Former Emmerdale actress Kelli Hollis is set to appear on Coronation Street, two years after leaving the acting industry to run a cannabis business in Thailand. The 49-year-old, who played Ali Spencer on the ITV soap from 2011 to 2015, will portray an inmate in the prison storyline involving Debbie Webster.
Hollis shared a video from the Coronation Street set on TikTok, expressing her surprise at being back on a soap. “Now I know how people felt when they used to come up to Emmerdale. The bloody Rovers! I’m filming just around the corner… bit of Rovers, f**king hell!” she said. She admitted feeling “a little bit nervous” but noted it was nice to bump into familiar faces.
She will reunite with her Shameless co-star Aaron McCusker, who plays Ben Driscoll on the cobbles, and praised Jane Hazlegrove as “one of the funniest women” she has met. Hollis originally joined Emmerdale in 2002 as Melanie Say, returning briefly in 2005 before her extended stint as Ali, who died in a car crash in 2015.
After leaving Emmerdale, Hollis had roles in Casualty, Clink, Doctors, Wolfe, and Ackley Bridge before quitting the industry in 2023. She moved to Thailand to run a ‘weed bar’ with her partner Martin in Pattaya. Speaking to the Daily Star last year, she said: “I am never coming home, never going home… But you only live once.”
