'Oaks star Waugh's deal'

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Hollyoaks star Bronagh Waugh has announced that she will be on screen until at least April 2011 after signing an 18-month deal with the soap.

The actress, who plays Cheryl Brady on the Channel 4 drama, admitted that she was grateful to have been offered such a long contract by producers.

Speaking to PA, Waugh explained: "It is quite long actually. Most people are six months or a year. But I'm glad they've let me know longer term because at least you're not going 'Should I look for another job?'

"I can really put my head down and concentrate and enjoy the next couple of years."

The star added that she is happy to stick with the show for another two years but believes it will be "time to go" after that.

She said: "It's such a big character that I wouldn't want to get pigeon-holed in just that type of thing."

Waugh, who joined Hollyoaks last year, has previously likened Cheryl to a "Tasmanian devil".

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Hollyoaks star Bronagh Waugh has claimed that she and her fellow cast members are in the dark over the future of the soap's ongoing serial killer storyline.

Since Christmas, viewers have seen sinister Silas Blissett (Jeff Rawle) prove a dangerous presence in the village - murdering innocent student India Longford and con artist Rebecca Massey.

Silas has also terrorised Lynsey Nolan (Karen Hassan) as she suspects he is the killer, but Waugh's character Cheryl Brady has refused to stand by her friend as she makes her allegations.

Waugh told PA of the plot's future: "All we know, to avoid leaks, is that he will strike again - someone is going and none of us know who it might be.

"We won't know because we're only being handed scripts as and when they come out, which is brilliant because it's keeping us all in suspense but it's really terrifying."

She continued: "So it could be me, it could be Lynsey, it could be any of the girls that he's been torturing."

Silas will be one of the characters to feature in the new series of late-night spinoff Hollyoaks Later, which returns to E4 on September 5.

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Hollyoaks' Cheryl Brady faces a tough challenge this week as her future at university hangs in the balance.

Cheryl has found it difficult to juggle her course with her commitments at Chez Chez in recent weeks, and the situation comes to a head as her class is asked to enter a business competition.

Under strict instruction to do well or risk being kicked out, the pressure is on for Cheryl - can she prove herself or is she facing a crushing failure?

Digital Spy recently caught up with Bronagh Waugh, who plays Cheryl, to hear about the storyline and her character's future.

How are you finding Cheryl's university storyline?
"It's really good fun! I've always wanted to see what it's like to go to university. I never had a chance to do it myself because I went to drama school, which is a lot different as it's very strict. So I'm really enjoying exploring it through Cheryl!

"It's hard work for her, though - she's struggling so much with it. Cheryl has to juggle her work at the club, studying and her social life, so it's quite tricky."

Why has Cheryl enrolled at university at this point in her life?
"For Cheryl, university is about trying to prove to people that she can do something more. I don't think anyone ever believed that she could run a successful business, but she's proved that she can. Now I don't think anyone believes that Cheryl can succeed at university either! Some of her friends have scoffed at the idea, and Brendan really doubted her in particular.

"So Cheryl is mainly doing this for herself. She wants to show what she's worth, and that there's more to her than getting dolled up and being the dippy one. She's hoping to prove that she's got some smarts about her."

Cheryl takes part in a business competition for her course this week, doesn't she?
"Yes, it's so much fun! Cheryl, Annalise, Ste and Doug all go up against each other for this competition, which Tony is running. For Cheryl, it's her last chance, because she's struggling so much when it comes to juggling university with work. She's been told by her tutor that she has to pull her socks up and do well in this contest, otherwise it's game over for her. There's a lot of pressure riding on it."

What happens next?
"There's a lot of rivalry to begin with! Ste and Cheryl are great friends, but there's total rivalry going on. Annalise is very competitive as well, and obviously Cheryl's out to prove herself. But I think what you'll see is that everyone really pulls together and tries to help each other out. It's quite a pleasant surprise and it's really nice to see."

Cheryl also gets to know Annalise a bit better…
"Yes, through it all, Annalise is not very good at letting her hair down as she's a little bit uptight! Bizarrely, though, Cheryl and Annalise become really good friends through this. It's a weird combination, but they can actually offer each other a lot.

"Cheryl teaches Annalise how to let her hair down and have a bit of fun. At the same time, Annalise helps to smarten Cheryl up and make her look a bit more business-like and professional. This might be the start of seeing a more mature and grown-up Cheryl. You'll begin to see that she's learning to put her clothes together in a more appropriate way, and match them a little bit better."

