| Character Profile | List of appearances |
Mackenzie "Mac" Arthur Nightingale was the ex-husband of Marnie Nightingale and Cindy Cunningham, the fiancé of the late Neeta Kaur, the father of James, Nathan, Ellie, Alfie and Juliet Nightingale, and the grandfather of Romeo Nightingale. In 2017, he killed both his son, Nathan, and his fiancée, Neeta.
Biography[]
Pre 2015: Backstory[]
Mac grew up in Hollyoaks village during his childhood and was behind the reason that the local pub was called The Dog in the Pond after Mac was saved by his fathers dog from drowning in the pond, Mac and his family also knew Jack Osborne before Jack's arrival in the village. In his teenage years Mac left Hollyoaks and moved to Brighton where he met a woman named, Marnie whom Mac would later marry and have three children with, two sons in James and Nathan and later his daughter Ellie. In 2000, Mac met a younger woman named Cindy Cunningham whom he would sleep with and would result in Cindy falling pregnant to a young boy whom Mac would adopt and name, Alfie, although Mac would lie to Alfie and his family believing that Alfie was just his adoptive son.
Mac grew a hearted for his own and eldest son in James when he discovers James is gay and not wanting James to be gay he pays prostitute, Donna-Marie Quinn to force herself to have sex with James to which she would fall pregnant with James' son, Romeo. Mac himself would sleep with Donna-Marie and unaware that she would fall pregnant with his daughter Juliet, both Romeo and Juliet's existence where unknown until 2018. Mac would often beat up James due to his homophobic views and I going hearted for him this would put a strain on his relationship with James however unknown to his family. Mac would split from Marnie after Mac would start an affair with a young woman named Neeta Kaur. During Alfie's childhood Mac is shocked to discover that he is diagnosed with a rare form of Leukaemia however Alfie survives.
2015-2016: Arrival, Alfie's Cancer & Affair with Lisa Loveday[]
Mac is first seen in May 2015 as a mystery man from Cindy's past, Mac tells Cindy that she needs to sign the divorce papers revealing that he is married to Cindy but he would later quickly leave. Mac is not seen again until later in the year when he arrives with his family revealing they are the new owners of The Dog in October 2015, Mac arrives with his three children, Nathan, Ellie and Alfie Nightingale as well as Nathan's girlfriend, Rachel Hardy and Mac is soon joined with his younger girlfriend Neeta. Mac later tells Nathan that Alfie is in fact his biological half brother instead of his adoptive as originally believed, Mac would prepare to marry Neeta only for Dirk Savage to find out that Cindy is married to Mac.
By February 2016, Mac is joined by his ex-wife Marnie Nightingale and eldest son and child James Nightingale much to Mac's annoyance, Mac would also find himself in the middle of Ellie's and Neeta's petty feud. Mac is shocked and devastated for his son Nathan when Rachel is killed during a car accident caused by Cindy's daughter Holly Cunningham in March 2016. Mac's jealous behaviour was first seen in July 2016 when he thinks Neeta has been sleeping with Jesse Donovan and this leads Mac to beat up Jesse however afterwards Mac is full of apologies towards Jesse who would begin to make fun out of Mac.
Mac is later left devastated when he discovers that Alfie's leukaemia returns and supports him throughout Alfie's fight with the disease as well as Alfie's then girlfriend, Jade Albright whom had also been diagnosed with cancer. Mac would soon embark on an affair with Nathan's girlfriend, Lisa Loveday and would sleep with Lisa for months on end.
2017-2019: Villainous Personality Emerges & Death[]
By January 2017, Mac continues to sleep with Lisa and the two end up accidentally running over serial killer, Cameron Campbell, Mac whom is not wanting their affair to be exposed forces Lisa to leave Cameron and the two flee from the scene unaware that Cameron is being chased by the police for several murders. Cameron survives the accident and by February 2017, Nathan finally discovers the truth about Mac and Lisa sleeping together after walking in on the two in the act. Mac attempts to explain to Nathan however the two men would somewhat scuffle which leads to Mac accidentally pushing Nathan out of the top floor window which leads to Nathan's death devastating the whole family.
Mac would later discover of Marnie's revenge plan when she discovers that slept with Lisa, Mac discovers that Marnie and James had both lied about Marnie having a deadly disease, Alzheimer's disease. This leads Mac to tell Marnie and James to leave the village, Mac's controlling behaviour of Neeta would become more noticeable during 2017 and his homophobic and abusive behaviour towards James would also service, Mac would even beat up and attack James on more than one occasion stating that James disgusts him, Mac would also be seen being nasty towards a drunk Harry Thompson although his stopped by James. Before Mac could go any further in attacking g Harry.
By October 2017, Mac discovers that his wife Neeta has been having an affair with her student, Hunter McQueen, Mac enters a feud with Hunter and blackmails Neeta into staying with him otherwise he would go to the police about her sleeping with Hunter whom is her student. Mac would later accidentally cause an explosion at Hollyoaks High School during an argument with Neeta and Mac would later murder Neeta when he purposely let's go of Neeta from the top roof collapse. Mac after Neeta's death would also viciously beat up both Hunter and Jack Osborne whom had recently lost his wife Frankie Osborne due to having a cardiac arrest from the shock of the news from the explosion. Mac would then finally be outed for abusing James and this would lead to him being pushed out of the very window Nathan fell from by Ellie although unlike Nathan, Mac would survive the fall however he would be entered into a rare syndrome known as locked in syndrome and would be taken away for treatment by the start of December 2017.
