.”
But she hit back: “Excuse me, Jesse was my brother. It’s not hard, James, it’s hell. This shame is our punishment and we have to live with it.”
However, their secret isn’t as safe as they think, with James receiving a note under the door reading: “I know you shot Mercedes” in huge red letters.
Fans instantly started guessing who the letter was from, with one tweeting: “Liam posted it to james for his revenge.”
