https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hol...s-lacey-lloyd/

Hollyoaks has made a new casting announcement, with Annabelle Davis joining the Channel 4 soap as newcomer Lacey Lloyd.

The actress, who has appeared in The Dumping Ground and Willow, will enter the village early next year, moving with her best friend Rayne (Jemma Donovan).

The pair will live in a shared house with Romeo (Owen Warner), Nadira (Ashling O?Shea) and Prince (Malique Thompson Dwyer); how will they fare in their new surroundings?

Lacey is described as a "fiercely loyal" and "great" friend, bringing calm as opposed to Rayne?s "chaos." The "driven" and "forthright" character also has aspirations of being a paralegal, with one of her early storylines being an interview at Dee Valley Law.

Davis expressed her delight at joining the soap, saying: "I?m so excited for you to meet Lacey! She?s fun, career driven, training to be a Lawyer and now looking for a job. Fingers crossed she gets it. I?ve had a great time filming with the Hollyoaks gang and look forward to what Lacey gets up to."

Donovan?s casting as Rayne was announced in October, with the former Neighbours actress saying: "I am thrilled to be joining the cast of Hollyoaks! I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be able to bring something unique and fun to a new role and I can't wait to be a part of the Hollyoaks family."

The casting decisions are part of the producers? throwback to the early days of the soap, where students would live together under one roof, with an insider telling Digital Spy about the new developments.

"The new house of 20-somethings will be a throwback to the early years of the show, when batches of new students would arrive at Hollyoaks Community College and live in student halls together," they said. "Fans have often called for a return of this element in the past few years and the new group will have some huge storylines as the soap heads into 2023."

Hollyoaks streams first on All 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.