Rita Simons Says Hollyoaks Shake-Up Changed Her Entire Storyline
- - Rita Simons Says Hollyoaks Shake-Up Changed Her Entire Storyline
Johnathon KornbleeDecember 18, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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For nearly two decades, Rita Simons has been a familiar face to soap fans worldwide, best known for her role as Roxy Mitchell on BBC EastEnders (streaming on BritBox in the US). Most recently, she appeared as Marie Fielding on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, though the role she ultimately played was not the one she was originally cast in.
In April 2023, Simons hinted at a new soap role during an appearance on Good Morning Britain. When asked by host Adil Ray about her next move, she coyly replied, "I'm not telling you. When I have something to tell you, I will tell you,” before adding, “Right now, I'm really having a lovely time not there [EastEnders] and I’m potentially going somewhere else!”
Three months later, in July 2023, it was announced that Simons had joined the cast of the Liverpool-based soap Hollyoaks.
Although her casting was announced in mid-2023, Simons did not make her on-screen debut until March 2024. In an exclusive interview with Parade, the award-winning actress revealed that her role, Marie Fielding, was not the part she was initially hired to play.
“There was a big change in the upstairs section of Hollyoaks, so producers were moving around, so things got put on hold,” Simons explained, referencing the transition from former executive producer Lucy Allen to Hannah Cheers. Simons continued, “I was originally coming in as Glynis Barber’s daughter,” Simons said. “She played my mum in EastEnders, and on Hollyoaks she was Norma Crow." Meaning she would be portraying Warren Fox's (Jamie Lomas) biological half-sister.
As a result, Simons was reassigned to the role of Marie Fielding. “They decided to change it to have me as the boy's mum,” she said on behalf of WhichBingo. The shift kept her character connected to Lomas’ Warren Fox, this time as a former lover rather than a potential half-sibling.
Following Allen’s departure, planned storylines were reworked. Barber exited Hollyoaks in July 2024, just four months after Simons’ debut, while Lomas left the series shortly thereafter as the show restructured its broadcast schedule from five episodes a week to three.
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Simons exited Hollyoaks in October of this year, with her character Marie leaving the village to relocate and start over at Brookside Close.
Episodes featuring Simons’ run on Hollyoaks are currently available to stream on the show’s official YouTube channel.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the TV section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
