Claire King

For the English author, see Claire King (author).

Claire King
Born	Jayne Claire Seed (1962-01-10) 10 January 1962 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Television	Emmerdale Bad Girls Strictly Come Dancing Safari School Celebrity Big Brother Coronation Street Loose Women
Spouse	Peter Amory ​ ​ (m. 1994; sep. 2004)​

Jayne Claire King (born Jayne Claire Seed; 10 January 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Kim Tate in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and Karen Betts in Bad Girls. She has appeared in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006, Safari School in 2007, and Celebrity Big Brother 14 in 2014. She also played Erica Holroyd in Coronation Street from 2014 until 2017.

Early life and early career

King grew up in Harrogate with her brother and sister. King attended Harrogate Ladies College, and as a punk chose a career in the music business, as a disc jockey in a Leeds nightclub. She then managed, sang and played keyboards in the Alternative Pop group Fidei and later To Be Continued as lead singer.

Career

In 1987, King played a role in the film Eat the Rich. In 1988, King appeared in an episode of Wish Me Luck as a Cinema Usherette. In 1989, she appeared in the film Cold Light of Day as a Prostitute. Soon after she joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Kim Tate a role she played for ten years before leaving the show in 1999. She had a role in an episode of Babes in the Wood as Angela. In 2000, she joined the cast of Bad Girls playing wing governor Karen Betts. She left the programme in 2004 after four years on the show. In 2002, she appeared in an episode of Doctors as Jenny Hennessey in the episode "Into The Shadows". In 2004, King had a role in an episode of the sitcom Down to Earth as Paula Wakeman and appeared in one episode of Dalziel and Pascoe as Louise Russell in the episode entitled: "Still Waters". Later that year, King played Madeline Jackson-Carter in four episodes of the hit drama TV show The Courtroom. In 2005, she appeared as Andrea Mason QC, a barrister for Justin Burton in 6 episodes of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. She later appeared as Janice Perry in an episode of Holby City called "Not Another Car Wreck". She appeared in The Afternoon Play in the episode "The Good Citizen" as Joanna Clay as well as Sally Parker in an episode of TV series Donovan. In 2006, King participated and appeared in the fourth series of the BBC reality show Strictly Come Dancing she finished overall in sixth place. King also appeared in 5 episodes of Hollyoaks: In The City as business woman Stella and as Gina in an episode of Mayo in Episode 1.7. In 2007, she was a contestant in the BBC Two reality-television show Safari School filmed in South African bush where she finished in third place overall. King appeared in two episodes of the TV show The Pyramid Game.

In 2008, King appeared in an episode of the medical drama The Royal as Lucy Bayliss in the episode "Slings And Arrows". In 2008, King appeared as a panellist on the Channel 5 topical debate show The Wright Stuff for two episodes and on The Alan Titchmarsh Show. She appeared in the documentary Emmerdale 50000 promoting five thousand episodes of the TV Program. King has appeared on lunch time chat show Loose Women several times as a guest. She was a guest panellist in 2012 to mark 40 years of Emmerdale, and returned in August 2017 for two further guest panellist appearances. She has also appeared on day-time TV Show This Morning several times. In 2010, King appeared and starred in the BBC Three sitcom The Gemma Factor as Betsy. King appeared in the topical debate show The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 as a panellist for one episode. She later went on a UK and Ireland tour of the comedy play The Naked Truth along with Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton. In 2012, she appeared as a Governor in an episode of Hollyoaks. She had a role in the film The Wedding Video as Gina. She appeared in the documentary Emmerdale at 40: The Headline Makers marking 40 years of the soap opera. In 2013, she appeared as Geraldine Worthing in an episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty and appeared in two episodes of Daybreak. King has appeared in several pantomime productions including Jack and the Beanstalk and Snow White. In 2014, King appeared in an episode of Pointless in a Soap-Star special edition. She also appeared in the Channel 5 documentary TV's Nastiest Villains, presented by actress and author Joan Collins.

King entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to compete in the fourteenth series on 18 August 2014 as a Housemate but left the show on Day 16 due to illness. She appeared twice on Big Brother's Bit on the Side. In October 2014, she appeared in an episode of Who's Doing the Dishes?. In November 2014, she appeared in an episode of the E4 comedy show Drifters as Cath. In December 2014, she joined the cast of the soap opera Coronation Street as character Erica Holroyd, a role she portrayed until 2017. On 24 September 2018, it was announced that King will reprise her role as Emmerdale character Kim Tate, for this first time after nearly 20 years away. King will be returning for a special week of episodes from 8 October 2018.On 12 October 2018, it was confirmed that King would be returning permanently in 2019.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Eat the Rich	Yuppie Bitch	Film role
1988	Wish Me Luck	Cinema Usherette	Season 1, Episode 2
1989	Cold Light of Day	Prostitute	Film role
1989–1999, 2018–present	Emmerdale	Kim Tate	Series regular; 1,050+ episodes (so far)
1999	Babes in the Wood	Angela	Season 2, Episode 7
2000–2004	Bad Girls	Karen Betts	Series regular; 56 episodes
2001, 2003–2004, 2007–2009, 2012, 2014, 2019–2020	This Morning	Herself	11 episodes
2002	Doctors	Jenny Hennessey	Episode: "Into The Shadows"
2003–2004, 2006–2009, 2011–2012, 2015–2018	Loose Women	Herself; guest panellist	15 episodes
2004	Down to Earth	Paula Wakeman	Episode: "Still Waters"
	Dalziel and Pascoe	Louise Russell	Episode: "The Price Of Fame"
	The Courtroom	Madeline Jackson-Carter	4 episodes
2005	Holby City	Janice Perry	Episode: "Not Another Car Wreck"
	The Afternoon Play	Joanna Clay	Episode: "The Good Citizen"
	DNA	Sally Parker	Season 2, Episode 2
	Hollyoaks	Andrea Mason QC	6 episodes
2006	Mayo	Gina Harper	Season 1, Episode 7
	Hollyoaks: In The City	Stella	5 episodes
	Strictly Come Dancing	Herself	Contestant; 6th place
2007	All Star Family Fortunes		Contestant; 1 episode
	Safari School		Contestant; 3rd place
	The Pyramid Game		2 episodes
2008	The Royal	Lucy Bayliss	Episode: "Slings And Arrows"
2008, 2010	The Wright Stuff	Herself	Panellist; 2 episodes
2008, 2009	The Alan Titchmarsh Show		Guest; 3 episodes
2009	Hell's Kitchen		1 episode
2010	The Gemma Factor	Betty	Main cast; all 6 episodes
2012	Hollyoaks	Governor	1 episode
	The Wedding Video	Gina	Film role
2013	Casualty	Geraldine Worthing	Episode: "With And Without You"
	Daybreak	Herself	Guest; 2 episodes
2014	Pointless		Participant; Soap-Star Special; 1 episode
	TV's Nastiest Villains		TV documentary
	Celebrity Big Brother 14		Housemate; contestant
	Big Brother's Bit on the Side		2 episodes; former housemate
	Who's Doing the Dishes?		Celebrity guest
	Drifters	Cath	Episode: "Hen Don't"
2014–2017	Coronation Street	Erica Holroyd	Series regular; 156 episodes
2015	A Reason to Leave	Sarah	Film role

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Work	Result
1999	The British Soap Awards	Best Exit	Emmerdale	Won
2002	TV Quick Awards	Best Actress	Bad Girls	Won
2003				Won
2019	The British Soap Awards	Villain of the Year	Emmerdale	Nominated
2020	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress		Nominated

Personal life

In 1994, King married actor Peter Amory, who played her on-screen stepson Chris Tate in Emmerdale. They separated in 2004. King currently lives near Harrogate, with her horses and Labrador dogs.

External links

• Claire King at IMDb