Rachel Adedeji feared she might’ve forgotten how to act before her ‘Hollyoaks’ return.
The 27-year-old actress was "very nervous" before she headed back to the set of the Channel 4 soap to reprise her role as Lisa Loveday – who was last seen on screen in December 2017 – following her maternity leave, but she is "glad" to be back on the show.
Rachel – who has 10-month-old daughter Lillian with husband Jason Finegan – said: "It hasn’t actually felt like I’ve left but it’s been amazing, everyone’s so welcoming as usual. Initially I was very nervous because I felt like a new girl again.
"I was like ‘I hope I know how to act’ because I’d been out of the game for a while, but it straight away comes back to you funnily enough. As soon as I get the heels on, the wig on, I’m like, ‘Yeah, she’s back baby!’ It’s amazing and I’m glad I came back when I did."
Rachel welcomed Lillian into the world in December last year, and she is planning to make sure the youngster’s birthday is "all Christmassy" to ensure the little one doesn’t "hate" her when she grows up.
She added: "Me and my husband didn’t plan to have a baby three days before Christmas last year, so I don’t really know where we’re going to be.
"I need to think about out how I’m going to celebrate my baby’s first birthday and not make it all Christmassy or she’s really going to hate me when she grows up. I’m hoping it’ll be better than last year and not just sleeping all day."
Rachel previously opened up about suffering from the baby blues after giving birth, and she recently admitted turning to exercise helped her "mental state".
She said: "I’ve always been quite a fit person anyway so I started working out quite soon after having my daughter but that wasn’t even for aesthetic reasons, it was for my mental state. I’m so glad I did it for those reasons.
"Eventually I started to notice a result and then I started to feel better about myself, but I’m so glad I didn’t do it for those reasons, it wasn’t the forefront pressure for me."
Rachel Adedeji’s Hollyoaks return nerves
