17 soap stars who parted ways with the show for, ahem, controversial reasons

Sarah left her role as Mandy Richardson after Hollyoaks bosses called her in for a meeting about her decision to join X-rated subscription site OnlyFans. She insisted she wasn't going to quit the website, and producers gave her the boot. A spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement which read, "Hollyoaks is a youth-facing drama with many young viewers, who follow our cast very closely, both in the soap and outside of it. We take our responsibility to our young audience very seriously and therefore the show does not allow any Hollyoaks cast members to be active on certain 18+ websites. We had hoped we could reach a resolution with Sarah that would allow her to remain in her role as Mandy, but we respect her choice to continue to produce content on OnlyFans. In the past four years since her return to the show her legacy character has been an integral part of some our most important storylines and we will be very sad to see her go."

Ellis Chapman actor Asan N'Jie was sacked from Emmerdale back in 2019 after reportedly threatening to kill Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas. A video of the pair rowing at the TV Choice Awards surfaced on social media, in which it's claimed Asan threatened to "knife" Jamie and told him, "Do you think you are a f--king big man? I'm going to f--king kill you." An ITV spokesperson later confirmed that Asan had lost his job over the incident. They said, "Emmerdale suspended Asan N'Jie pending further investigation into an incident at a central London hotel on Monday night. ITV executives have met with him and as a consequence Asan's contract has been terminated with immediate effect." It was announced two months later than the role had been recast, with actor Aaron Anthony replacing Asan.

In one of the most shocking soap moments of all time, Leslie Grantham reprised his role as EastEnders' Dirty Den when the iconic character returned from the dead in 2003. But just months later, Leslie was suspended when he was caught exposing himself on webcam and badmouthing co-stars Shane Richie, Wendy Richard, Kim Medcalf and Jessie Wallace by an undercover reporter. At the time, the actor issued a public apology and tried to make amends by donating to charity but it was too late and a spokesman for the BBC soap soon confirmed the actor had left for good.

Chris Fountain rose to fame as Justin Burton on Hollyoaks and took on his second soap role in 2011 when he joined Coronation Street as Tommy Duckworth. Two years later, he tried his hand at music and released of a video of himself rapping about rape and violence. This, of course, didn't go well down with Corrie bosses who insisted they had "no choice" but to give him the sack.

Hollyoaks star Stephanie Davis had her contract terminated in 2015 for turning up late on set after a series of boozy nights out. According to reports, there were 20 incidents that led to her losing her job. After three years away, Stephanie reprised her role as Sinead O'Connor in 2018 but quit two years later. "Goals: Be happy. Sometimes we make decisions based not on what we want but what we know is right! It is with a heavy heart I have decided to leave Hollyoaks and [I am] now looking forward to working on new and exciting projects," she said on social media at the time. Stephanie later took on another soap role in 2023 when she guested as Courtney Vance in Coronation Street.

Ricky Norwood's character Arthur 'Fatboy' Chubb arrived on Albert Square in 2010 and quickly became one of EastEnders' most popular characters, but things all came crashing down four years later when he was suspended after being caught on camera allegedly smoking cannabis and performing a sex act. It was announced he was leaving the soap for good a year later when a BBC spokesperson said, "We can confirm Ricky is leaving. We wish him all the best."

Mark Jordon played Emmerdale's Daz Spencer from 2014 until 2019 but parted ways with the soap after being arrested on suspicion of biting and threatening a pensioner at a pub garden. He was eventually found not guilty of affray, unlawful wounding and assault by beating and allegedly spent thousands to clear his name. Mark later revealed that he was hopeful of returning to the soap. He's in a real life relationship with former co-star Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Wyatt, and they have two children.

Bruno Langley made history as Coronation Street's first openly gay character Todd Grimshaw when he joined the show in 2001 and played the role on and off until 2017 when he was accused of sexually assaulting two women in a Manchester nightclub. He was later found guilty and sentenced to a year of community service. The character of Todd returned to Corrie in 2020 when Gareth Pierce took on the role.

