Paula Lane 'so grateful' for ITV Coronation Street – despite being killed off

Former Coronation Street star Paula Lane has admitted she was 'so grateful' for a part in the show - nine years after she was killed off. The actress, 39, was cast as Kylie Turner in 2010 and immediately became a controversial figure on the cobbles as she sold her son Max to half-sister Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) in scenes that played out in the build up to the programme's 50th anniversary in December of that year.

Over the years, her character famously tied the knot with David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) and she initially served as an enemy towards her mother-in-law Gail (Helen Worth), who tried and failed to pay her off and leave before the wedding but things settled as time went on. In 2012, she helped Becky clear her name when Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) spread damaging lies about her and in 2013, she gave birth to baby Lily on the leopard-print sofa at number eight with her family around her.

Lily, now played by Grace Ashcroft-Gardner, was the subject of a paternity dispute when it emerged that Kylie had slept with David's brother Nick (Ben Price) before it was confirmed that David was in fact the father. In 2014, things took a dark turn for Kylie when Max's dad, Callum Logan (Sean Ward), arrived on the Street as a drug dealer. She killed him as part of a live episode the following year and managed to get away with it. But the whole story ended in her demise when Clayton Hibbs (Callum Harrison) got involved and stabbed her in broad daylight whilst she was trying to defend her friend Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) in a fight outside the kebab shop. In dramatic scenes, she died in David's arms just moments before the ambulance arrived.

READ MORE: 'Soap serial killers aren't what they were – but do we need any more murder?'

READ MORE: Coronation Street star warns of 'stigma' after soap exit in 'brutally honest' truth

Nearly a decade later, David is now married to Clayton's mother, Shona Platt (Julia Goulding), but fans still remember the dramatic scene well, and when one of them sent it to Paula on Instagram, she was quick to respond.

Adding the shots to her Instagram Story, she wrote: "An amazing chapter of my career. Always grateful for this role and the opportunities it brought me [heart emoji]. Thank you for the memories x"

Prior to landing the part of Kylie, Paula had made guest appearances in dramas such as The Royal and Heartbeat. Since her departure, she has appeared on Call The Midwife, and in 2018, she played the female lead of factory worker Lauren in a UK tour of the musical Kinky Boots.

More recently, she played the regular role of Ella Forster on Emmerdale and fans of the Yorkshire-based soap learned they'd seen the last of the receptionist after her reign of terror came to an end when she was arrested and taken away after a showdown with her ex-boyfriend,Liam Cavanagh, but couldn't believe that her stint had been so short.

Away from the screen, Paula has Arthur, 10, as well as eight-year-old Penny with husband Tom Shaw and recently announced that she is expecting her third child.

But she previously admitted admitted that the decision for Kylie to be killed off came as a 'shock' to her because she had initially hoped to go off to give birth and then return like she had done with her first baby.

During an appearance on the Soap from the Box podcast, she said: "I felt very strongly that I wanted to go but I was kind of up for maybe having Penny and then coming back for a bit but I think they felt that muddied the water a little bit. They came to the conclusion that they wanted a clean exit.

"I don't think it was across the board - the writers were very torn by all accounts with what they wanted to do. It was Stuart Blackburn, the producer at the time, who made the call and said 'We're gonna kill her off'. I was so shocked. I was heartbroken.

"I was really shocked but at the same time, I understand that it wasn't a decision I had taken lightly. I remember thinking 'I didn't see that coming!' and I guess the audience would have been equally shocked."

* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads.