I kept my Emmerdale return secret for a year says Claire
EMMERDALE star Claire King hid her return to the show for a year.
The actress, who returns as bad girl Kim Tate after 19 years away from the Yorkshire soap, was approached by bosses in 2017, but was sworn to secrecy.
Claire, back on our screens next week, said: “I told Mum and Dad and my partner, but all the scripts had a different name and I had a parking space at the back. I said: ‘Shall I put a false nose on?’
“I was nervous because we were bringing this quite well-known character back. A new generation wouldn’t know who she was, but also those older people who did watch would know. There was a lot of pressure on me to get it right and for the writers to get it right to sustain that character again.”
Claire, 55, spent 10 years playing legendary villainess Kim from 1989-1999. Her dastardly deeds included trampling Nick Bates with a horse, hitting her stepson Chris Tate with a paperweight and standing by as her husband Frank Tate suffered a heart attack and died.
She confessed she was anxious about her reception from the rest of the cast, but said: “Everyone has been so welcoming. I think it sends Emmerdale back in a different direction again. It’s that old-school glamour.”
Claire returns in dramatic fashion as Kim drives up to Home Farm in an Aston Martin after being released from prison for an unnamed crime. There’s a fundraising masked ball taking place and the villagers are dressed up to the nines, but within minutes she has offended every one of her guests – and also ordered the murder of her stepgrandson Joe.
Stunt
insulted had a reason to push her.
Kim said: “I had to walk along a balcony and there were boxes with crash mats on top, so I had to walk and fall on to the mats. The stunt girl smashed in to the glasses, but I did the stunt.”
Meanwhile, Emmerdale will screen an episode to mark International Women’s Day on March 8 next year.
As well as using a female only cast, the episode will be produced, directed and written by women and feature only female extras.
Producer Jane Hudson said: “We’ll be giving some of the men the traditional female roles for the day, so we’ll all be bringing our kids in for them to look after.”