Hollyoaks star Annie Wallace has confirmed her departure from the long-running Channel 4 soap, revealing that the decision to leave was not her own.
The popular serial drama, a staple of teatime TV in the UK, will reduce its weekly episodes from five to three from next week onwards.
It was confirmed earlier this year that a number of cast members would be axed in order to facilitate the change.
Stephanie Waring, who has played Cindy Cunningham for almost three decades, confirmed in March that her legendary character – one of the show’s most recognisable – was let go by bosses.
Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins), another TV legend, soon followed, with much-loved mainstays such as Ethan Williams (Matthew James Bailey) and Charlie Dean (Charlie Behan) also set to exit in the coming weeks.
Annie, who has played school headteacher Sally St Claire for nine years, has now revealed that she too will be leaving Hollyoaks, confirming that her final scenes have already been filmed.
The soap star and trailblazer, who worked closely with Coronation Street in the late nineties on the Hayley Cropper storyline, discussed her departure.
‘We were told at the end of March,’ she said. ‘There was a big day when the cast were told [if they were staying or going]. Some people came out and said it and others kept it to themselves so I decided to keep it to myself – to let people find out in the fullness of time. I just carried on.
‘It’s been mostly ignoring that it’s going to happen and carrying on with work.
‘It was when it was headed to the last few weeks that I started to get a bit emotional. I started thinking what costumes I was going to take home with me and things like that.
‘The last filming days were really quite intense. My last day was July 31, so I’ve had a month to decompress – and I have decompressed. I was very upset. There is no lying about it. It’s my career and I love the show.’
Sally has been a part of many huge storylines over the years, from her whirlwind romance with Myra to her unintentional killing of PC George Kiss (Callum Kerr).
In addition to all of this, she repeatedly took on the stresses and worries of the McQueen clan, offering advice and pointing the younger members of the family in the right direction. She did the same for her pupils at Hollyoaks High as headteacher, proving to be an educator that genuinely cared about the children in her school.
In the real world, the character was loved by audiences, so news of her impending departure will therefore will no doubt come as a shock.
‘It will be a shock,’ said Annie. ‘There’s been no hints about Sally.
‘There’s certain people on forums that think Sally has outlived her usefulness but I disagree. The one thing I would’ve loved is for her to find love.
‘I think it’s the one thing I regret that, in nine years, it didn’t happen. The fling with Myra was just them harking back to a romance they had when they were 20. They rode the wave of nostalgia until it came crashing down. I think it would’ve been lovely to see Sally actually meet someone and forge a relationship.
‘I was watching Classic Coronation Street and the Roy and Hayley storyline – the one thing that’s a shame is that Sally never found her Roy. Or her Hayley! I would’ve liked her to find her soulmate.’
The way in which Sally exits Hollyoaks remains under wraps for now but, when quizzed about whether she would consider reprising her role one day, Annie said she absolutely would.
‘The one thing [problem] is maybe I could end up in some show, contracted, and then when they call for me I’m not available,’ she said. That could happen. It would be a shame because I don’t think I would ever say no to coming back, but if I was working elsewhere, who knows? There’s a lot of ‘I don’t know’ – and that discomforts me. I like a bit of structure in my work life. That being taken away has left me a little bit adrift.’
As of next week, Hollyoaks airs Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7pm on E4 or stream from 7am on Channel 4 streaming.
