Hesmondhalgh is best known for playing Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera "Coronation Street". Making her debut appearance on the show in January 1998, she played the first transgender character in a British soap opera. She took maternity leave from the soap between 2000-01 after the birth of her first daughter. After nearly ten years on the show, Hesmondhalgh decided to take another break for a year in order to spend more time with her family. She left on 22 October 2007, but returned on 17 November 2008. On 24 December 2011, Hesmondhalgh appeared on ITV's "The Cube", winning £20,000 for her Accrington-based anti-poverty charity, Maundy Relief.