Claire King

Claire was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and raised in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, with her brother and sister. Bradford-born King played the dastardly Kim Tate on Emmerdale originally for 10 years from 1989. She left the soap in dramatic fashion in 1999 and went on to star in a number of TV dramas over the next decade. These included her role as Karen Betts in ITV prison drama Bad Girls for four years. She also proved a hit on the dancefloor, finishing sixth in the 2006 series of Strictly Come Dancing. Claire also appeared in Coronation Street, where she played Erica Holroyd between 2014 and 2017. Erica was a friend of Liz McDonald in the show and had a colourful love life on the cobbles, being linked to Kevin Webster, shop owner Dev Alahan among others. She left in 2017 as Erica went back to Spain. King returned to Emmerdale for a special week of episodes in 2018, before coming back permanently to cause trouble in the soap in 2019.