would take over the role, although it was not until 1 June 2009 that she was credited as executive producer on screen because of filming lead times. In the same month as Kirkwood's announcement Roxanne McKee left her role as Louise Summers after three years in the serial. November 2008 saw Emma Rigby, who had won Best Actress at an awards ceremony in 2008, announce that she was to leave the show in order to pursue other projects. However, she then extended her contract by a further six months after Allan convinced her to stay. Allan's first signings were Loretta Jones (Melissa Walton) and Cheryl Brady (Bronagh Waugh), both of whom had previously featured in the spin-off series Hollyoaks Later. In April 2009, Stuart Manning quit his role of Russ Owen in order to try new projects. In June 2009 Zoe Lister quit her role of Zoe Carpenter. and Loui Batley also left. Batley's character, Sarah Barnes, died in a skydiving accident caused by Lydia Hart (Lydia Kelly). The storyline was a first for British soap opera and the scenes went on to win the category of "Spectacular Scene of the Year" at the British Soap Awards. The scenes also earned nominations at the 2010 Inside Soap Awards in the categories of "Best Exit" and "Best Stunt". In July 2009 three members of the recently introduced Roy family - Ash, Bel and Govinda - left the programme. In October 2009 the series came under the media spotlight for airing scenes that involved Rae Wilson (Alice Barlow) and Barry Newton (Nico Mirallegro) attempting to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge into water below. The storyline came into the media spotlight after two young girls in Scotland jumped from the Erskine Bridge into the River Clyde, subsequently dying in their suicide pact. The serial's broadcaster decided to go ahead and air the scenes, citing that any similarities were entirely coincidental and they had carefully thought out the decision. The real-life care home in which the two girls were housed issued a statement criticising the broadcaster for airing the scenes, stating: "The decision to air this show is likely to cause further distress." Allan later revealed they were her favourite scenes of 2009. In November 2009, the character of Loretta Jones became the centre of controversy when various media outlets revealed that Loretta would be part of a child murder storyline. The