Thursday, 27 November 2008

Hollyoaks wins top Mental Heath award

Soap honoured for its portrayal of character's anorexia battle

Emma Rigby won a British Soap Award for her portrayal of Hollyoaks' Hannah Asworth

Hollyoaks has been honoured at the Mental Health Media Awards for its portrayal of Hannah Ashworth's struggle with an eating disorder.

The soap won the prize in the Soaps & Continual Drama category for Hannah Ashworth’s (Emma Rigby, 19) battle with anorexia and bulimia.

‘This is fantastic recognition for a storyline I was very privileged to be part of,’ Emma says.

‘There was a lot of research with Hannah's plight and I'm pleased that it's paid off. Hopefully we've shown through the storyline that people can recover.’

‘Emma's portrayal was raw and from the heart and she totally deserves this award success,’ says Hollyoaks producer Brian Kirkwood.

'It's yet more proof that Hollyoaks has grown up into a mature, agenda-setting programme.’

Emma is due to leave the show next year.