Hollyoaks legend Gemma Merna joins rival soap Coronation Street
Gemma Merna has announced that she is swapping the Hollyoaks Village for the cobbles as she joins rival soap Coronation Street.
The actress, 40, posted a picture of herself posing in front of the ITV soap’s iconic Rovers Returns pub, writing: “The news is out”.
“I've been keeping a little secret. I am thrilled to announce that I've landed my dream job on @coronationstreet!
“Can you believe it?! I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl. Being born and bred in Manchester, it's truly a dream come true for me.
“It's been on my vision board for over 10 years, and finally, I got the chance to walk the cobbles. I can't even believe I'm writing this. (sic)”
Merna went on to explain that the “best part” of landing the Corrie gig was telling her mum.
She said: “I think the best part was ringing my mum and telling her. To my dad, nana, grandad, and grandma, who all watched it for many years, and were huge fans - I hope you're proud of me up there. (sic)”
Teasing what viewers could expect, she added: “Rebecca will be gracing your screens in the next coming weeks.”
According to Inside Soap magazine, Merna's alter-ego Rebecca will be a client of lawyer Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson), and she will “succumb to his charms”.
DigitalSpy reports that Merna’s appearance is believed to be a one-off in a single episode and unlikely to become a recurring character.
Merna is best known for her role as Carmel Valentine, née McQueen, in Hollyoaks.
She appeared in more than 500 episodes of the Channel 4 soap from 2006 to 2014, with one of her biggest storylines seeing Carmel left with severe injuries when a tanning machine exploded in her face.
The character was later killed off in an explosion following a train crash at her cousin Porsche McQueen's (Twinnie Lee Moore) wedding.
Since then, Merna has become a yoga instructor and in 2016 said she wasn’t sure if she would act again. Thankfully for her fans, she has had a change of heart.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
