Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring has said that she was surprised when she found out her on-screen daughter Wallis Day was quitting the show.

It was announced earlier this month that Day had decided to leave the show after a year of playing Holly Cunningham and the role has being recast.

Waring, who plays Cindy Cunningham, said to Inside Soap: "It was Wallis's choice to go and my reaction was, 'Are you kidding me? Give it a chance!' But in the end I just had to let her go, and I wish her all the luck in the world.

"And now we have Amanda [Clapham], who I adore already. I hope people give her a chance and don't just see her as a replacement. Amanda is Holly now."

Waring also revealed that she is excited to be involved in her latest storyline, which has involved Cindy, Mercedes and Lindsey covering up the murder of Doctor Browning.

She said: "It's a fantastic storyline. Bryan Kirkwood told me a while ago there'd be something that would connect Cindy, Lindsey and Mercedes.

"Mercedes is one of our high-profile characters, so I knew it would be really good! And then when we found out we'd be killing Doctor Browning, I was thrilled. We couldn't wait to get started.

"They're in shock and terrified of being found out. They each have their own ways of coping and take turns at being the strong one. It's nice for Cindy to have some friends, as she's never really had any before!"

Speaking about the future birth scene now that Cindy has decided to keep Browning's baby, Waring added: "Even though I've done it twice in real life, I'm scared I'm not going to pull it off. There's a lot of pressure for me to be good at it!"