EXCLUSIVE: Hollyoaks newcomer Charlotte Riley, who replaced original Leah Barnes actress Ela-May Demircan, has revealed the pressure of taking on the role amid backlash
Hollyoaks’ new Leah Barnes actress Charlotte Riley has shared her reaction to backlash from viewers(Image: Lime Pictures)
Hollyoaks‘ new Leah Barnes actress Charlotte Riley has shared her reaction to backlash from viewers aimed at bosses.
After the role was recast and original actress Ela-May Demircan was replaced, newcomer Charlotte confessed there was “pressure” with taking on the role. Hearing out why fans weren’t impressed about the changes to the character, Charlotte explained why the role was recast.
She also, in an exclusive chat with the Mirror, defended the changes to Leah as fans called out the character’s “personality transplant”. Hollyoaks bosses planned the change in order to take the character of Leah down a different route.
As for the changes to Leah as a person, it’s very much to do with her time in LA. Charlotte hopes the show will explore some of Leah’s past, while she added that we will see another side to Leah very soon.
On the backlash, Charlotte sympathised: “There is definitely pressure. I obviously understand it because when you watch your favourite show, and they recast someone, you’re like, it’s not her!
“I would be the exact same honestly. People don’t like change, myself included, but I think that’s why people need to get comfortable with change in that life changes people.
“People grow and that’s what they wanted to do with Leah, take her down a different route. She’s been in LA, she’s been studying, and she’s changed as a person.
“She’s had these American influences, and her style’s changed.” Charlotte also explained that a lot of the confidence and chaos we are seeing with Leah is a front she’s putting on.
She told us: “There’s a lot that’s gone on and you never lose your inner self. She has past trauma like with the loss of her mum, she’s not completely changed. But she’s got these great cover-ups, she puts on a front for everyone.
“In the summer we will see it deteriorate a bit. She’s not always perfect and she wants to put on a front. Finding this new aspiration of being an influencer, it’s given her confidence to change as a person.”
Charlotte is loving her time on the soap though, and she talked about reuniting with her Coronation Street co-stars Lewis Walton and Brook Debio, who both recently joined the Channel 4 soap too. She said: “Brook found out way before anything, then Lewis and then it just happened, it was me!
“I love it, it still doesn’t feel real and I don’t think it ever will. When you’re constantly doing auditions and it’s rejection therapy, when you do get the job it’s like imposter syndrome.
“But I have found my feet a bit, and I’m settled in now. I love it. I’m constantly living in that dream and doing what I have wanted to do since I was little.”
Hollyoaks is available to stream on Channel 4’s streaming service now, while it also airs Mondays to Wednesdays on E4 at 7PM. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .