Hollyoaks star Annie Wallace leaves soap in shock exit: 'I'm very upset...'

Annie Wallace has left 'Hollyoaks' after almost 10 years.

The 59-year-old actress has played the role of Sally St. Claire on the Channel 4 soap opera since 2015 but was told just a matter of months ago that her time was up and was "very upset" by the way it all happened.

She told Metro.co.uk: "We were told at the end of March. There was a big day when the cast were told [if they were staying or going]. Some people came out and said it and others kept it to themselves so I decided to keep it to myself – to let people find out in the fullness of time. I just carried on.

"It’s been mostly ignoring that it’s going to happen and carrying on with work.

"It was when it was headed to the last few weeks that I started to get a bit emotional. I started thinking what costumes I was going to take home with me and things like that.

"The last filming days were really quite intense. My last day was July 31, so I’ve had a month to decompress – and I have decompressed. I was very upset. There is no lying about it. It’s my career and I love the show."

The soap star is sure that her sudden exit will come as a "shock" to fans and regrets that her alter ego never managed to find love during her time in the village.

She said: "It will be a shock. There’s been no hints about Sally. There’s certain people on forums that think Sally has outlived her usefulness but I disagree. The one thing I would’ve loved is for her to find love."