A TALENTED teenager who took her first steps to stardom in a St Helens Star competition has landed a role in TV soap Hollyoaks.

Carley Stenson was the winner of our popular Young Stars of Tommorow contest in 1998. It proved to be a launching pad for a promising career in the entertainment world. After appearing in numerous theatre shows, the 17-year-old from Crank Road, Billinge, is now making a name for herself in Hollyoaks as Steph, a friend of one of the show's regular characters, Zara Morgan.

Carley told the Star: "I have been doing Hollyoaks since March and I am contracted until July. I love it because all the cast are really friendly and even though I had never done any acting work before this, I felt really relaxed almost straight away and I am now good friends with Kelly Greenwood, who plays Zara."

Currently studying drama and dance at Winstanley College in Orrell, Carley, might be a relative newcomer to the small screen but she is an 'old hand' on the theatre and recently took part in the Blackpool production of 'Godspell' with her college's Purple Patch theatre group. She is also a member of the Harlequins team of travelling singers and dancers who travel up and down the country performing variety shows and has clocked up solo singing and dancing performances at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool during benefit concerts in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales and also recently sang as part of a variety production at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.

She added: "I'm also waiting to hear from the News of the World because I took part in the final auditions for a new pop group they are trying to put together."