Hollyoaks has tonight aired the final scenes of Amy Conachan as much loved local Courtney Campbell after five years.

Since moving to the Hollyoaks village, Courtney has given birth to her daughter, Iona, she has smuggled drugs overseas, been the victim of blackmail, became a murder suspect, and tragically become a widow on her wedding night after her new husband, Jesse, passed away.

Courtney bade farewell to her family and friends in touching scenes tonight. In the episode, Ste and Peri made Sid realise that he’s unintentionally guilt-tripped Courtney into staying, so they rushed to tell her to take her dream job as Head Teacher in a new school in Scotland.

We caught up with Amy, who reveals her decision to leave, whether she would return and what she has planned next.

How do you feel about leaving?

It was absolutely a really hard decision but five years sounded like a nice round number. She has done so much in the village and for me, personally, after the year we have had, it was time to do something new for a bit and come home to Glasgow. It was a tough decision but hopefully the right one for me at the time.

Are you glad the door was left open?

She wasn’t killed and she didn’t kill anyone which is a record! I was really kind of passionate about her not dying – I didn’t want her to go on a sour note and I wanted the door open as it felt right and also more secure for me personally.

She’s been such a loving, support blanket for characters and she deserves a nice ending where she is furthering herself, her life and her career and she wasn’t leaving anything behind in a negative way.

Do you think fans will be sad to see her go?

In a way, I kind of hope so because if they’re sad, then I have done my job right over the years. I’m sad so I hope everyone else will be. Her last storyline with Sid, I hope people liked that and I know people love Billy Price; I really hope people will be sad to see her go

What have been your stand out storylines?

There were so many storylines she was part of. For me, though, the drugs storyline where she smuggled drugs from Magaluf stands out! I never thought I’d get to film in Spain and I definitely never thought Courtney would be involved in a shady drugs smuggling story. It was really incredible to do that!

Will you stay invested in Hollyoaks?

I definitely will still invest – there are so many people I love in it. I love watching my friends work in that way – and Hollyoaks is super addictive. When you get into it, you can’t stop watching it. I’m a fan, I will be watching.

What will you miss the most?

It’s coming to the same place every day and working with my friends and develop a character over time. It’s so rare as an actor to have a job like that to have so much time to dedicate to one character like that. Personally, I’ll miss all my friends so dearly; they are absolutely incredible and will be my friends forever. I wish them so much luck with the show and I can’t wait to keep watching them.

Do you have any other projects lined up?

I’m not good at taking it easy, I like to hit the ground running! I have done lots of auditions and it’s so interesting to see how much stuff is being made since Covid. I have a lovely musical job for National Theatre Scotland – I have never done a musical before which is funny.

I think I can at least carry a tune – I will let the audience decide I also have some little TV things here and there – so plodding away and keeping busy, trying to find that next big thing.

Do you have a dream role?

I absolutely love comedy, I’d love to try that a bit more. I’ve never played a baddie – I’d quite like to do that, I could dig that dark bit down within myself I’m sure! There’s so much I’d love to do – I’m a big fan of Derry Girls, I’d love to be in something like that. So maybe a sitcom is calling!

Would you consider a Courtney return?

I am absolutely not ruling out a return in the future. I am passionate about the door being open – it would be lovely to bring her back in the future. Soap is so unique that you can do that – I would never say never and if and when it happens it would privilege.

Maybe she can become a millionaire and come back to the village full of bling and attitude…

Oh that would be nice, you should definitely pitch that!

Off screen, Amy has been a trailblazer for celebrating diversity in the television industry. In the first ever episode of Hollyoaks’ Don’t Filter Feelings podcast, Amy talked about discrimination in the media industry, and how she defied odds and got a recurring role on a soap.

She has also been an instrumental part in Hollyoaks’s Celebrate Difference campaign, which saw her feature in a documentary titled Hollyoaks – See The Person.

Previously, in 2018, she represented the soap on a panel at the C4 Disability conference.

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