Gemma Merna has announced that she is swapping the Hollyoaks Village for the cobbles as she joins rival soap Coronation Street.
The actress, 40, posted a picture of herself posing in front of the ITV soap’s iconic Rovers Returns pub, writing: “The news is out”.
“I've been keeping a little secret. I am thrilled to announce that I've landed my dream job on @coronationstreet!
“Can you believe it?! I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl. Being born and bred in Manchester, it's truly a dream come true for me.
“It's been on my vision board for over 10 years, and finally, I got the chance to walk the cobbles. I can't even believe I'm writing this. (sic)”
Merna went on to explain that the “best part” of landing the Corrie gig was telling her mum.
She said: “I think the best part was ringing my mum and telling her. To my dad, nana, grandad, and grandma, who all watched it for many years, and were huge fans - I hope you're proud of me up there. (sic)”
Teasing what viewers could expect, she added: “Rebecca will be gracing your screens in the next coming weeks.”
According to Inside Soap magazine, Merna's alter-ego Rebecca will be a client of lawyer Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson), and she will “succumb to his charms”.
DigitalSpy reports that Merna’s appearance is believed to be a one-off in a single episode and unlikely to become a recurring character.
Merna is best known for her role as Carmel Valentine, née McQueen, in Hollyoaks.
She appeared in more than 500 episodes of the Channel 4 soap from 2006 to 2014, with one of her biggest storylines seeing Carmel left with severe injuries when a tanning machine exploded in her face.
The character was later killed off in an explosion following a train crash at her cousin Porsche McQueen's (Twinnie Lee Moore) wedding.
Since then, Merna has become a yoga instructor and in 2016 said she wasn’t sure if she would act again. Thankfully for her fans, she has had a change of heart.
