SOAPS fans have suggested a new ‘rule’ for actors moving from one show to another, believing it would make the soaps ‘better’.
The likes of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale have shared several actors in common over the years.
Some played minor roles on one soap and became lead stars on a different show years later, while other actors have the distinction of playing regular roles in different soaps during their careers.
Taking to Reddit, a fan suggested actors moving between soaps should continue as their original character.
They wrote: “When an actor leaves a soap and joins another one, they have to go into the new one as their original character.
“So Michelle Collins would have been Cindy Beale running the Rovers, Chris Bisson would have gone to Emmerdale as Dev’s cousin Vikram.”
In these examples, Michelle first played Cindy Beale on BBC soap EastEnders from 1988 to 1998.
She joined the cast of rival Coronation Street as Stella Price in 2011 and stayed until 2014.
She made a surprise comeback as Cindy in EastEnders from 2023 onwards, more than two decades after the character’s supposed death.
Meanwhile, Chris held a regular role as Vikram Desai in Coronation Street beginning in 1999, eventually leaving the cobbles in 2002.
Seven years later, he re-entered soapland by joining Emmerdale as Jai Sharma, a role he continues to play to this day.
If the fan’s rule was in place, Michelle and Chris would have joined their new soaps as their old characters, Cindy and Vikram respectively.
This is despite an obvious issue for Cindy – her ‘death’ – which was in place at the time Michelle joined Corrie.
A fellow fan commented: “I’ve always thought it would be cool if characters from other soaps turned up in Weatherfield, The Dales or Albert Square.
“So you could see Ian Beale and his family show up in The Dales and in the Woolpack during their holiday’s. I like this idea of this expanded soap-universe, similar to DC and Marvel.”
Another shared: “Matt Musgrove off Brookside went to Hollyoaks for… quite a while if I remember correctly (a couple years). I think it’s the only time a UK soap character has done this.”
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Other examples of soap stars swapping shows include Richard Blackwood, who formerly portrayed Vincent Hubbard on EastEnders and now plays Felix Westwood on Hollyoaks.
Fellow former EastEnders stars Rita Simons (Roxy Mitchell) and Glynis Barber (Glenda Mitchell) have also found their way to the Channel 4 soap.
Coronation Street legend Paula Lane, who played the gone-too-soon Kylie Platt, joined the cast of Emmerdale as Ella Forster earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Emmerdale actress Claire King, who plays Kim Tate, had a stint on Coronation Street as Erica Holroyd from 2014 to 2017.