Michelle Keegan to replace Lacey Turner as lead star in BBC1 army drama Our Girl

Michelle Keegan has landed her first role since marrying The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright, and it will see her replace Lacey Turner in BBC1 army drama Our Girl.

Playing a new character, Keegan will star as Corporal Georgie Lane and take over as the lead in the popular show while Turner concentrates on other projects.

Best known for playing Tina McIntyre for six years in long-running ITV soap Coronation Street, Keegan's departure shocked viewers when her character was killed off in a violent storyline in May 2014. It had been announced way back in April of the previous year that she was intending to leave the show.

Since then, Keegan has starred in popular drama Ordinary Lies alongside Sally Lindsay (who also had a long stint on Coronation Street), Mad Dogs' Max Beesley, The Office's Mackenzie Crook and comedian Jason Manford.

According to a report in The Sunday People, the 28-year-old will start work on her new project in January 2016 after accepting a £250,000 deal.

Unlike Turner's Molly Dawes who was stationed in Afghanistan, Keegan's Lane will be sent out to Kenya on a mission that will be "full of surprises", say the show's producers.

Talking to the newspaper, a spokesperson for the BBC revealed: "It won't be an easy posting as she has to earn the love and trust of her fellow soldiers, and the greater respect of her commanding officer, while working alongside aid workers in the world's biggest refugee camp."

Despite the successful drama drawing in 6.3 million viewers in its first season, Turner is said not to be featuring in the series at all due to her already having reprised her role as Stacey Slater in EastEnders, a character she originally started playing in 2004.

While Turner may have returned to one of her previous roles, Keegan has made it no secret that she has big ambitions when it comes to her acting career, possibly even venturing into US movies if the chance presents itself. Speaking to Closer magazine in May 2015, the newlywed confessed that "if the opportunity came up then [she] would like to go to Hollywood".

"I have never filmed in LA," she told the publication. "So who knows – maybe in the future. If Mark didn't have work in the UK then he'd probably come with me. He supports whatever I do."