Mac would return six months later in May 2018 where its seen his still somewhat in his locked in state, this is seen when James visits Mac along with his then boyfriend Kyle Kelly, James confronts Mac about his abuse that he inflicted on James for just being gay and a series of flashbacks about Mac forcing James to sleep with a prostitute known as Donna-Marie are seen revealing that James now has an estranged son Romeo Quinn whom arrives shortly after. Mac is also visited by Hunter who taunts Mac and it leads to Mac grabbing his arm, Hunter becomes aggressive towards Mac telling him to do it again until Neeta's estranged sister Asha Kaur tells Hunter to stop. Mac later returns making a full recover and moves in Cindy's along with Donna-Marie and he manipulates Alfie into thinking his changed he unites his feud with Hunter but is unable to get revenge on his daughter Ellie as she departs in September 2018 as he vowed to. Mac is later revealed to be the father of Romeo's sister and Donna-Marie's daughter Juliet Quinn. By 2019, Mac discovers that Breda McQueen is a serial killer whom has killed several men she dubbed as bad dads however instead of going to the police Mac stalks and later blackmails Breda I to killing his eldest son James, however by March 2019, Breda would poison Mac's food which would ultimately kill Mac after Mac dies Breda dubs him as the worse father she's come across.
2019-: Blackmailing Breda and Death[]
After discovering Breda McQueen murdered Louis Loveday, he blackmails her into murdering James. When Breda poisons James, Mac celebrates his victory. However, Breda confesses that James is still alive, that she never intended to kill him, and that she has poisoned Mac. Mac attacks Breda and she hits him over the head. Mac dies on the steps of the Cunningham house. Romeo is arrested for Mac's murder after Yasmine Maalik overhears Romeo shouting outside Mac's house threatening to kill him for trying to kill James. Romeo is released in April 2019 when James tricks Donna-Marie into confessing to killing Mac to save Romeo. In January 2020, after Breda is killed by Sylver McQueen, Donna-Marie is released when the police linked the poison to Breda.
Kill Count[]
Murder Victims[]
- Nathan Nightingale, 15th February 2017 (voluntary manslaughter) - When Nathan's fiancée, Lisa Loveday and Mac were caught in an embarrassing situation, he argues with his father, causing him to fall over scaffolding and kills him.
- Neeta Kaur, 31st October 2017 - Fell two storeys when Mac let go of her, following the Hollyoaks High School explosion. Neeta, who was having an illicit inappropriate relationship with student Hunter McQueen, Mac becomes increasingly abusive toward her. When Hollyoaks High School goes up in flames, Neeta, Hunter and Mac are caught up in it. She confesses that she loves Hunter, and Mac lets her go, letting her fall into a chasm. She is rendered comatose, and her life support is switched off. Her heart is later given to arrhythmia sufferer, Yasmine Cunningham.
Attempted Murder Victims[]
- Cameron Campbell, 24th January 2017 - Ran over Cameron with his van after Cameron ran out onto the road while he was chasing after Leela and Peri Lomax and Mac then fled the scene with Lisa Loveday and left Cameron for dead. Cameron was taken to hospital and recovered.
- Hunter McQueen, 26th September 2017 - Severely beaten by Mac after he found out about his affair with Neeta. Hunter was found and taken to hospital and recovered.
- Jack Osborne, 24th November 2017 - Severely beaten by Mac after he found out that Mac caused the Hollyoaks High School explosion. Jack attempted to shop him in to the police, but he's beaten up.
- Jack Osborne, 27th November 2017 - Snuck into his hospital room and attempted to smother him with a pillow but Jack's heart monitor started making noise alerting staff so Mac ran away.
- James Nightingale, March 2019 (by proxy) - Mac blackmails Breda McQueen into getting rid of James once and for all. He knows that she's a serial killer and blackmails her with this situation. Breda lightly poisons James, but he recovers in hospital. So, by proxy, he is complicit in the incident.
- Breda McQueen, 21st March 2019 - Attacked Breda after learning that she tricked him into thinking that she killed James after he blackmailed her over Louis Loveday's murder and that he was her intended target, but Breda hit him over the head with a roasting tray full of poisoned lasagne. Mac later dies of his injuries.
Quotes[]
| “ | Hello Cindy. I need a divorce. | ” |
— First line, to Cindy Cunningham.
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| “ | I promise I will never go near her again. | ” |
— To Nathan Nightingale, before Nathan falls out a window during a struggle with Mac.
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| “ | When you fell for Hunter... oh you fell hard. | ” |
— To Neeta Kaur, before letting Neeta fall to her death.
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| “ | He deserved it. | ” |
— To Ellie Nightingale, when she walks in and witnesses Mac physically abusing his son James Nightingale, just before Ellie charges at Mac and pushes him out the window.
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| “ | No! It doesn't end like this! | ” |
— Final line to Breda McQueen, before Breda hits him over the head with a roasting tray.
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Introduction Sequence[]
- 2015-2016: Mac and Neeta are sat in a royal room, Neeta sits on a chair and hands Neeta a sceptre. Following the death of Rachel Hardy, Mac hands Neeta a rose instead.
- 2016-2017: Mac is toasting drinks with Diego Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz and Dirk Savage.
- 2017: Mac is toasting a drink with Dirk Savage.
- 2018-2019: Mac is raising a glass to himself.
