Emmerdale legend Claire King once found love on the set of the ITV soap before a heartbreaking divorce. The 64-year-old actress is famed for playing the formidable Kim Tate after she joined the long-running show in 1989, and quickly became a soap icon.
On-Screen and Off-Screen Romance
During her time, Kim has had four husbands but is currently single after a recent tryst with ex-husband Graham. Off-screen, Claire also once found love on the Emmerdale set with co-star Peter Amory, who portrayed her on-screen stepson, Chris Tate. The pair got married in 1994 and were together for a decade. Their marriage, however, ended abruptly when it was alleged that Peter had been unfaithful to Claire with fellow Emmerdale star Samantha Giles, who played Bernice Blackstock.
"I had a feeling that something was going on," she told the Mirror in 2005. "I was working in London and we were spending less and less time together. I was travelling back to Yorkshire every weekend. I remember Pete saying that I only came back to see my dogs and horses... and I thought: 'Well, yeah, and to catch you at it!'."
Heartbreak and Moving On
"But then it was Samantha's husband who wrote me a letter and told me. That was about four years ago. I questioned Pete and he admitted it had been going on for a while. He told me it was over but then it started again," she added. Despite the heartbreak, Claire found love again and is now happily married. Her husband prefers to stay away from the limelight, and she is a stepmother to his two children.
Opening up about family life in a 2022 interview with OK!, Claire explained that her current partner isn't interested in show business. She said, "He couldn’t give a damn about showbiz. He’s a very down-to-earth Yorkshireman and isn’t bothered. He’s not the type you could ask to join a photoshoot, he’d tell me to bugger off! I don’t mind that at all – it gives us some privacy."
Step-Motherhood and Acceptance
Touching on the subject of being a step-mother, Claire added: "My ex-husband Pete had a son, so luckily I’d already had the experience of toddler to teenager. So when my current partner arrived in my life and I gained two teenagers I was already well prepared. I like to think I was there for them through a few of their growing years. We all get on like a house on fire now – and as they’re older, we’re drinking partners!"
She added: "My ex didn’t want children as he already had one. And by the time we split up, I was just on the verge of missing that window. But then I started getting ill and had to have a hysterectomy, so I just accepted it wasn’t meant to be for me. I substituted not having them with lots of lovely dogs, horses and holidays, and of course my step-children who I love."
