EastEnders icon Rita Simons is reportedly joining the cast of Hollyoaks.
The 46-year-old actress played Albert Square firecracker Roxy Mitchell for 10 years.
She made a cameo reappearance in April this year as Roxy imagined by her daughter Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd) during a family counselling session
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Despite her brief return to Walford, Rita is said to be joining rival Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.
A source told The Sun : “Rita’s new character will certainly ruffle feathers and is set to stir the pot.
“Hollyoaks fans can expect plenty of fireworks.”
(Image: rita_simonsofficial/Instagram)
It has been six years since Roxy drowned alongside her sister Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) in heartbreaking EastEnders scenes.
Rita, who previously took part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, previously revealed she refused to film certain death scenes for the BBC One soap.
She told the publication at the time: “I got pulled aside a couple of days before filming the final scene by an exec, who I cannot name for legal reasons, who said to me, ‘There are a lot of people upstairs who don’t agree with this’.
(Image: BBC)
“They said, ‘If you want any chance at ever bringing Roxy back, you have to refuse to die’. So I have sat on this for six years and said nothing.
“Go back and watch it online and you will see next to nothing of me at all. I also refused to do the coffin scene. I was asked directly to my face and I refused point blank.”
It comes after Rita revealed that she has had a hysterectomy earlier this year.
(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)
She had the op after suffering from “debilitating” periods, which she said affected her ability to work and had an impact on her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anxiety.
Speaking exclusively to OK! magazine, the soap star said that “health comes first” but that the procedure had taken away her chance to have more children.
Rita is a mum to 16-year-old twins Jaimee and Maiya.
She split from her former husband Theo Silverston in 2018 and found love with her partner Ben Harlow before lockdown in 2020.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
