“I’m very much unemployed.”
Hollyoaks star Iz Hesketh has hinted at her exit from the show.
The actor, who has played Kitty Draper since January, took to her Instagram Stories on Monday (August 12) to reveal she is “unemployed” and looking for work.
“London friends. I’m back as of tomorrow till just before I go for surgery early October,” she wrote.
“So if anyone wants to catch up or do anything, I’m very much unemployed and free for the foreseeable so hmu. Equally if anyone needs someone for any gigs, in and out of drag, I am ready and available.”
News of Hesketh’s possible exit comes after a number of departures from the soap this year. Steph Waring recently filmed her final scenes as Cindy Cunningham, who she had played for almost 30 years.
Zain Rizwaan actor Jonas Khan, Hunter McQueen star Theo Graham and Norma Crow actor Glynis Barber are also among the 20 cast members who have left the show.
The departures follow Channel 4’s decision to cut episodes to three 20-minute slots per week.
Kitty made her dramatic debut on the Channel 4 soap as part of January’s road disaster stunt, which saw Ste fatally knock Ella over with his car.
It was recently revealed that Kitty is actually a woman named Ivy and that she stole the real Kitty’s identity after the car crash.
Recent episodes saw Kitty find out that Abe had filed a missing persons report, and later learnt that Abe was the man the real Kitty was running from before her death.
She then tried to warn Cleo about her boyfriend, but Abe overheard and told Cleo that Kitty was lying.
Speaking recently to Digital Spy, Hesketh, who is nominated for the Best Newcomer prize at this year’s Inside Soap Awards, reflected on her time with the show so far.
“I’ve worked so hard these past nine months to deliver a character that is loveable, flawed and fun. It feels really nice to be nominated,” she said.
“I always guessed that if Kitty was anything like me, she wouldn’t exactly have a mundane life. I did know what was coming up – I knew certain story plots that would be dropped in among my first year here.
“It’s definitely been interesting to reach the peak and then trough and then find out what the next peak is. That’s been really, really cool.”
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.
