Ex-EastEnder Danniella Westbrook joins the cast of Hollyoaks

PUBLISHED: 09:52 EST, 30 December 2012 | UPDATED: 09:53 EST, 30 December 2012

Former EastEnders star Danniella Westbrook is to make her soap comeback in teen show Hollyoaks.

The mother-of-two, 39, will play an ex-jailbird called Trudy when she appears on the Channel 4 soap from February.

Of course, the role shouldn't be too much of a stretch for Danniella, whose EastEnders character Sam Mitchell spent time behind bars for her part in Dirty Den's murder.

Soap comeback: Danniella Westbrook, seen as Sam Mitchell in EastEnders, is joining the cast of Hollyoaks

A TV source told the Sunday Mirror: 'Danniella can't wait to be back on TV and is thrilled to be joining Hollyoaks. She's already been to the set and met a lot of the cast.

'Danniella is great friends with Kieron Richardson, who plays Ste Hay, and he has been introducing her to all of his mates. She's been made to feel very at home by everyone.'

Danniella's character Trudy will be introduced to the soap as a friend of Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) dating back from their time in prison.

DigitialSpy.co.uk reports Trudy will hire struggling Jacqui and her half-sister Theresa (Jorgie Porter) as cleaners.

The actress famously leaped to fame in 1990 when she was cast as the younger sister of Phil and Grant Mitchell.

New friend: Danniella's character Trudy is an old friend of Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper), who is mourning the death of husband Rhys Ashworth (Andrew Moss)erie.

She eloped as a teenager with Ricky Butcher, before they divorced, before leaving the soap in 2000 amidst reports of her drug abuse.

From 2002 until 2005, the role of Sam was played by a different actress Kim Medcalf.

However, Danniella returned to the BBC serial in 2009, only to leave the following year when her character moved to Portugal to live with her brother Grant.

Meanwhile, Danniella spoke about the terrifying extend of her drug problem on a recent episode of the Jeremy Kyle Show, before she got clean 12 years ago.

She said: 'I took drugs throughout my pregnancy and in the bathroom suite right up until the moment I delivered him.

'Whilst in labour, I asked them to leave the room (so I could take drugs). I was in a terrible state, no one could save me at the time.'

Danniella recently moved back to the UK from living in the U.S. with husband Kevin Jenkins and her son Kai, 16, and daughter Jody, 11.