Hollyoaks has announced a soap-star reunion as Denise Welch joins the cast.
Denise will play Nikki Sanderson’s on-screen mum Trish Minniver in the Channel Four soap.
Denise and Nikki previously worked together on Coronation Street when they played Natalie Barnes and Candice Stowe.
Nikki, 36, from Bury, played hairdresser Candice from 1999 to 2005 and now plays Hollyoaks favourite Maxine Minniver.
Denise, 62, who played former Rovers Return landlady Natalie from 1997 to 2000, already has Hollyoaks connections.
She previously starred with Chelsee Healey, who plays Goldie McQueen, in the Rochdale school drama Waterloo Road and is a Loose Woman panellist alongside Kelle Bryan who plays Martine Deveraux in the soap.
A dance teacher by trade her character arrives in Hollyoaks under the ominous shadow of boyfriend Brad who immediately takes a shine to Maxine, leaving viewers wondering if he will drive a wedge between mother and daughter.
Speaking about her new role, 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.”
As well as Corrie and Waterloo Road Denise's acting credits include Soldier Soldier, the ground-breaking BBC drama Boy Meets Girl, which followed the love story of a transgender woman and a cisgender man, and Benidorm.
In 2016 she played Alison Slater, the estranged mother of Kyle Slater, in EastEnders.
And she's been a panellist on the ITV chat show Loose Women for more than 18 years.
‘Trish’ will first appear on screen in January 2021 much to the shock of Maxine, who since arriving in Hollyoaks in 2012 and saying farewell to sister, Mitzeee (played by Rachel Shenton), has fought many battles without her immediate family around her including domestic violence at the hands of her ex husband Patrick Blake, nursing her abusive ex after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and burying Patrick's body in the city wall after he was murdered by his granddaughter Nico.
She also ruined many of her friendships and relationships when she developed Munchausen's syndrome, defined by the NHS website as 'a psychological disorder where someone pretends to be ill or deliberately produces symptoms of illness in themselves.'
