Hollyoaks star Ela-May Demircan has broken her silence following the news a new actress is going to take over her role in the Channel 4 soap.
Ela-May’s character Leah Barnes was written out of the show post-time-jump in 2024, when it was revealed that she slept with brother Lucas Hay’s (Oscar Curtis) one true love Dillon Ray (Nathaniel Dass), giving birth to his son in subsequent scenes.
The character headed off to America to become a lawyer, leaving baby James in the custody of Ste – though Dillon left the village last week with his one year old son.
It was confirmed this week that Leah will return to the village, but will now be played by Charlotte Riley.
The fact a new actress is going to play the role of Leah has taken a lot of fans by surprise. Sharing how she feels about the news, Ela-May recently took to her Instagram to share a statement.
She wrote: ‘Hi everyone, I wanted to come on here and thank you all for your support these last 14 years, bringing Leah to life for so many years was an honour and she will always be a part of me.
‘While I would have loved to have returned to the show, Hannah saw Leah’s character going in a different direction – but I will always be incredibly grateful to Brian Kirkwood for casting me as Leah in the first place.
Ela-May added: ‘Can we also remember that there are real people behind the screens and to be kind to one another. I don’t want anyone receiving any hate. I hope Charlotte will love Leah just as much as I do.
‘But again, thank you so much for all your support, I see it all. I can’t wait to see what our Leah gets up to from the other side of the screen.’
Leah will head back to Hollyoaks alongside new partner Imran Maalik, played by (Ijaz Rana).
Imran was last seen in the village in 2023 after he decided to embark on an exciting new chapter of his life, moving to London to share a flat with brother Sami (Rishi Nair), who left the eponymous village a number of years prior.
After finding out that Juliet Nightingale’s (Niamh Blackshaw) cancer was terminal, he resolved to stay but Juliet refused to let him miss out on such a big job opportunity, urging him to grab life with both hands.
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The chef shared a heartfelt goodbye with Juliet and then bid farewell to mum Misbah (Harvey Virdi) and sister Yazz (Haiesha Mistry) before departing the eponymous village.
Leah and Imran will arrive arrive arm-in-arm in upcoming scenes, which will no doubt get everyone talking in the village.
After all, their families share a tense and difficult history as, back in 2019, Ste (Kieron Richardson) was groomed by a far-right radicalisation group who targeted the Maalik family.
