Coronation Street’s Paula Wilcox first appeared on the cobbles 51 years ago
28 July 2020, 13:18 | Updated: 28 July 2020, 13:35
Lorraine airs Paula Wilcox’s first time on Coronation Street 51 years ago
Paula Wilcox has joined Coronation Street as Elaine, but she made her first appearance in the 1960s.
Actress Paula Wilcox recently joined the cast of Coronation Street as evil Geoff Metcalfe’s wife Elaine Jones.
But now the newcomer has revealed her first role in the soap was actually more than 50 years ago.
In fact, she began her career on the cobbles back in 1969 when she played Tracy Barlow's aunt Janice who left home to move in with her brother Ray.
But just three weeks after her debut, she ran off with his money and exited the soap.
During an appearance on Lorraine this week, Paula was shown a clip of her first stint in Weatherfield.
She explained: “I was playing a runaway from borstal and I showed up on the Street dead rough and I was rude to everyone.
“I was particularly rude to Elsiee Tanner, I... told her where to go."
Before adding: "And a friend of my mum’s who was a huge Corrie fan was like ‘Oh I’m so glad you told that Elsie Tanner where to get off. She’s been getting above herself’. “It was like I wasn’t this girl she had known since I was eight."
Half a century later, and Paula now plays Tim Metcalfe's mum, Elaine who was able to escape evil Geoff’s controlling ways.
But it turns out Tim is not very happy to be reunited with his mum, as he was previously led to believe that his mum was Tessa, who passed away.
Discussing what viewers can expect from Elaine and Tim’s meeting, Paula told ITV viewers: "It's very odd because she sees Geoff and Tim on the Street the first time she ever sees them and she assumes that he is Tim.
"Then later on, she does actually meet him but he doesn’t know who she is.
"He is quite brusque with her and then he doesn’t believe her, then it’s very, very tough because all of a sudden she’s been this heroine to Yasmeen, and she feels like… I’m out there and facing down some of these demons and still I really don’t want to face Geoff.
"But I’m sure that my boy will, as soon as he sees me, fall into my arms and say: 'Mum, where have you been all my life!' and that doesn’t happen.
"I think it’s a big, big shock – that’s a real step back in a way. She’s taken baby steps forward and that’s a real knock in the face again. So, she’s right back down on the ground."
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