Sally St. Claire is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Annie Wallace.
Sally is characterised as a strict, "no-nonsense" headteacher who moves to Hollyoaks village to work at the local school.
Hollyoaks' writers explored the character's transgender status and worked alongside equal rights group All About Trans, who consulted and advised to make the story realistic.
Hollyoaks featured a transgender character named Blessing Chambers played by actress Modupe Adeyeye.
[1] Wallace's casting was first acknowledged publicly via an article in The Guardian, written by transgender rights activist Paris Lees.
[1] Wallace believed that transgender actors were being hired more in 2015 because of the newfound willingness of casting directors and dramas themselves to represent the community.
"[5] "Mrs St Claire is a no-nonsense kinda lady who arrived in the village as the new head honcho at Hollyoaks High.
[...] Kids and colleagues may panic when they spot her marching down the corridor, ready to dish out a sharp put-down ("Tuck your shirt in, you're not Kanye West!
Wallace told Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy that "it's the last thing Sally wanted to happen so soon after joining.
Wallace told Laura Heffernan from Inside Soap that her character stands up for herself and states that she will not tolerate transphobia.
Wallace said that her character may behave as "a bit of a hard act" but the revelation is a "real dent to her self-esteem and she truly believes she is about to lose everything dearest to her.
[9] When the job position came up at Hollyoaks High, Sally knew the McQueen family lived in the village and she had found the perfect opportunity to be close to him.
Despite not revealing her identity, Wallace defended Sally stating "She's been keeping it a secret from John Paul because she's too scared of how he's going to react, but she's still tried to be in his company all the time.
She takes a shine to John Paul, and when he is helping her move into her new office, he comes across a document stating that Sally's birth name is "Iain Naismith", and realises that she is transgender.
She is devastated in January 2016 when Peri, after hearing a conversation between her and John Paul, vandalises the school art exhibition, outing her as transgender.
The next day, Sally is arrested for attempting to murder Myra, so John Paul hires James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan) to defend her.
She later becomes close friends with Neeta Kaur (Amrit Maghera), and this leads to Sally giving her a job at the school as a teaching assistant and them buying a flat together.
A gas explosion later rips through Hollyoaks High, trapping Mac, Neeta, Sally, Hunter and other students.
Sally later meets Finn O'Connor (Keith Rice), who raped John Paul five years ago and takes an instant dislike to him.
After Finn visits the school delivering Christmas trees, Sally banishes him from the premises in front of his boss, causing him to lose his job.
She later supports her son’s relationship with George Kiss (Callum Kerr), however, she later finds out that he abused John-Paul and kills him in self-defence to protect his cousin, Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter) after he attempted to attack her.
Sally later learns from Theresa's that she murdered Calvin Valentine (Ricky Whittle) eleven years ago, and because of this, she teams up with her.
Duncan Lindsay writing for the Metro described Sally as a "refreshing" and "strong teacher" who acts as a "brilliant role model" for the show's audience.
[1] Laura Heffernan from Inside Soap said that "hard-nosed" and "no-nonsense Mrs. St. Claire wasted little time spreading order and discipline throughout Hollyoaks High.
Their opinion changed as Sally continued to appear and Kilkelly stated, "as with all great soap characters, we've since seen her complexities with a much softer and vulnerable side.