Samantha Siddall joins HO as detective

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hol...antha-siddall/

Hollyoaks has cast Shameless star Samantha Siddall in a new role on the soap.

The actress, who played the role of Mandy Maguire in the original UK version of the comedy drama series, is currently filming scenes for the Channel 4 soap.

Digital Spy can now exclusively reveal that Samantha will be playing the role of a detective, with the star set to appear on screen for the first time in January.

The casting was revealed earlier by the actress's arts agency CiekaBailey Associates, who announced the news on X (formerly Twitter).

As well as Shameless, Samantha has also appeared on shows such as Doctors, Casualty, Holby City and Jane Eyre.

Hollyoaks recently got a big change-up with a stream-first strategy, meaning episodes are now available digitally a day before premiering on E4.

However, fans have been left frustrated with repeated delays with uploads of episodes, one asking on X: "Are you intentionally making it difficult for people to watch?"

"It's been a constant issue since they switched to the first look being solely through the app," another said regarding the issues.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said in response to Digital Spy: "A technical issue within our scheduling system has meant a small number of episodes have gone live to our streaming service slightly later than planned on certain devices.

"We are working to remedy this as soon as possible," they added.