Rayne Royce

Rayne Royce (born/legally Louise Rayner) was the childhood best friend of Lacey Lloyd, and a popular social media influencer.
Rayne was born in January 2000, and befriended Lacey through their mothers' friendship. Rayne and Lacey shared a flat whilst studying at University, and Lacey subsequently became Rayne's 'assistant' when she became an influencer, a career path Rayne's mother opposed. As Lacey began establishing herself in Hollyoaks, Rayne followed to support her best friend and the pair moved into a house-share together.
Rayne began dating Romeo Nightingale, who was well received by her fans, but things took a turn when Romeo learned of Rayne's ex-boyfriend Brent Taylor, who had supposedly died by suicide in July 2018. Rayne also began risking her relationship for clout with her fans, with Romeo remaining oblivious. His family's concerns falling on deaf ears, Rayne soon turned abusive towards Romeo.
At a party designed to revamp Rayne's profiles, all of Rayne's secrets came spilling out - including her abusive behaviour and that Brent was actually still alive! However, hours later, Rayne was discovered dead in the swimming pool. As the police investigated, so did Rayne's housemates - as well as her fans. In January 2024, it was revealed that Rayne had suffered a head injury after being pushed onto concrete by Prince McQueen, but was later accidentally pushed into the pool by Romeo in self-defence during a vicious attack by Rayne.
==Biography==
=== 2000-2023: Early Life ===
Rayne grew up alongside Lacey Lloyd as their mothers were close friends. Rayne studied psychology and sociology at the same university that Lacey studied law. However, Rayne became bored with the idea of sitting in an office all day and decided to become a social media influencer. Her close friendship with Lacey became tight when they moved into a flat together during lockdown. Rayne embarked on a relationship with Brent Taylor, front facing to her followers, until his 'death' from suicide. She later began a relationship with Mikey, stealing his scooter and leaving him when he refused to pay back the money he borrowed from her.
=== 2023: Arrival ===
thumb|left|Rayne arrives in the village.
Rayne arrived in the village in January 2023, nearly running down Ste Hay on Mikey's scooter. Meeting Prince and Hunter McQueen, the pair were left smitten by her as she told them that she had arrived to support her best friend Lacey Lloyd in her job hunt. As Lacey set to move in at 65 Christleton Terrace - where Hunter and Prince were also living - landlord Tom Cunningham invited Rayne to move in too, which she accepted. Initially Hunter and Prince fought for Rayne's attention, but Rayne was left smitten by roommate Romeo Nightingale when they first met. The pair ended up beginning a relationship after Romeo helped her with some of her promotional videos. Romeo proved a hit with Rayne's following as he livestreamed various declarations of love to her for her 500,000+ fans to see.
However, Rayne's career took a downwards spiral when she fell for a scam and ended up fundraising for a fake charity. After the charity was exposed, Rayne insulted Romeo's mother Donna-Marie Quinn during an argument, leaving her even more unpopular. However, things worsened when intimate photographs of Romeo and Rayne taken in the photobooth outside of The Loft some weeks earlier were leaked online. It was later revealed that Rayne had leaked these private photographs herself in an attempt to garner attention/sympathy online to augment her social media following and presence. However, Romeo remained oblivious to Rayne's behaviour and his family's attempts to make him see sense only managed to push him away.
Rayne began manipulating Romeo, isolating him from his family. After the death of his sister Juliet, Rayne lied to Romeo that she found a lump and was undergoing a test on the day of her funeral. However, Peri was left suspicious when she found no record of Rayne's appointment. Romeo's lack of attendance at the funeral also went noticed by his furious family. Rayne then began isolating Romeo from his friends, accusing Prince of attempting to sexually assault her after spiking his drink. Rayne's allegations casued a rift amongst the housemates, but Romeo remained at her side. However, Rayne's manipulation of Romeo soon turned to physical abuse: after pushing him through a glass table, she managed to convince him to give her another chance.
Romeo covered for Rayne over his injuries, and assisted her with her attempts to win over social media manager Faye Fuller - including planning a grand party at a manor. Meanwhile, a suspicious Peri began digging into Rayne's past - with the support of Romeo's father James Nightingale, who had concerns over the nature of Rayne and Romeo's relationship. Peri managed to track down Brent's mother Cheryl, who revealed that Brent was still alive. However, initially unknown to Peri, Rayne was still in contact with Brent and ordered him to kidnap Peri. With Peri out of the way, Rayne began focusing on plans to win over the producers of Love Cave with Romeo's assistance, despite her continued abusive behaviour.
=== 2023-2024: Death and Aftermath ===
At the arranged manor party in September 2023, Rayne threw her weight around to cause drama on her livestream, but her plans backfired when the truth about Brent's 'death' was revealed and Peri discovered that Rayne was abusive towards Romeo. Afterwards, Rayne was found dead: drowned in the swimming pool. As Brent fled the scene, he was the first to be arrested. He was even charged when James Nightingale threatened him into confessing, but released when Phoenix Hathaway proved he was with him at the time. Rayne's 'friends' fell out as they went through a continuous cycle of blaming each other, inflamed by Rayne's fans going on an intense search for the truth.
Meanwhile, James had Lacey alter scheduled posts in Rayne's drafts to filter out her lies of Romeo's supposed treatment of her, but Lacey ultimately deleted Rayne's entire accounts before secretly fleeing the village. Peri was also revealed to have bullied Rayne whilst in primary school. Rayne's mother Piper Rayner turned up to her memorial - held by Romeo - in October 2023, leaving convinced that Romeo truly loved her daughter. In November 2023, Prince revealed to Hunter that he had pushed Rayne to the floor - seemingly knocking her unconscious - shortly before her death. After being reported by Zoe Anderson, Prince was arrested and held on remand following a confession.
However, in January 2024, Lacey returned with the revelation that Rayne's camera-sunglasses had gone missing and not logged as police evidence. After Phoenix revealed to have them in his possession, the video was downloaded and revealed that after Prince pushed Rayne, she woke and attacked Romeo, who accidentally pushed her into the pool in self-defence.
==Appendices==
===Residences===
Address 	Duration
65 Christleton Terrace	18th January 2023 to 30th September 2023
===Employment History===
Job 	Duration
Social media influencer	c.2018 to 30th September 2023
==Background Information==
*In October 2022, it was announced that ex-Neighbours star Jemma Donovan had been cast as Rayne for an "exciting new character group". In September 2023, a few weeks before the scenes aired, it was revealed that Rayne was to be killed off in a whodunnit murder storyline.
*Holly Faxon played a young version of Rayne in Episode 6210 (27th September 2023).
==Introduction Sequence==
*2023: Rayne takes photos in the photobooth with Brooke Hathaway, Lizzie Chen-Williams, Nadira Valli, Juliet Nightingale, Peri Lomax, Prince McQueen, Romeo Nightingale, Lacey Lloyd and Hunter McQueen. Afterwards, they all walk upstairs to The Loft.
==Quotes==
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==See Also==
*List of appearances
*Who Killed Rayne Royce?
==Gallery==
Rayne Royce promo.jpg|Promotional image
Category:Hollyoaks characters
Category:2023 debuts
Category:2024 departures
Category:2000 births
Category:2023 deaths
Category:Deceased characters
Category:Murder victims
Category:Residents of 65 Christleton Terrace
Category:Hollyoaks Villains