Hollyoaks legend Stephanie Waring spotted back on set amid show return rumours

Hollyoaks spoilers follow.

Soap icon Stephanie Waring has been spotted back on the set of Hollyoaks, amid rumours that she is returning to the Channel 4 series to reprise her role of Cindy Cunningham after two years away.

Cindy is one of the soap's original and most iconic characters, and was at the heart of the show for 28 years. However, the character was written out in 2024, with Waring included in the cast reduction when the show went from five weekly episodes to three.

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Earlier this week, however, it was reported by Metro that the actor would be making a dramatic comeback as Cindy, and returning to the soap on a full-time basis in the coming weeks.

Now, in new pictures obtained by Digital Spy, Waring can be seen looking happy and relaxed on the set of Hollyoaks in Liverpool while holding a script – the strongest indicator yet that Cindy will be back in the village soon.

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The rumour mill began when Waring was pictured out with a number of current Hollyoaks actors, including former Coronation Street star Brooke Vincent, who is joining the show as new character Abigail.

Waring denied that she was returning to the soap at the time, but these exciting new pictures might suggest otherwise. Hollyoaks has declined to comment on the reports of Waring returning to the show.

Cindy left the village in September 2024, as she and half-sibling Tom fled to Spain with their respective kids to escape her husband Dave Chen-Williams, after discovering that he was the ominous gangster Blue.

Since leaving the soap, Waring has qualified as a life coach, and earlier this year she shared that she had started a shop on TikTok.

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"So, why did I start doing TikTok shop?" she said in a video on the platform. "I'm an actress. I've been in the business for 30 years. Most of you know me as Cindy from Hollyoaks. But a couple of years ago, I left my job.

"I wrote a book, trained to be a life coach, auditioned [and] shot my first movie. Reality is, it's been so wonderful to be able to do all of these other things, but one day my daughter gave me a packet of greens that she’s got off of TikTok shop."

Hollyoaks airs on Mondays-Wednesdays with its Channel 4 streaming premiere at 7am, then an E4 broadcast the same night at 7pm. Full episodes are also released on YouTube a week after their Channel 4 release.

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.

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