Emmerdale producer Hannah Cheers has moved to Hollyoaks to become the soap's interim executive producer.
Earlier this year showrunner Lucy Allan and two of her deputies were dropped amid flagging ratings and a series of underwhelming storylines.
According to The Sun, Cheers, who cut her teeth on Hollyoaks for 10 years, has now been brought in to "reverse the decline".
"She knows what to do to steady the ship," a source told the newspaper. "The show is in a really precarious situation and needs drastic action to reverse its downward spiral of recent years.
"The cast are really excited to have Hannah back and hope she can work her magic."
The source added: "Nothing has been ruled out to put the show back on top. If there needs to be a cast cull then there will be a cast cull. Storylines are already being dramatically reworked and changed.
"Usually there's a lengthy crossover with former producers' work but this time the production company moved fast and cut the rot out as soon as they could.
"The hope is that Hannah will be able to take what was working and improve it and radically overhaul everything that wasn't and put Hollyoaks back on top where it belongs."
Hollyoaks continues weekdays on Channel 4 streaming and E4.
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