Claire King

King grew up in Harrogate with her brother and sister. King attended Harrogate Ladies College, and as a punk chose a career in the music business, as a disc jockey in a Leeds nightclub. She then managed, sang and played keyboards in the Alternative Pop group Fidei and later To Be Continued as lead singer.^[2]

In 1987, King played a role in the film Eat the Rich. In 1988, King appeared in an episode of Wish Me Luck as a cinema usherette. In 1989, she appeared in the film Cold Light of Day as a prostitute. Soon afterwards, she joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Kim Tate, a role she played for ten years before leaving the show in 1999. She had a role in an episode of Babes in the Wood as Angela. In 2000, she joined the cast of Bad Girls playing wing governor Karen Betts. She left the programme in 2004 after four years. In 2002, she appeared in an episode of Doctors as Jenny Hennessey in the episode "Into The Shadows". In 2004, King had a role in an episode of the sitcom Down to Earth as Paula Wakeman, and appeared in one episode of Dalziel and Pascoe as Louise Russell in the episode entitled: "Still Waters". Later that year, King played Madeline Jackson-Carter in four episodes of the hit drama TV show The Courtroom. In 2005, she appeared as Andrea Mason QC, a barrister for Justin Burton in six episodes of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. She later appeared as Janice Perry in an episode of Holby City called "Not Another Car Wreck". She appeared in The Afternoon Play in the episode "The Good Citizen" as Joanna Clay, as well as Sally Parker in an episode of the TV series Donovan. In 2006, King participated in the fourth series of the BBC reality show Strictly Come Dancing; she finished in sixth place overall. King also appeared in five episodes of Hollyoaks: In The City as business woman Stella, and as Gina in an episode of Mayo in episode 1.7. In 2007, she was a contestant in the BBC Two reality-television show Safari School filmed in the South African bush where she finished in third place overall. King also appeared in two episodes of the TV show The Pyramid Game.

In 2008, King appeared in the medical drama The Royal as Lucy Bayliss, in the episode "Slings And Arrows". In the same year, she appeared as a panellist on the Channel 5 topical debate show The Wright Stuff for two episodes, and on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. She appeared in the documentary Emmerdale 50000, which celebrated five thousand episodes of the TV programme. King has appeared on lunch time chat show Loose Women several times as a guest. She was a guest panellist in 2012 to mark 40 years of Emmerdale, and returned in August 2017 for two further guest panellist appearances. She has also appeared on day-time TV Show This Morning several times. In 2010, King appeared and starred in the BBC Three sitcom The Gemma Factor as Betsy. King appeared in the topical debate show The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 as a panellist for one episode. She later went on a UK and Ireland tour of the comedy play The Naked Truth along with Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton. In 2012, she appeared as a prison governor in an episode of Hollyoaks. She had a role in the film The Wedding Video as Gina. She appeared in the documentary Emmerdale at 40: The Headline Makers marking 40 years of the soap opera. In 2013, she appeared as Geraldine Worthing in an episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty and appeared in two episodes of Daybreak. King has appeared in several pantomime productions, including Jack and the Beanstalk and Snow White. In 2014, she appeared in an episode of Pointless in a Soap-Star special edition. She also appeared in the Channel 5 documentary TV's Nastiest Villains, presented by actress and author Joan Collins.

King entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on 18 August 2014 to compete in the fourteenth series, but left the show on Day 16 due to illness.^[3] She appeared twice on Big Brother's Bit on the Side. In October 2014, she appeared in an episode of Who's Doing the Dishes?. In November 2014, she appeared in an episode of the E4 comedy show Drifters as Cath. In December 2014, she joined the cast of the soap opera Coronation Street as character Erica Holroyd, a role she portrayed until 2017. On 24 September 2018, it was announced that King would reprise her role as Emmerdale character Kim Tate, after nearly 20 years away, for a special week of episodes from 8 October 2018.^[4] On 12 October 2018, it was confirmed that King would return permanently in 2019.^[5][6]

In 1994, King married actor Peter Amory, who played her on-screen stepson Chris Tate in Emmerdale.^[7] They separated in 2004. King currently lives near Harrogate, with her horses and Labrador dogs.^[2]

• Claire King at IMDb