Recent Coronation Street returnee Kelli Hollis, who plays absolute rotter Paula, has given fans an interesting insight into the difference between the ITV soaps at awards ceremonies and parties.
Kelli, of course, has experience on both sides of the fence, playing Ali Spencer in Emmerdale for a stretch between 2011 and 2015.
Appearing on the Plane Comedy podcast alongside her former Emmerdale baby daddy, Liam Fox, she spoke of the big difference between the casts of the soaps.
‘I’ve always said, when we used to go to dos and stuff…I shouldn’t really say that ‘coz I’ve just done a touch on Corrie…
‘But I always used to say at dos: Corrie are like the posh snobby aunty at a wedding and then Emmerdale‘s your council estate scuffers that have rocked up and are gonna cause shit at the wedding.
‘That’s always like the vibe. I’m not saying that’s what they… that’s like, the energy – they’re gonna have to cut that, f**k it, I’m not going back, I’m dead!’
Kelli recently returned for another short stint as Paula on the cobbles, after previously terrorising poor Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) in prison as the ‘top dog’ of the wing.
‘I’ve got a Coronation Street update for you, but this time it’s about me because yes I’m back!’ she began the clip.
‘If you know, I did a little stint at Corrie at the beginning of the year in jail with poor Debbie and after those they booked me for some more episodes,’ she said in a clip she posted to Instagram.
‘So, obviously, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen or what’s going on. But let’s face it, it’s Paula, so it ain’t going to be all f****** good, is it?
Paula and Debbie had history pre-clink, with Debbie having barred Paula from the Chariot Square hotel in the past, and as it transpired, our Paula could certainly hold a grudge!
The two ended up in a physical altercation while inside, and having recently been released, Paula headed straight for Debbie’s hotel and caused utter carnage for her former enemy, throwing a spanner in the works of a marriage proposal, too!
Who was Ali Spencer in Emmerdale?
Ali arrived as the sister of Rachel Breckle (Gemma Oaten), moving to the village alongside her children, Sean and Amelia (Luke Roskell and Daisy Campbell), before being joined by her girlfriend, Ruby Haswell (Alicya Eyo).
Her ex-husband, Dan Spencer arrived shortly after, determined to win Ali back and though she was quick to confirm to him that anything between them was in the past, he decided to stick around anyway for the sake of their children.
Ali and Ruby had their hearts entirely set on having a child together, though their relationship came under major strain with the extreme cost of IVF and their difficulty in finding a way to conceive, though there was some joy when the two solidified their love for one another and got married.
Of course, this is soap, so their happiness was never going to last, was it? A helicopter crash in the village caused utter devastation and claimed the life of Ruby, when she suffered a deep laceration to the stomach, and despite the best efforts of several other villagers, she perished while trapped in the wreckage of the crash, leaving Ali utterly broken.
Unable to cope with the grief and memories of her dead wife that lingered in the village, Ali announced she’d be leaving the Yorkshire Dales for a fresh start – with Kelli telling the podcast that her character ‘buggared off to Liverpool’, taking her sister Rachel with her.
With Sean having already left to join the army, Amelia decided to stay with her dad, Dan, though some three years later, the family received a phone call informing them that Ali had died in a tragic car accident.
Hollis described her time after leaving the show as: ‘living my best life in Ibiza’, though when she ended up ‘balling [her] eyes out’ after tuning back in to watch her final scenes.