Former Coronation Street star Claire King has revealed how the end of her marriage pushed her into a spiral of addiction and depression.
Claire, 54, who played Erica Holroyd on the soap for three years until quitting earlier this year, opened up to addiction counsellor Mandy Saligari for Channel 5’s In Therapy, on screen next week.
Claire also starred in Emmerdale as Kim Tate, and married her co- star Peter Amory, who played her on- screen stepson, Chris Tate, in 1994.
Read more: Emmerdale spoiler as Ross and Pete get another huge shock!
Their marriage lasted for ten years until they split in 2004 after Claire discovered that her husband had been having an affair with another Emmerdale co- star, Samantha Giles, who played Bernice Blackstock.
“We’d split up due to his infidelity,” she says.
“It happened in my house, the local pub, workplace.
“Then they split and we thought we’d work it out, then they got together again. Six months later … finished. I felt as though it was the end of something but also a failure. And I didn’t want it to be a failure. It was a loss as well. It was a failure of a marriage but the loss of a good friend. I really didn’t know it would affect me so badly.”
Claire also revealed that Peter had a problem with gambling and says it placed her in financial jeopardy.
“He liked a drink but he was also gambling as well. I mean big gambling.
“I knew he always gambled but not in that way. Lose your house money, lose everything money.
“I was £9,000 short of paying my mortgage off and then suddenly, poof. It was just horrible and it was draining.”
Coupled with the split and a tricky time finding work after leaving drama Bad Girls in 2004, Claire turned to alcohol to cope with her cash crisis.
“Hitting 40, having a divorce and not having children and getting deeper into debt,” Claire recalls. “To the point where I sold my wardrobe, dresses, everything, even collectors’ items, as I had no money. I thought, ‘God, am I ever going to work again?’
“I think I was depressed. I was on a very rocky road at the time. It wasn’t a great time and that’s where I went a bit off the rails, drinking too much.
“I thought I was coping but it’s the old adage – it doesn’t help at all. I know I’m not an alcoholic but I do like a drink. I do use it as a crutch and I am aware it’s really bad for feelings and emotions when you’re in a bad place.
“I didn’t know if I’d hit rock bottom or not. It was low enough for me to look around and think, ‘Woah, this is not right, I’m not functioning properly. Maybe I’m not working because I’m not giving off the right signals’.”
Read more: Former Corrie favourite opens up
Claire took the decision to undergo a facelift, and found that she quickly found work on Corrie.
“It got me out of that black hole,” said Claire. “My agent at the time had said, ‘Right, what you need is a facelift.’ It got me loads of work because I just felt better about myself and it gave me a little perk up.”
And while Claire may have quit her Corrie role, she’s already filmed scenes for a new part in Casualty, so fans won’t have long to wait to see her again.