Who is Claire King? Kim Tate actress on Emmerdale who’s returned to the soap after 19 years
CLAIRE King is a well-known face on British soaps.
The actress previously admitted she battled the booze after her husband had an affair but her career's back on track with an explosive return to Emmerdale...
Who is Claire King? What is her background?
Claire King was born January 10, 1963, and is a 55-year-old British actress.
Claire was originally known for her role as Kim Tate in Emmerdale until she left the soap after 10 years in 1999.
She was then cast in Bad Girls in 2000 and played Karen Betts until she left in 2004.
In 2006, the actress took part in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing - finishing in sixth place.
King also appeared on the 14th series of Celebrity Big Brother in August 2014 but left the show on Day 16 due to illness.
She joined Corrie in 2014 but departed in August 2017 after three years.
On September 24, 2018, it was revealed Claire will return as Kim Tate after 19 years for a special week of episodes after ITV accidentally confirmed the news in a shock blunder.
When did Claire King leave Coronation Street?
Claire - who played Erica Holroyd - left Corrie after three years on the soap.
Her final scenes were aired on August 4, 2017.
She told Good Morning Britain tweaks to her role prompted her to leave.
"And she then started changing a bit so...
"And she had no family, she was a bit of a pinball just moving about, so she changed a bit.
"I just thought right, this isn't the character that originally started."
More on Claire King
What happened when Claire King appeared on In Therapy on Channel 5?
Claire revealed she battled with depression and alcohol following her gambling ex-husband cheating on her with their Emmerdale co-star, and leaving her plunged into debt.
She opened up about the 2004 breakdown of her marriage to Peter Amory – her onscreen son, when she appeared on Channel 5's In Therapy.
Speaking about the troubles in her 10-year marriage she said: “He liked a drink but he was also gambling as well. I mean big gambling.
“I knew he always gambled but not in that way. Lose your house money, lose everything money.
“I was £9,000 short of paying my mortgage off and then suddenly, poof. It was just horrible and it was draining.”
However, it was when she discovered that he had been cheating on her with their co-star Samantha Giles who played Bernice Blackstock, that she decided the marriage was over.