Jacqueline Boatswain and Duayne Boachie have left ‘Hollyoaks’.
The two stars – who portrayed Simone Loveday and her son Zack – bowed out of the soap on Tuesday’s (22.01.19) E4 episode, just a day after Karl Collins left his role as family patriarch Louis Loveday.
And Jacqueline has revealed the trio made the decision to depart after four years on screen "as a family".
She said: "It’s sad that it’s time to go, but it was our decision. It’s been a big part of our lives, because we’ve been there for four years. It’s gone so quickly and it’s my longest time ever playing the same character.
"We decided, as a family, that we should move onto new things. But it was still a wrench, because we absolutely loved working with each other…
"All three of us – myself, Karl and Duayne – are working now, so it was the right decision to make. There’s a lot going on, a lot of opportunities were being presented to us and we wanted to go and take those opportunities."
The 56-year-old actress is still in regular contact with all of her on-screen family, including Rachel Adedeji, who is staying on the soap as Simone and Louis’ daughter Lisa Loveday.
Jacqueline told Digital Spy: "We are a family in the true sense, so [I’m still in touch with] all of the Lovedays. We meet each other in London.
"We’ve all been out recently together.
"We even keep a family WhatsApp.
"I speak to Rachel Adedeji, and her parents only live 20 minutes from me in London, so when she’s around we’ll catch up."
Simone left the village to go back to her roots in Jamaica and Jacqueline hasn’t ruled out returning again one day.
She said: "I hope the door is always open, because I’m sure Simone has got so much more up her sleeve and so much more to contribute to the village, even if it’s to come back and to point out how wrong everyone is getting things!"
Meanwhile, Duayne’s exit storyline saw Amanda Clapham return for a brief cameo when Zack impulsively decided to fly out to Paris after her character Holly Cunningham made a video call to tell him how much she loves him.
Jacqueline Boatswain and Duayne Boachie bow out of Hollyoaks
