'My life started to take off again!' Coronation Street's Claire King claims a facelift salvaged an acting career that once left her so unwaged she 'couldn't even afford petrol'

By Kayleigh Giles For Mailonline

Published: 18:03 EST, 9 August 2015 | Updated: 02:47 EST, 10 August 2015

Coronation Street star Claire King has told how a dip in her career left her so deprived she struggled to fill her car with petrol - until a facelift changed everything.

In a new interview with Hello! Magazine, the 52-year-old actress has claimed that 'the phone stopped ringing' as soon as she turned 50, despite the fact she boasted a prosperous TV career that spanned over two decades.

Recalling the moment she was invited to audition to join the Weatherfield cast as Erica Holroyd last year, she told Hello! Magazine: 'My heart leapt. But I promised myself there and then that if I didn’t get it, I would give up the job I loved - I would quit acting.'  

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Career turnaround: Coronation Street star Claire King has told how a dip in her career left her so deprived she struggled to fill her car with petrol - until a facelift changed everything

Career turnaround: Coronation Street star Claire King has told how a dip in her career left her so deprived she struggled to fill her car with petrol - until a facelift changed everything

The actress shot to fame when she began her stint as Kim Tate on hit British soap Emmerdale in 1989, a role she occupied for ten years before going on to find success as prison officer Karen Betts in early noughties drama Bad Girls but things soon plummeted for the star. 

Prior to her facelife, Claire admitted she struggled to find acting work and eventually became so low she no longer wanted to leave the house.

'It was the most vulnerable time of my life. It felt as if my industry didn’t want me anymore, it hit me in the heart,' she explained.

Lengthy career: The actress shot to fame when she began her stint as Kim Tate on hit British soap Emmerdale in 1989

Lengthy career: The actress shot to fame when she began her stint as Kim Tate on hit British soap Emmerdale in 1989

Part of the furniture: Claire appeared in the hit soap for an entire decade

Part of the furniture: Claire appeared in the hit soap for an entire decade

'I felt so low and unsure of myself that I didn’t want to leave the house. Sometimes I couldn’t even afford to - I didn’t have enough money to fill the car with petrol.'

Eager for more? You can read Claire's story in this week's Hello! Magazine

Eager for more? You can read Claire's story in this week's Hello! Magazine

In February 2013 she decided to appear on the Sky Living show, Stitch Me, Lift Me, Tuck Me, which showed her at a Harley Street clinic getting a mini-facelift.

'Although my older peers had warned me that when actresses reach the big 5-0, work often starts to dry up, I couldn’t imagine it ever happening to me.

'But then, a few years before I’d even reached that landmark birthday, the phone stopped ringing. It was as sudden as a tap being turned off. I was devastated,' Claire explained.

Often describing those who had gone under the knife to look younger as 'old friends with new faces', the Bradford-born star decided it was time to do the same in a bid to boost her chances of getting work.

King underwent a suspension facelift, a surgery in which a simple stitch is placed under each cheek to pull up the lower half of the face.

'When I looked at my double chin and sagging jawline, I was prepared to try a cosmetic procedure to improve my chances of being offered new parts in the job I Ioved,' she said.

Despite her previous hesitation, Claire admits the procedure certainly paid off and it wasn't long before offers arrived at her door.

'My life started to take off again. I felt happier and more upbeat,' she enthused. 

Read the full article in this week’s Hello! Magazine. 

Turned things around: Prior to her facelife, Claire admitted she struggled to find acting work and eventually became so low she no longer wanted to leave the house

Turned things around: Prior to her facelife, Claire admitted she struggled to find acting work and eventually became so low she no longer wanted to leave the house

 

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