Ex-Corrie star Paula Lane joins the cast of Emmerdale
It’s today been announced that former Coronation Street actor Paula Lane has joined the cast of Emmerdale.
Yorkshire born and bred, Paula begins filming in the village later this week as the ‘compassionate and caring’ Ella Forster.
Ella is first encountered by Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley), when she attends a veterinarian ball with partner Paddy (Dominic Brunt). When Ella, who doesn’t mince her words, sticks up for Mandy during the event, she soon finds herself out of a job.
As luck would have it, a later encounter with village GP Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker) opens up a new career opportunity for hard-working Ella.
“Ella is thrown into the village, giving her a new job at the doctor’s surgery,” Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw explained to EverySoap and other media at a press event this week. “And she’s quickly going to find herself catching the eye of one of the village’s most eligible bachelors…”
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“I’m so excited to be joining the cast of Emmerdale,” Paula Lane enthuses. “Everyone has been so welcoming and I can’t wait to start a new chapter playing the role of Ella. I’ve already heard there are big plans for her and I can’t wait to see her navigate a new life in the village and hopefully make some friends!“
“Ella is a complex and multi-layered character who comes to the village and certainly makes an impact,” Emmerdale producer Kate Brooks adds. “Ostensibly she’s a good, moral character, but is there more to her than meets the eye? We are absolutely thrilled to welcome an actor of Paula’s calibre to the show and we can’t wait to have her light up our screens.“
A star of both stage and screen, Paula made her screen debut in Heartbeat in 2009, with her theatre credits including Kinky Boots, Quality Street and #BeMoreMartyn. Together with husband and fellow actor Tom Shaw, she also runs the Lane Shaw Academy in Hebden Bridge which provides drama workshops for children.
Paula is perhaps best remembered however for her six-year stint in Coronation Street as Kylie Platt (née Turner), the late wife of David (Jack P Shepherd) and mother to Max (Paddy Bever) and Lily (Brooke Malonie).
Kylie met her end at the hands of Clayton Hibbs (Callum Harrison) in 2016 whilst trying to protect her friend Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell), tragically dying in the middle of the street in a distraught David’s arms.
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Paula’s first scenes as Ella will air in mid-January.