FORMER Hollyoaks star Steph Waring has revealed the truth about what happened the day she was fired from the show.
The actress - who played Cindy Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap - was let go in 2024 as part of a vast number of redundancies on the show as the show went down to three episodes per week.
And now she has opened up about her heartbreaking reaction on the day she was told she would be leaving after 28 years playing the character.
Writing in her book Breaking the Script, Stephanie said: “I walked into the office. There were two people there for the meeting: the newly appointed executive producer – a stalwart behind the scenes in various roles for years – and the long-standing head of production, who I’d known since I began on the show back in 1996.
“They asked me to sit. They explained that they’d be reading a scripted statement. As I listened, I could barely process what was being said. I was just waiting for the words I longed to hear: ‘And therefore, we’d like Cindy to stay.’
“But as the statement neared its close, before the final words were even spoken, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I was shaking as I looked at the two of them.
“Then it happened. ‘And with that said, we will be losing Cindy from the show. I’m so sorry, Steph.’ The world stopped for a second as I replayed those words in my head. Then… I lost my s***.
“‘What? No! You mean you’re not taking me to the 30th?’ I blurted out, referencing the upcoming anniversary of the show – a milestone that meant so much to the long-standing cast.
“‘I don’t understand. No, I don’t understand. I don’t understand!’ I was frantic. ‘But I’ve been so loyal. Please, no. This is my life. I love my job – please, no!’
“Hysterically crying, I repeated myself, hoping one of them would see my distress and take it all back. Had they made a mistake? My world felt like it was imploding. Through my tears, I demanded to know, ‘How am I on that list? Cindy is an original! I’m the longest-serving female character. I was the first person to give birth on the show.’
“I was clutching at anything, anything at all, to make them realise their mistake. How? Why was I the only original being cut? I couldn’t understand. It felt so cold. I could see the distress I was causing them.”
Despite being reassured that Cindy wouldn’t be killed off, Steph let rip, furious and devastated in equal measure.
She added: “I wanted to scream: It’s your bloody job to create the story and protect your long-standing characters! After 16 years and a 28-year-strong character, it should have been my choice to hang up her heels. But instead, I said, ‘Just tell me when I’m going.’
“My new contract was set to start the following month, on 27 April. I had signed it, so I presumed I’d begin it and see out the year. What followed, though, was far from what I was expecting. They told me I would be leaving in July – just 12 weeks away. ‘JULY?!!!!’
“I felt like I had swallowed a grenade, and it exploded inside me. A switch flipped. I couldn’t make sense of it, so I fired back with all the ammunition I had, a few expletives rolling off my tongue like bullets.
“Yeah, I took it really well. They tried so hard to calm me down, to get me to breathe, but I was in full fight-or-flight mode.
HOLLYOAKS beauty Chelsee Healey has dropped the biggest hint yet she's been axed from the soap - yet what's happening at the Channel 4 show?
Earlier this year, the Channel 4 soap was forced to address the cull of cast members.
It came after The Sun was first to report Hollyoaks bosses plan to kill off a whopping 20 cast members.
Now Chelsee, who recently took time away from her role as Goldie McQueen to give birth to her second daughter, has now made a cryptic move on X.
The Manchester lass, 36, re-posted a picture of her character crying to her page.
It came after Stephanie Waring, famed for her 28-year-long role as Cindy Cunningham, confirmed that soap bosses had axed her as part of the 20-person strong cast cull.
Another big name set to quit for good is popstar turned soap star Jamelia.
The soap's resident hunk and TV favourite Owen Warner has also left the show amid the cuts with fans left devastated to say goodbye to his character Romeo Nightingale.
Jamie Lomas has also quit the show and will depart his Warren Fox role soon.
Haiesha Mistry famed for her role as Yasmine Maalik has also left after seven years.
“And after my fight, in true dramatic fashion, I fled the room. I was still crying as I made my way through the building I had known my whole adult life, not quite grasping what had just happened.
“It felt like someone had died. My whole world had fallen apart in that moment. Everything I thought I knew had been taken from me so easily. I felt like nothing – like I didn’t matter.”
She fled the room and was found by her co-stars Jennifer Metcalfe and Kirsty Leigh Porter who supported her before she could go home to husband Tom.
Stephanie also revealed how her agent had become determined to get soap bosses to reverse their decision - but in the end the actress herself decided she didn’t want to stay.
Since her Hollyoaks exit Steph has reinvented herself as a life coach.
