From burning cakes to blazing planes – Claire King on Emmerdale

Emmerdale star Claire King enthused about her role as Kim Tate during a virtual appearance on Good Morning Britain earlier today.

Claire said she feels “very lucky” to be playing Kim because the character gets “great writing”.

She said: “I joined the show in 1989, but I had a 20-year break. But the Tate family joined in 1989 and she’s still here and still being evil. She’s one of those characters you love and you love playing. She’s larger than life, you can be the boo/hiss villain, you get away with murder… literally and just enjoy playing it.”

On Emmerdale Farm changing to a more dramatic Emmerdale, Claire said: “The change was the plane crash. Until then, the cliffhangers used to be, ‘Will Annie’s cakes burn or not?’ Suddenly this plane crash came in and it changed the whole way soaps were dealing with tragedy, big storylines and stunts. It had to move with the times.”

On quitting social media last year, Claire revealed: “The truth was I just don’t have time to do it. I’m working 12-hour days and the last thing I want to be doing is scrolling through whatever everyone’s been up to during the day of people I don’t know. I literally just do my Facebook page for friends and family and people I actually know.”

Emmerdale weeknights on ITV, STV and UTV, GMB weekdays from 6am on ITV and the ITV Hub.