Show caption Amelie Bea Smith, who says taking over as the voice of Peppa Pig is a ‘dream come true’, and Harley Bird, who has voiced the character for 13 years. Composite: PA/Ken McKay/ITV Television Peppa Pig voice actor Harley Bird quits after 13 years The 18-year-old, who has voiced the beloved cartoon character since 2007, will be replaced by nine-year-old Amelie Bea Smith Hannah J Davies @hannahjdavies Fri 31 Jan 2020 16.13 GMT Share on Facebook

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Harley Bird, the teenage voice actor behind cartoon character Peppa Pig, has stepped down after 13 years in the role. Eighteen-year-old Bird, who has voiced 185 episodes of the programme and won a Bafta in 2011, said that her time on the hugely successful children’s series had been “the start of an incredible journey”, adding that her colleagues had given her “unforgettable memories”.

The teenager from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was the third person to voice TV’s most famous anthropomorphic pig, following Lily Snowden-Fine and Cecily Bloom. She will be succeeded by nine-year-old Amelie Bea Smith, whose agent said she had been a “huge fan of the show since she was little” and that it was a “dream come true”.

Neville Astley and Mark Baker, the British animators behind the show, said they were delighted that Smith was joining the team, as well as citing the strong legacy of the previous Peppa voice actors, including Bird, whom they described as “a key part of the success of Peppa Pig”. Bird reportedly earned £1,000 an hour for her role, and also recorded songs for the Peppa Pig album, which became a viral hit after its release last July.

Bird was a ‘key part of the success’ of the show, voicing the character for 185 episodes ... the Peppa Pig family. Photograph: Five