SECRET OF SUCCESS ON TOP SOAP My lucky streak on Emmerdale.. even running through a field naked was fun »»
Yob battered me for being trans says TVAsh
was just wearing a thong. I had two cups covering the important bits and flesh-coloured briefs.
“For part of the scene, I had a strategically-placed A-Z in front of me. The crew saw way more than the viewers.”
Reflecting on the scene she added: “Initially you think it is going to be a laugh. Then you think, ‘Is it actually going to be really traumatic?
“Am I mad to strip off in front of my colleagues?’
“But it was good fun and everyone was very respectful.
“We were chuffed because it looked like we were really naked.
“On the day itself, the sun shone and we ran around the beautiful countryside.
“I thought, ‘ I’m 44, I’ve had two children and I feel comfortable in my
own skin.’ It was liberating.” Karen has been married to husband Simon – who runs a business delivering behavioural health and safety training to companies – since 2011.
They first met in 1996 while both were working for children’s outdoor pursuits company PGL and “got together properly” after Karen had graduated from acting school. Now Karen credits Simon and their children Ruby, nine, and Oliver, five, both with supporting her and keeping her feet on the ground.
She said: “Simon is incredibly supportive.
“We’ve had conversations over the years where I’ve said, ‘OK, maybe I’ll give this up.’
“And he’s always said, EMMERDALE’S Ash Palmisciano has revealed he was battered simply for being transgender.
The soap star, who plays transgender character Matty Barton, said: “I’ve been beaten in the streets until I can’t see. A guy approached me, carefree, and said ‘Are you a tranny? You look like one to me’. I didn’t reply, I just looked down at my feet, to which he said it again, with intent.”
The man launched further taunts about Ash’s
‘ Give it another year, stick at it’. When we got to go to the soap awards together we clinked some champagne glasses and said, ‘Can you believe this?’
“When I did my first few episodes of Emmerdale I sat down with Ruby and asked her what she thought.
“She said, ‘ Well, it was all right. A little bit embarrassing.”
Karen took up running at gender before physically laying into the 29-year-old star. Ash went on: “Playing a trans man on TV has been a dream come true. But as a human it’s come with difficulties because now I’m open to society’s prejudice.
“I get treated like a second-hand citizen because of my ‘label’. For all you haters and bigots, there is nothing you can do to break me.” 40, spurred on by kids she was teaching at the time. In just four months she trained for a half marathon and last year she ran the London Marathon in memory of her friend Margaret Banks, who died of breast cancer aged 68.
She said: “Apparently women in their 40s make the best long-distance runners. Someone told me it’s because of their psychological stamina.
“Maybe in my 20s I’d have thought, ‘I can’t be bothered’ and given it up. But I love it now.”
As for the future, Karen would happily stay with Emmerdale but has not ruled out relocating to London or the US for acting roles. She said: “Part of me would love to. If the opportunities arose and the timing was right, never
say never.”