Over six years after she quit Emmerdale, Sheree Murphy is returning to the world of soap.

The mother-of-three is joining the cast of rival soap Hollyoaks, playing the long-lost biological mother of teen Anita Roy (Saira Choudhry).

Murphy, whose ditzy barmaid character Tricia Dingle was killed off the ITV show in December 2003, took a step back from her acting career to be a full-time mum to her three children.

Back to work: Sheree Murphy, pictured at the Liverpool Style Awards in December, is joining the cast of Hollyoaks

The 34-year-old actress, who was runner-up in the 2005 series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, has already begun filming her scenes, which be screened from April 23.

She will play Eva, who had Anita adopted by Govinda and Bel Roy as a baby.

Troubled teen Anita only discovered she was adopted last June after her evil brother Ash (Junade Khan) told her.

Shock: Teen Anita Roy (Saira Choudhry) is stunned when her birth mother walks into her life

Anita was stunned when Ash showed her her birth certificate, which showed her mother was just a teenager when she had her.

Murphy's character Eva arrives in Chester under the guise of a mysterious brunette called 'Kate' and finds herself attracted to Anita's other brother Ravi (Stephen Uppal).

But it isn't long before she finds out Ravi's little sister is the baby she gave up 17 years ago.

Murphy said: 'Being a fan of the show, I'm really excited to be a part of Hollyoaks and working with the young cast, especially Saira.

'Her character has been through some really tough times recently so it will be interesting to see how she responds to the arrival of my character Eva, her biological mother.'

Meanwhile, Murphy is said to be considering a move Down Under next year with Australian footballer husband Harry Kewell.

The couple visited several homes in the Sydney suburb of Palm Beach earlier this month while Kewell received medical treatment for his groin injury.

Murphy and Kewell, who have been married for nearly seven years, have spent a lot of the past year apart from he transferred from Liverpool to Turkish team Galatasaray.

The soap star decided to stay at the couple's £2.6million home in Cheshire with their three children Taylor, nine, Ruby, six and Matilda, 22 months, rather than uproot them.

But with his Galatasaray contract up for renewal this summer, football pundits expect he will be looking to return to a British team.

Despite wanting to have another child, Murphy said last year she was hoping to return to work again.

She said: 'I’d like another one. But not yet because I’d like to go back to work for a bit first. I’ve always wanted a big family and I must admit I’d like another boy.'

Murphy has spoke of how difficult it has been for her and Kewell to have a long-distance marriage: 'He’s my best friend and I miss him so much but I know he’s doing this for the family.'

Former life: Murphy as Tricia on her wedding day to Marlon (Mark Charnock) in Emmerdale in February 2003