Over at the club, how does Cheryl feel about Brendan trying to turn Joel into a mini version of himself?
"Cheryl's furious about this and she's not having any of it! Cheryl was very dubious about Joel to begin with, but she's taken a real shine to him. She's quite a motherly character and wants to look after people, so she's quite protective over Joel now. She says, 'Brendan, don't you dare turn him into you!'

"I think it's also about laying ghosts to rest as well. Because Joel is Warren's son, Cheryl wants to do some good with him and make him a good boy."

Could there be any romance on the horizon for Cheryl?
"I'd really like Cheryl to find love this year, especially as she's growing up and we're seeing a more mature side of her. I think it would be lovely, and it's her turn to find some happiness. I'd like to see a real genuine love, not just a silly fling. It'd be great if someone could really fall in love with Cheryl and treat her the way she deserves to be treated - with respect."

Could that be anyone currently in the village, or would someone new have to come in?
"I honestly don't know! I'd love to see someone new come in who would sweep Cheryl off her feet. At the moment, I haven't seen anyone in the village who's been particularly gentlemanly towards her. I'd love her to be swept off her feet by a stranger!"

Will there be any more book club scenes for the female characters?
"I think the girl group had a really good reception - it went down really well. I was begging our producer Emma Smithwick the other day, saying, 'Please can we have more?' It was all Emma's idea in the first place and I think she was pleased with the response, so I'm pretty sure there'll be more coming up."

You've been at Hollyoaks for quite a while now. How are you finding your time on the show in general?
"I love it here. I wouldn't change it for the world, as it's a really, really great place to work. I must say, I think we pip the other soaps when it comes to how much fun we have, and I'm really proud of the quality of work. I'm very, very happy.

"I'm not sure how long the producers have got in store for me or where it's going to go - obviously I will have to move on at some point, but I'll stay for as long as I'm happy and as long as they'll have me."

A lot of our readers have said they'd love to see the Brady family history explored more. Do you think that will ever happen?
"That's something that we're hoping to explore this year. Both myself and Emmett Scanlan are really keen to delve deeper into the characters of Cheryl and Brendan and their history. I think that's one of the reasons that I'd like to stay - I want to stay for as long as I can explore who Cheryl is about.

"You need to know why characters are the way they are by peeling back the layers, and I think the viewers feel the same way. It's the same with Brendan, so hopefully we're going to be delving a lot deeper this year. There's going to be some really exciting stuff happening for the Brady family."

Would you like to see another return for Declan Brady?
"I hope Declan comes back and I'm sure he will. He's a firm part of the Brady bunch, and hopefully when we look into the family more, there'll be a place for Declan to come back. He's such a hit with the viewers, so I'm sure that beautiful boy will be back!"

Away from Hollyoaks, you and Kieron Richardson are hosting your own radio show on Gaydio. How are you finding it?
"It's brilliant - Kieron and I are really enjoying it. It's great fun to see another side of the industry, and we try to get as many Hollyoaks guests on as possible, to give us some titbits of storylines that are coming up.

"We've got lots of Digital Spy fans who ring in, so we try to give them as many shout-outs as we can. It's really good fun and I think it's something that Kieron and I would like to do more of in the future. We're best friends in real life, so it's a dream job to work with him both on Hollyoaks and on the radio!"

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Hollyoaks star Bronagh Waugh is currently enjoying a busy time in her career as she juggles her soap commitments with filming new BBC thriller The Fall in Belfast.

As announced earlier this month, Waugh is to play the wife of a serial killer in the five-part series, which airs on BBC Two later this year.

Bronagh recently caught up with Digital Spy for a chat about her new project and what's coming up for her Chester character Cheryl Brady.

How are you feeling about your new BBC project The Fall?
"I'm so excited and thrilled - I keep having to pinch myself! Every now and again I'll be sitting on set thinking, 'I can't believe I'm doing this'. It's such a fantastic role and it's so different from Cheryl and other parts that I've done.

"I'm so glad that they trust me enough to do this. They've really put a lot of faith in me to be able to handle such a big role. I just feel really honoured."

How's the filming going?
"It's going really, really well - we're about halfway through filming it now. It's a tough schedule, much the same as Hollyoaks, but it's so fantastic.

