Hollyoaks' Nancy Osborne makes huge decision ahead of exit

 What does this mean for her future?

Nancy Osborne had made a huge career decision ahead of her Hollyoaks exit.

Viewers are soon set to say a temporary goodbye to Nancy, as actress Jessica Fox takes time away from Chester to go on maternity leave.

This week has seen Nancy struggling with Charlie Dean's admission that he and Leah Barnes were responsible for the ecstasy accidentally used to spike Vicky's drink.

In Tuesday's (February 28) first-look episode, Nancy was faced with a life-changing career offer after the Hollyoaks High governor removed Sally St Claire as head teacher.

With the McQueens staging a protest at the school, the governor asked Nancy if she would be interest in taking the school's top job.

Nancy was initially sceptical over whether she could handle the job, since she's already struggling to keep ahead of Charlie's troubles at home. She confided in Yazz about how much the stress of the job was already weighing on her, with parent complaints and paperwork leaving her no time to take Oscar to the doctor.

"It's good you're keeping it real," Yazz told her. "Sally always made it look so easy."

As the doubts continued to weigh on Nancy, she actually got some surprisingly supportive words from Sally that changed her mind when dealing with the McQueens' protest.

Sally interjected to stop the protest, telling her family and the students: "It's really touching that so many of you want me to stay, although I suspect some of you are here because you want to cut some classes.

"The truth is, I have been lucky to be a part of this wonderful place for seven and a half years. I'm so grateful for everything it's given me, all of you. I shall be watching with pride as each of you accomplish all that I know you can do."

Later, Sally was shocked to hear that Nancy would be turning down the position because she didn't want to take her job.

"You must [take it] because goodness knows who they will bring in if you don't," Sally pointed out.

When Nancy admitted the job may be too overwhelming, Sally assured her she fully supported her for the job: "Nancy, you're the very essence of what a head teacher should be."

Nancy finally agreed to take the job, but with the character headed for an emotional exit soon, there may be more changes to come at the school.

Hollyoaks streams first on All 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.