Another Hollyoaks star has been confirmed to have resigned from the soap amid ongoing updates following episode cuts and job losses on the show.
The Channel 4 soap, which currently airs five times a week, will reduce to three offerings from September in response to research which indicates that this is the best episode pattern for modern audiences.
To facilitate the new chapter, 135 job layoffs were confirmed, which is estimated to be around a third of Hollyoaks’ staff.
According to a new update, this now includes 20 cast members, who have reportedly been released.
Metro.co.uk can confirm that platinum-selling singer Jamelia, who played Sharon Bailey, made the decision to leave before announcements of job cuts at the show.
She will next be seen in the soap star reality show Drama Queens. The Superstar singer, who is moving to Dubai, said: ‘I’m so excited to be on the cast of Drama Queens, you’ll get to see another side to me and my reality.
‘Motherhood and acting are two incredibly challenging jobs, but doing both at the same time? Chaos is inevitable!’
Speaking at the time of her 2021 cameo, the music star enthused: ‘Filming Hollyoaks has been the most fantastic experience,’ said Jamelia upon her casting.
‘I’ve felt like I’ve been around family, I’ve felt so comfortable and so joyous. It’s just been amazing. I can’t believe this is supposed to be work.’
‘For me, I think what’s important about this episode is that we’re showing the diversity within Black existence, and I think it’s really important for that.
‘So often Black people are portrayed in a monolithic kind of way, and I feel that an episode like this is really important to show the diversity within Black personhood. I’m really honoured to be included in this episode. It’s been fantastic.’
Jamelia’s departure follows Jamie Lomas’ confirmation that he is leaving the show, another actor who had made the decision a long while before the big changes hit.
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Speaking of his hopes for the show’s upcoming new and very different era, he told Metro.co.uk: ‘I always thought that five times a week is a lot for people to digest.
‘People dip in and out of the show and I think with it going to three 20 minute episodes people can binge it within an hour. In this generation that we live in now everything is being consumed so quickly.
‘Ultimately I think it will benefit the show massively. I think it will ultimately be better for the show.’
