Fair City legend Clelia Murphy has opened up about her decision to leave the show, saying she needed to challenge herself.
The actress, who played Niamh Cassidy for 18 years, said goodbye to Carrigstown in 2015 much to the surprise of fans at home.
She also reflected on her time in the ballroom on Dancing With The Stars six years ago.
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Clelia said: "That was the start of me saying, I need to challenge myself.'
"I had been in the same role for years and while I'm proud of the work I did, I knew I needed to step into the unknown."
Clelia has stayed steadily busy since leaving the world of soaps and she still looks back at that time of life fondly.
She told TV Now: "I'm very proud of the work I did there and of the incredible team I worked with.
"But there comes a time when you need to grow and for me, that meant moving on. Since leaving, I haven't stopped moving, and it's been the most rewarding period of my career."
Clelia went on to appear on the third season of Dancing With The Stars in 2019, where she was paired with pro Vitali Kozmin, and the stress and worry of training has never left her.
She said: "Every time a new season starts, I feel the post-traumatic stress!
"I texted Mairead Ronan recently, and we laughed about how it's like being back in Leaving Cert season.
"For some reason we all feel we're in trouble because we haven't studied, like the post traumatic stress of it came back and she was exactly the same. And she won it!"
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