Hollyoaks' Adele Silva tells Soaplife about the joy of having her daughter, Sienna, after a lot of heartache…
Acting is nothing new to former ex Emmerdale star Adele Silva but being a mother is. It was a very joyful day when Adele gave birth to her first child, Sienna, in March, after the heartbreak of three miscarriages. Then Hollyoaks called and offered her the role of Angela Brown, one half of a childless couple who want to adopt Peri's yet-to-be-born baby. Should Adele go back to work, or stay home with her baby?
"I wasn't expecting to go back to work so soon," Adele, 34, told Soaplife. "But I spoke to my mum and my partner and they both agreed that I should do it."
And Adele, who lives in Leeds with her businessman fiance Oliver Farber, hasn't regretted her decision …
So was it hard to work on Hollyoaks when Sienna was so young?
"She was only eight weeks' old when I started filming, so it was a wrench, but Oli has flexible working hours, so he and my mum shared the childcare and I knew that Sienna couldn't be with better people."
Did Sienna let you get enough sleep?
"I can’t really complain! Sienna goes to bed at eight o’clock at night and wakes up at eight in the morning. Both me and Oli love sleep, so she obviously takes after us. In the early days it was different and we used to take turns to eat our dinner while the other one had the baby."
Was it strange playing a childless woman so soon after having your baby?
"It was a bit weird. Angela's back-story is so sad and my journey to having Sienna was not plain sailing. That has given me things to draw on for the part. I can empathise with her and it's nice not to be playing a troublemaker for once."
How are you finding motherhood?
"I love it. The best thing is when I wake up and say 'good morning' to her. She gives me such a lovely big smile."
Did you ever consider fostering or adopting kids?
"I didn’t ever get to a point like Angela where I was told that I would never have a baby of my own. I knew I had problems, but I hadn’t got to that point yet. I might have considered adoption."
Did you have to lose any baby weight for Hollyoaks?
"No. I put on about two and a half stone and a lot of that was water. I’m still not back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I’m not obese, I’m healthy and not worried about it. Somebody did say to me 'But they are über glamorous at Hollyoaks' and I said: 'That’s what hair and make up are for'. I rock up at seven in the morning and let them do their magic."
How long are you in Hollyoaks?
"I’m just going to go with the flow. The schedule here has been good, but if the character became regular, the workload would increase. At the moment, it's ideal. But I'm not afraid of being a working mum now."
Do you and Oli plan to get married?
"We did think about getting married this year and then I got pregnant. I’m not fussed about it. I'm sure it will happen at some point, but there's no rush. We want to by a house so having a wedding is not at the forefront at the moment. I’d like it to be later on, when Sienna is old enough to be part of it."
Life’s good right now then?
"It really is. I know it sounds cheesy, but I look at Sienna and think how luck I am to be a mum. I never thought I would get there."