Former EastEnders star Danniella Westbrook took on her second soap role in 2013 for a brief stint as Hollyoaks villain Trudy Ryan. She was due to make a second appearance in 2015 but found herself axed from the show for "breaching her contract". At the time, a spokesperson for the soap said, "Danniella breached her contract and it was terminated last week. She will not be filming Hollyoaks." However, Danniella has a different version of events and insisted she decided not to return to Liverpool, where the soap is filmed, as she heard that her abusive ex-boyfriend Tom Richards had moved to the area.

Remember child star Melissa Suffield? She's best known for playing Lucy Beale between 2004 and 2010 but was sacked from the role over her unruly behaviour. Despite reportedly receiving three warnings from BBC bosses, then-17-year-old Melissa was pictured on a night out, leaving bosses no choice but to get rid of her. At the time, Melissa threw shade at producers in a post on her personal website as she fumed, "Sat in the green room at work, my last day very emotional! I was a naughty girl outside of work, well that's what they have sacked me for, pathetic!" The character of Lucy Beale returned to Albert Square in 2012, but this time she was played by Hetti Bywater.

Bruce Jones played patriarch of the iconic Battersby family, Les, in Corrie for ten years before he was axed after downing six pints of Guinness and spoiling the outcome of Tracey Barlow's murder trial in front of an undercover reporter. ITV later confirmed, "Bruce Jones will not be returning to his role of Les Battersby on Coronation Street. Bruce's current contract will not be renewed when it ends in September of this year. The character of Les will not be seen back on screen."

Davinia Taylor played Jude Cunningham in Hollyoaks in the late 90s but was fired from the show in 1998 for bad time-keeping. She later insisted that wasn't the real reason for her exit, telling Digital Spy, "Well do you know what, that's what they say I got 'sacked' for, but I think I fell out with the producer. She let me film my final scenes, all the front-of-head shots, so I'd already signed a contract saying I was leaving. So my final scenes I shot, and then they got an extra in to film the back-of-head shots and they rang up the press and said: 'Oh, we sacked her'. And just got the last bit of mileage out of me PR-wise. It didn't do me any favours at all." Despite the contentious way she left the soap, Davinia got her happy ending in 2016 when she temporarily reprised her role as Cindy Cunningham's sister.

Shortly after she joined Emmerdale as Aiesha Richards in 2019, Shila Iqbal was removed from the show after homophobic and racist tweets from 2012 resurfaced online. "As a consequence of historic social media posts Shila Iqbal has left her role as Aiesha Richards on Emmerdale," said a spokesperson for the soap at the time. Although she issued a grovelling apology for the historic remarks, Shila later appeared on This Morning and questioned whether she should have been sacked for something she did as a teenager. "To be honest, I think if the person has changed and shown remorse then no, you shouldn't be judged on that, you should be judged on the person you are today," she told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

Marc played Corrie's Sharif Nazir for two years before he was fired in 2016 after tweeting a number of hateful anti-India comments. He was swiftly written out of the soap and bosses issued the following statement, "We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar. We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to Coronation Street with immediate effect." The actor issued an apology video in which he told fans, "I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to anyone that I may have offended with my tweets on Friday evening and especially people from India. This was never my intention and the language was unacceptable. I feel that I have let a lot of people down, my family, my friends and my former colleagues. This I very sincerely apologise for." The video has since been deleted.

Hollie-Jay Bowes played Michaela McQueen on Hollyoaks in the Noughties but was quickly written out of the soap in 2010 after falling out with producers. At the time, she tweeted, "This past four years have been incredible but I think it's time to find myself again! I'm officially leaving Hollyoaks in the next 6 months!"

Luke Tittensor played Daz Eden on Emmerdale until 2009 when he was booted off the show after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm when he broke a teenager's jaw. At the time, an Emmerdale spokesperson said, "As Luke has pleaded guilty to the serious charge of GBH and we cannot condone criminal behaviour, we have met with Luke and his agent to explain his contract with Emmerdale will be terminated. Luke regrets his behaviour and understands this situation."

In 2015, it was announced that Katie Redford would be joining Coronation Street as Sarah Platt's 14-year-old daughter Bethany, but she was axed before she even stepped foot on the cobbles after it emerged she had lied about her age. The actor had told bosses she was 19 when she was in fact 22. The role was later to given to Lucy Fallon who played Bethany between 2015 and 2020, before reprising the role at the end of 2023.