Denise Welch has announced that she is joining Hollyoaks as Maxine Minniver's mum Trish.
The Loose Women star, 62, announced the news on the ITV daytime show and teased that her character would have a "dark side".
She also said that she was thrilled to work with actress Nikki Sanderson, who she starred alongside in rival ITV soap Coronation Street.
Dance teacher Trish will appear in Hollyoaks under the ominous shadow of boyfriend Brad, who will end up taking a shine to Maxine.
Opening up about her new role on the Channel 4 soap, Denise said: "I am thrilled to be joining the cast of Hollyoaks in this, their 25th year.
“I’m looking forward to working with some old friends and making new ones. The character of Trish Minniver is an actor’s dream and I can’t wait to introduce her to you.”
Trish will make her first appearance in January 2021, shocking Maxine who has spent most of her life in the village without her family around.
What secrets will be unearthed in the new year?
Welcoming her to the show was her Loose Women co-star Kelle Bryan, who plays Martine, and sent in a video message for Denise.
Denise's son Louis Healy also appeared in a soap recently after joining the cast of Emmerdale as bad boy Danny, who caused trouble for Sarah.
At the time, Louis told Mirror Online: "I don't feel that there's pressure on me, definitely not from my family, my parents have never been pushy stage parents.
"They don't put any pressure on me but the little bit I probably do feel is the pressure to have a career as successful as my mum and dad, but I like that, I think I've always worked well under pressure and if I know people are going to be judging me it's going to make me do a good job.
"I've already had people saying I've only got a job because of who my mum and dad are.
"There is a bit of a stigma around it, about famous people's kids, but it's good for me to try and disprove that."
*Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV
