Casualty fans were left stunned after a star of The Traitors made an ‘incredible’ debut on the long-running BBC soap.

After a three month break away from our screens, the medical drama returned to BBC One for its 47th series on Saturday night (January 10). It was a tough night for the Holby City staff as they tried to work on the warmest day of the year.

Despite the simmering head, tensions still managed to rise to the surface. Fan favourite character Dylan Keogh (William Beck) suspecting newly-qualified doctor Matty Linlaker (Aron Julius) of being his son.

On top of this, new doctor Kim Change (Jasmine Bayes) failed to make a good impression with Nicole Piper (Sammy Dobson). Poor Kim wasn’t helped by the fact that she had been given Ngozi Okoye’s (Adesuwa Oni) locker.

With Jim assuming that Ngozi had died, fans were relieved to learn that Nicole’s lost love is still alive and kicking and she was just saddened at the prospect of the places they used to spend time together being taken over.

Part of the fun of watching Casualty is that viewers never know just who will pop us as one of the patients seeking treatment from the hospital’s hard-working staff.

The opening episode of the new season saw fans introduced to Bethany Chimes, a woman who sustained severe burns after falling asleep in the sun. Bethany was being played by none other than Maddy Smedley.

For those who don’t recall, Maddy was a faithful on the first season of Claudia Winkleman’s hit gameshow. Maddy was commended by viewers for ousting Wilf Webster as a traitor. Sadly, she was banished at the roundtable in the penultimate episode of the season.

Announcing the role on X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier today, Maddy told her followers: “Meet Bethany Chimes tonight on Casualty at 8:45pm BBC 1 or on iplayer now – she’s addicted to a sun tan cos she’s lonely.

“Sad story really and hope it raises awareness of melanoma and how bad the sun can really be. @bbccasualtyofficial #casualty love working again at casualty x.”

Also sharing the post on Instagram, the comments section of Maddy’s announcement saw her friends and followers congratulating her on landing the role and having their say on the episode.

Former Coronation Street actress Alexandra Mardell said: “Yes mads! Can’t wait to watch! Omg this makeup is incredible! Ouch.” Author Scott McGlynn added: “Wow. I made sure to watch this episode.”

Iconic season three traitor Linda Rands wrote: “Oh well done Mads. Seeing you everywhere.” @anthonyifisher posted: “Loved seeing you in Casualty. I was just waiting for you to say ‘this is Wilf’s fault’.”

@stevieselilawless0 commented: “The episode was amazing your brilliant it so much awareness, you where amazing hopefully i can be extra one day.” @arcrew95 noted: “Have to say that was a great episode to start the series off with.”

Maddy is no stranger to acting, having played the role of Faye Fuller in Hollyoaks, Sally in Big Boys and Dilys Shaughnessy in two episodes of Call the Midwife. Additionally, she made her movie debut in the 2023 film Unicorns.