Hollyoaks recently let go more than 10 members of the cast as the soap continued to tighten its budget, but now one of its longest-serving stars has reportedly walked away from their role.

Nikki Sanderson has quit the soap, 12 years after making her first appearance as Maxine Minniver. The actress, 40, is ready to focus on other roles and is due to film her final scenes next month.

"She met with bosses and told them of her plans to leave, she'd just turned 40 and felt the time was right to say goodbye to Maxine," an insider revealed to The Sun, adding that Nikki is eager to "explore other opportunities" beyond the Channel 4 drama.

"Bosses have been plotting Maxine's exit storyline for months and have promised it will be a fitting tribute to the character," the source disclosed, hinting at significant "drama" surrounding her departure.

The revelation of Nikki's imminent departure comes unexpectedly, especially after she had expressed grand ambitions for Maxine last year.

"I think she'd love to have more children. I think that if we're thinking where she'd like to go forward, I think she'd like to advance in her career, as much as Maxine is ditsy and I love that about her, she is also very switched on," Nikki mused about her character's potential future.

She continued: "I think that it'd be lovely to see her go really far in her career, and obviously her and Minnie are just an awesome duo and just see them both."

"I'm trying to think because I don't want it just to be about finding love, she doesn't need somebody to complete her, she is full as she is, she would love to find someone to complement her as a couple, but I don't think she necessarily needs anybody, she's strong and independent."

Nikki, who also appeared as Candice Stowe in Coronation Street, added: "I love the fact that Maxine is always kind and considerate to other people and she's always wanting to make sure everybody is ok, and she does everything in her power to look after people as well and make sure they're ok and I love that element of her."

While Nikki seems to have had the luxury of choosing to leave, this option was not available for many involved with Hollyoaks. The show suffered severe budget cuts last year and executives tried to slash their workforce by 40% across the board.

In September, the airing schedule also took a hit, diminishing from five days to a mere three days a week for the first time in the soap's history.