Hollyoaks star quits just months after return as cast exodus continues | Soaps

As the Hollyoaks cast exodus continues, it’s now being reported Emma Rigby has become the next start to leave the Channel 4 soap.

Following the news Hollyoaks will reduce the number of episodes it airs a week from five to three this September, a number of cast and crew have left the show.

From Glynis Barber to Stephanie Waring, we’re in the middle of a massive change for Hollyoaks right now, and it’s not over yet.

Emma Rigby, best known for her role as Hannah Ashworth, has become the next person to say goodbye.

Emma initially played Hannah between 2005 and 2010. In April of this year, Hannah returned as a sex worker. She was involved in a storyline that saw Carter set Lucas up with Hannah.

Having crossed paths with Carter previously, Hannah worked out what Carter was up to and, upon realising that Lucas was Ste’s son, she encouraged the struggling teen to open up to his dad about his sexuality.

Speaking about Emma’s sudden departure from the show, a source told The Sun: ‘It just wasn’t working out for Emma. She agreed a long-term return with certain expectations but that all changed. She’s a professional through and through but the changes were too much so she decided to walk away.’

They added: ‘There’s a worry other high profile cast members may see this as an opportunity to leave the show.

‘While they’re all very supportive of the soap, the reduced budget and seeing friends and colleagues leave after so many years takes its toll.’

Instead of the traditional autumn stunt, which viewers had thought might be used to kill off a number of characters, Hollyoaks will instead jump forward a year time when the new structure comes into play.

Following the time-jump, characters that fans have said goodbye to will no longer be in the village.

‘When we started talking about the move to three episodes a week, we realised we needed a mechanism through which to transition our stories and characters and we kept coming back to this one,’ said Executive Producer Hannah Cheers.

‘It’s bold, daring and is a first for a UK soap; it sums Hollyoaks up perfectly.

‘The new three episode pattern offers us a different model of storytelling, which means we’ll see characters on screen for much longer. Our viewers are really smart; in order to serve them well we need to kick off this new structure in a meaningful way.

‘Fast-forwarding the show permanently by a year presents us with unlimited story possibilities. We are now a streaming-first soap and can lean into less-restricting and conventional structures’

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