Rita Simons has joined 'Hollyoaks'.

Rita Simons has joined Hollyoaks

Rita Simons has joined Hollyoaks

The former 'EastEnders' actress - who quit the soap in 2017 but briefly reprised her role as Roxy Mitchell in April this year - has reportedly signed up for an as-yet undisclosed part in the Channel 4 series and will make her screen debut later this year.

A source told the Sun on Sunday newspaper's Bizarre TV column: “Rita’s new character will certainly ruffle feathers and is set to stir the pot.

"'Hollyoaks' fans can expect plenty of fireworks.”

Rita's 'EastEnders' return this year saw her late character reappear as a figment of her grieving daughter Amy Mitchell's (Ellie Dadd) imagination and the actress previously admitted she wouldn't have said yes if she was asked to be "a ghost".

She told 'Good Morning Britain': "Very clearly, I was asked to go back...not as a ghost. Not as a ghost. And I said 'Right, if I'm a ghost, I'm not doing it!' But because it was a figment of Amy's imagination - anything to do with mental health issues, I'm there like a rat up a drainpipe because I'm an advocate - she is having these mental health struggles and it's almost like doing these inner-child work that you do with a therapist. So it's her imagination."

Rita then went on to remind fans that because viewers did not see her character's body after she and her sister both drowned in a swimming pool, there is a possibility that Roxy is not dead after all and could potentially make a reappearance "for the fans."

She added: "I could come back because you didn't see my body. I don't know if I could come back. It's awful because the fans are like 'Please come back!' I did this for the fans, I did this for them and they blew me away last night."


Tagged in