Former Hollyoaks star quit acting after suffering from terrifying panic attacks

Former Hollyoaks star Sophie Porley, 31, has stepped away from acting after experiencing intense panic attacks.

Best known for playing Ellie Nightingale on the popular Channel 4 soap, Sophie opened up about the pressure she put on herself to land a big role after leaving the show in 2018.

Speaking on The Muse podcast, Sophie said she hadn’t planned on switching to social media after leaving Hollyoaks — her goal was to keep acting.

"I hadn't intended to transition to social media stuff when I came off Hollyoaks. My intention was to continue acting.

"I don't know if I've really spoken about this, but I'm not really acting anymore.

"I had a few auditions when I finished Hollyoaks and I think I put so much pressure on myself to go from that to another acting job I felt real pressure.

She also went on to recount a particularly scary episode after an audition, where at a train station, she had an attack.

This particular attack was so bad it left her struggling to breathe, the entire ordeal led her to take a break from acting for years.

"My agency sent me an audition and there was pages and pages of dialogue to learn. I went into my agency to record the audition, and I put so much pressure on myself I walked out of their building and had a panic attack."

"I was in the train station and I literally had to sit on the floor. I couldn't breathe," she detailed.

"At that moment, I was like, 'I'm really putting too much pressure on myself to get another acting job,' so I took a step back."

While she hasn’t ruled out returning to TV, Sophie is at peace if she never acts again.

"It's been a few years now, and I've not gone back to it," she said.

"Sometimes I think I should try to pursue it again, but I found the whole thing really overwhelming."

Asked if she would ever return to Hollyoaks, she added: "Never say never, but I don't have any plans to.

"It's not something on my radar."