Stephanie Waring auditioned for the role of Cindy Cunningham’s sister in ‘Hollyoaks’ before landing her part.
The 42-year-old star initially tried out for Jude Cunningham on the Channel 4 soap, and while she lost out to Davinia Taylor, the pair went on to become great friends and would often be told off by the production staff for misbehaving on set.
Steph – who joined ‘Oaks’ as Cindy in 1996 – said: "I actually auditioned to play Jude Cunningham first.
"Obviously I didn’t get it! Me and Davinia Taylor, who played her, were very close.
"We spent a lot of the time being reprimanded by the producer in those days if we’d been naughty."
But Steph didn’t think she had landed the role of Cindy either after "messing up [her] lines" during her audition and assuming she hadn’t been successful, only for her to receive an answer phone message telling her the good news when she returned home.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, she added: "After Jude I auditioned for Cindy, I remember I was the oldest girl there and the last to go in. I messed up my lines and didn’t think it had gone well, and got on with the rest of my day.
"When I got home there was a message on my answer phone from my agent, this was before mobile phones, telling me I’d got the part.
"Apparently they’d called about an hour after the audition! I was only contracted for four episodes at first."
Steph has starred as Cindy since 1996, while Davinia appeared as Jude from 1996 to 1998, and then again briefly in 2016.