Emmerdale star Claire King has revealed why she left her role in Coronation Street behind.
Claire’s character, Erica Holroyd, was welcomed to the cobbles in 2014, and later left in 2017. She then returned to Emmerdale as Kim Tate the following year.
Talking to OK! Magazine, Claire admitted the reason why she left Coronation Street: “Erica was left as a sort of pinball — with no family she was kind of left out on a bit of a limb. Then a new producer came in and made these changes to my role, which, in my experience, is a sign they don't like your character — which they're perfectly entitled to do.
“It was a bit of a shame, though, because Erica was an audience favourite. It just wasn't worth my time driving all the way over to Manchester to film stuff I wasn't really enjoying, so I left and that was it."
Erica said farewell to Weatherfield after her infidelity towards Dev (Jimmi Harkishin) was exposed, and she jetted off to Spain.
Although it was Claire's decision to leave the soap, she still appreciates the special memories left behind from working on the show and 'loved' her character. She added: “Corrie was a completely different set-up and character. I loved Erica. It was great working with Beverley Callard (Liz McDonald), as we were good mates and had a good laugh.
“For some reason, they split us up! And it was great working with Jimmi (Harkishin, who played Dev Alahan) too – but then they split us up as well!"
Claire is currently playing the iconic Kim Tate in Emmerdale, who is in a relationship with Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) and grieving her son, Jamie’s (Alexander Lincoln) death. However, she’s clueless to the fact that her son is actually still alive after faking his own death.
Despite her grieving, she has been distracted by work and has been involved in a lot of drama since the survival challenge that saw Andrea Tate (Anna Nightingale) die, with her company now going being fined.
Claire also starred in the hit TV series Bad Girls where she played Karen Betts. The 1999 drama series still has a strong fan following, as Claire revealed to Metro.co.uk: “Bad Girls has an incredibly strong fan base, stronger than I’ve known anywhere, they are so loyal to the show. I believe it’s because it came at the right time and was pretty hard hitting.
“It dealt with issues we’d not really seen before and the characters were all so diverse — people could relate to them personally. Although set in a women’s prison with tough storylines there were a lot of comedy moments.”
Emmerdale continues weeknights from 7.00pm on ITV, while Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
