Soap star written out after suicide attempt

Parys – The actress Lindie Stander and her character of Nurse Elise in Binneland on kykNET (DStv 111) and M-Net analogue will be permanently written out of the weekday soap produced by Stark Films, after the actress made an apparent suicide attempt on her life and is currently under evaluation in the psychiatric unit of the Helen Joseph hospital, according to producers.

The producers revealed that Stander’s character will be written out of the show completely to be replaced by a new character and that 8 to 12 weeks' worth of script work rewriting will have to be redone in order to somehow write the actress out of the production over the coming weeks. Binneland is currently, co-incidentally, in recess from filming.

According to the producers the actress allegedly cut her one arm open to the bone and is currently in hospital and under evaluation. Members of the production team said they’re shocked and extremely saddened by the events which transpired and which is now impacting the production.

Within the South Africa's TV industry it has been known that the actress battled various things in her private life over a long period of time such as depression. Producers announced the developing news at a press screening in Parys, prefacing the announcement with the words that they "have some very sad news to share".

The cast of Binneland and kykNET channel head Karen Meiring were told about Stander’s situation on Friday.

Stander once before left Binneland before only to return again after a while, also due to problems of a personal nature. This time however the producers say the character will be written out permanently due to the difficult nature of the situation, that Stander has been informed of this decision, and that they have seen her since the incident happened earlier this week.

"Lindie is a beloved actress and the character of Nurse Elise has always been so popular with viewers, bringing a touch of lightness and humour to the show. In the light of what has happened and the personal situation of the actress we are saddened that unfortunately we have to let go of the character," the producers said. They added that "it will be very difficult to replace the character."