Simons, who is most famous for portraying Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders<\/a>, will play Marie, who is described as \u201ctracksuit clad\u201d and will be seen sneaking into the village after leaving prison.<\/p>\n Her first order of business will be stealing Mercedes\u2019s red dress from the McQueen washing line, and it has now been confirmed that she is the mother of Joel Dexter, as played by Rory Douglas-Speed.<\/p>\n Simons said of her character: \u201cMarie\u2019s got a lot of ties here, so I think there\u2019s going to be quite a lot of trouble between quite a few characters, and you will just have to keep watching to see\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n An after-credit trailer will give fans a first look at Marie in action following Hollyoaks\u2019 hour-long special, which is airing on E4 on Tuesday 16th January.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Joel was first introduced as a character on the soap in 2011, played at the time by Andrew Still. He left in 2013, and when the character returned in 2016 he was subsequently played by Douglas-Speed.<\/p>\n Simons\u2019s EastEnders character Roxy was killed off in 2017, when she drowned alongside her sister Ronnie, played by Samantha Womack.<\/p> Simons has subsequently made two one-off returns to the soap, with the latest being just last year<\/a>, when she appeared as a figment of her daughter Amy\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n![\"Rita](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/rita-simons-roxy-mitchell-Edited-2c93731.png?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"rita")
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