
Rex Features
The actress has played Sarah Trevanion on the ITV1 drama since 2006, but viewers will see her make her final appearance in tonight's episode.
Holden took two-year-old Lexi to South Africa with her each time she flew out to film for the programme, but she finally decided that the arrangement was not in the best interest of her daughter.
"It's just got too much. I can't have my daughter running around in elephant s*** any more," Amanda told the News of the World. "Lexi's two and hasn't spent a summer in England yet. I can't take her away from my family any more.
"It's not fair, especially on my mum, to be out of the country for six months again. Wild At Heart was a huge experience and I don't regret it for a minute, but I have to call it a day."
Holden also admitted that she got bored of South Africa's beautiful scenery after spending so much time there.
"You're in the middle of nowhere. Once you've seen the landscape and the animals, there's nothing else to do," she explained. "You get lonely and miss your loved ones. I couldn't face going out there again in June."



