Amber Sharpe

Amber Sharpe is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lydia Lloyd-Henry in 2010 and Lauren Gabrielle-Thomas in 2014. The character was introduced as a member of the new Sharpe family, as part of series producer Paul Marquess' rejuvenation of the serial in 2010. She made her first on-screen appearance on 21 June 2010. Amber's storylines have included sleeping with Finn O'Connor and subsequently discovering she is pregnant, with daughter, Bella.

In July 2014, it was announced that Amber would be returning to Hollyoaks for three episodes in late 2014, but with the role recast to former Waterloo Road actress, Lauren Gabrielle-Thomas.

Character creation and casting

In January 2010, it was announced that Lucy Allan had stepped down from the position of series producer and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team and beginning a cast cull by axing three established characters.Stephanie Waring (who portrays Cindy Hutchinson) then revealed that all remaining cast members feared their character would be axed. One month later, Marquess announced his plans to axe a further eleven characters, who would leave at the end of their current contracts. Marquess later announced that he would introduce lots of "fantastic" new characters to replace those who were departing. In March 2010, it was announced that Marquess would introduce a new family due to the show. Speaking about the family Marquess stated: "We're particularly excited about the new family that will join the show in the summer -and guarantee they'll bring glitz, glamour and great stories to the Hollyoaks village!" The name of the family was later revealed to be Sharpe, a new mixed race family of four members.