"Until this week, I'd been going back and forth - doing a couple of days here in Belfast and then a couple of days at Hollyoaks. But I'm in Belfast for a week now, so it feels nice to really get my teeth into it. We're doing some of the meatier scenes at the moment and it's just brilliant."

What can you tell us about the storyline of The Fall?
"It's a psychological thriller about a serial killer on the loose in Belfast. He's being pursued by the chief of police, played by Gillian Anderson. My character Sally-Ann is the wife of the killer. She's a neo-natal nurse and is completely unsuspecting about what's going on - she has no idea!

"The whole drama is about the web of lies, how close the killer gets to his secret being revealed, and whether he'll get away with it or not. It's gripping - the script is a real page-turner with wonderful writing from Allan Cubitt."

How do you feel about working with Gillian Anderson?
"She is just wonderful. We don't have any scenes together, but I met her when we did the first read-through. She was sitting opposite me, and I was just in complete awe of her!

"Gillian is really beautiful and striking, but also just an absolutely wonderful actress. She makes every line she says sound so fresh and so new. It feels like great training being able to watch her work."

Your former Hollyoaks co-star Gerard McCarthy is also part of the cast, isn't he?
"Yes, and it's lovely to be back with Gerard. He's playing a solicitor, which is quite separate to my storyline with Sally-Ann and her husband, but it's lovely to be working on another project with him. He looks so different to how I remember him - he's all grown up now!"

How supportive have Hollyoaks been over this project?
"They've all been so lovely. I told our boss Emma first, and she's been really supportive. She's really trusted me to do this, as she knows that I will work really hard to give both shows equal attention. There's not many other bosses on a continuing drama who would allow someone to go off and do this.

"The rest of the cast have been fantastic as well. I think that's what's really lovely about Hollyoaks - it's like a really supportive family. Kieron [Richardson] is my best friend and he's just been really lovely about it - he was so pleased for me. It's the same with Emmett [Scanlan] and everyone else as well."

When it comes to your Hollyoaks storylines, we know that new character Walker will soon be making an impact on Cheryl and Brendan's lives. What can we expect from him?
"Walker is a very interesting character and he's very mysterious. Everything's very much under wraps with his character and we're keeping his storyline a secret. In actual fact, I discussed it with Neil who plays Walker and I said, 'I don't want to know too much!'

"Sometimes it's better to just act with what you know and what you're given. But Neil is just wonderful and it's been really nice doing scenes with him, Emmett and Andrew Still."

Walker catches Cheryl's eye when he joins the village, doesn't he?
"Cheryl and Walker have a really interesting and mysterious kind of magnetism towards each other. It's quite weird, because a lot of people don't take Cheryl that seriously. So it's a case of: will it go anywhere, what does he want, why is he there? A lot of questions are raised and I really hope that I get to work with Neil more."

Is it true that Cheryl has quite a strong reaction when Joel is stabbed next week?
"Yes, for me, next week's episodes have been my first chance this year to get my teeth into something again. Cheryl has very much taken Joel under her wing because he's staying at her house. She knows that he's working with Brendan quite closely and that worries her. As much as Cheryl loves her brother, she worries about his tendency to go to the dark side and she doesn't want him to take Joel with him.

"So when Joel gets stabbed, it's incredibly upsetting for Cheryl. She worries about how it's come about and the involvement of people that she knows. She takes it really hard, and it really shakes things up within the family dynamics and the club dynamics. Next week's episodes are really good as everything hots up, so hopefully everyone will tune in for them."

Finally, where do you stand on the 'Stug' vs 'Stendan' debate?
"It's a really difficult one! Brendan is my brother on the show, but I think him and Ste are really damaging towards each other. At the same time, I really do believe that Brendan loves Ste and I think there will always be an affinity between them - it's just whether it's healthy for them to be together or not. I think they're like magnets and they will always get drawn back towards each other.

"I've been watching the episodes this week and I think Doug and Ste are really good together. They're really cute and funny at some points, but at other points it's heartbreaking - my heart melts for Doug!

"I'm really torn, because I wonder whether 'Stug' will be healthier than 'Stendan', but I've got that naughty little thought of, 'It'd be really good to see what would happen between Ste and Brendan', or, 'Maybe Brendan could change his ways'. As Brendan is my brother, I always want to see him in the best light!"