She’ll make her debut in the ITV soap as Paula, a prison inmate who Debbie Webster is warned about

Coronation Street has shared a first look at a former Emmerdale star’s upcoming debut in the long-running show after she confirmed her upcoming stint.

Kelli Hollis will make her debut in the ITV soap next week as Paula, a prison inmate who Debbie Webster is warned about as she carries out her setence for pleading guilty to dangerous driving and causing the death of Billy Mayhew following the horror multi-vehicle pile-up that happened in January.

Soap fans may be aware that the actress made her Emmerdale debut in 2011 in the role of Ali Spencer, the mother of Sean and Amelia. After a few years in the Dales, the character was seen leaving the village for Liverpool in 2015, but in 2018, Ali was killed off-screen in a car accident.

Last week, Kelli confirmed that she is set to appear in Corrie by taking to her TikTok page and sharing a video, which she captioned: “FINALLY I CAN SPILL THE TEA…” She went on to explain in the video: “Yes, I am going to be in Coronation Street.”

Sharing a picture of herself and Debbie star Sue Devaney, Kelli went on: “I have the pleasure of working this f**king legend, Sue Devaney. She plays Debbie Webster. Obviously, she’s going to jail, so surprise surprise, I’m the rough ol’ top dog in the jail who’s basically going to give her s**t and not be very nice to her.”

Now, spoilers have confirmed the scenes ahead for Debbie, played by Sue Devaney, and newcomer Paula. In prison, Debbie calls Lou Micahelis ‘Abi’ by mistake and explains that she’s got onset dementia.

Also in the prison, another inmate, Paula, recognises Debbie. Lou warns Debbie that Paula is bad news and is best avoided but as Lou heads off, Paula marks Debbie’s card and reminds her that she once barred her from the hotel. Is Debbie in danger?

Later, in her cell, Debbie’s minding her own business when suddenly, Paula barges her way in, bursts into tears and explains to Debbie how her boyfriend has dumped her, and he’s doing time for aggravated burglary. When Debbie tries to comfort her, how will Paula react?

Kelli has been sharing various TikTok videos from her time at Corrie. She uploaded a video from her first day on set captioned: “MY 1ST DAY AT CORRIE. SO EXCITING.” In the clips, she said: “Oh my god! What a morning! So I’m here at Corrie, I’m exhausted, and it’s not from working. I’ve done two scenes already this morning, I’ve got two more now this afternoon,” she told her fans while sitting in her dressing room.

“But I’m exhausted from seeing everybody. The amount of crew that I’ve worked with before on other jobs that are here, phenomenal! And then let’s talk about the cast. So our beautiful Jane [Hazlegrove], I worked with her on Clink, she heard I was here, and she came running up.”

She added: “And the most handsome man ever, apart from my Martin, the gorgeous Aaron McClusker. He come bounding in picked me up spun me around. I’ve been made to feel so welcome. What a brilliant day so far.”