Hollyoaks’ Kirsty-Leigh Porter thanks fans for “love and support” following tragic stillbirth

Kirsty-Leigh Porter has thanked Hollyoaks fans for their “love and support”.

The 30-year-old actress returned to the screen as Leela Lomax last week for the first time since her daughter Penny-Leigh was tragically delivered stillborn in December and she has praised the soap’s viewers as “the best” because they have been so kind to her.

https://twitter.com/KirstyLPorter/status/1123330630069231616

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She tweeted: “Sorry I’m late to the party… But yeah! Leela’s BACK! And what a perfect opportunity to thank you all for your love and support over the last couple of months. I don’t care what anyone says…

“Hollyoaks fans really ARE the best. Thank you #OtOhLeelasBack (sic)”

Early last month, Kirsty admitted she was pleased to be back on set with Ruby O’Donnell and Kieron Richardson, who play her on-screen family Perry Lomax and Ste Hay.

She shared a photo of the three of them together on Instagram and wrote: “Sometimes water’s as thick as blood [heart emojis] @mrkieronrichardson @rubyodonnellx (sic)”

Read More: Kirsty-Leigh Porter posts heartbreaking message following the death of her baby

In March, the former Emmerdale actress paid an emotional tribute to her baby girl on what would have been the tot’s due date.

She wrote: “Today is your due date, 5th of March 2019. I never would have imagined feeling how I feel about it today.

“For the last few weeks I have been dreading this day. What a huge contrast to the months of excitement I felt from the moment we were told you would be due here today.

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Today is your due date, 5th of March 2019. I never would have imagined feeling how I feel about it today. For the last few weeks I have been dreading this day. What a huge contrast to the months of excitement I felt from the moment we were told you would be due here today. After that very first scan, my life changed, and it became all about you, after the dating scan, everything was all leading up to this date. The date I could NOT wait for, is finally here and it’s nothing how I had thought it would be. I can’t help imagining, would you have been here by now? Or would you have kept us waiting longer and stayed tucked up past today? Either way I don’t get to hold you in my arms. I wish I would have treasured much more every single flutter I felt, every little movement, every little kick you gave me whilst safely wrapped up inside my tummy, if only I knew then how much they would mean now. Sleep well baby girl 💔👼🏼❤️

A post shared by Kirsty-Leigh Porter ☮️♑️💟 (@kirststarburst) on Mar 5, 2019 at 12:39pm PST

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“After that very first scan, my life changed, and it became all about you, after the dating scan, everything was all leading up to this date.

“The date I could NOT wait for is finally here and it’s nothing how I had thought it would be. I can’t help imagining, would you have been here by now?

“Or would you have kept us waiting longer and stayed tucked up past today? Either way, I don’t get to hold you in my arms.”

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