ITV Coronation Street star Alison King's life off-screen including co-star romance and unusual hobby

The actress has played Carla Connor for almost 20 years

Alison King has been a staple on Coronation Street for almost two decades. The actress brings Carla Connor to life on the cobbles and has been part of major storylines since her first appearance in 2006.

These include being targeted by serial killer Stephen Reid, enduring kidnapping, rape by her boyfriend Frank Foster, struggling with alcoholism, engaging in an affair, and even being suspected of murder.

The character is currently embroiled in a new romantic plot, with Carla growing increasingly close to DS Lisa Swain - played by Vicky Myers - in recent months. Away from the famous street, the 51-year-old mum has a very different life.

Win 3x family passes to Blenheim Palace for Halloween

Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp

She was born in Leicester before moving to Newquay, Cornwall, at 18 to work in a surf shack. The hobby has remained a constant for the actress who also worked as a dental nurse before perusing acting, Liverpool Echo reports.

Alison joined the North Cheshire Theatre School at 22 and modelled in the late 1990s, becoming the face of Boddington beer and featuring regularly in Daz adverts. Her initial significant acting role was in the soap Brookside, which made a comeback in 2023 after a two-decade break.

She featured in two episodes of the Channel 4 soap as a hair salon stylist. She also played Lynda Block in Sky One's Dream Team and began dating her co-star Jim Alexander. The pair got engaged before ending the relationship.

In 2004, she made an appearance in Corrie as a one-time character named Mrs Fanshaw, introduced to spice up Ryan Thomas' character Jason Grimshaw. After impressing the soap executives, Alison was chosen to play Carla Connor and made her first appearance in the role in 2006.

Alison was previously engaged to Adam Huckett, a Coronation Street sound technician, with whom she has a teenage daughter Daisy. The pair split up in 2012 and Alison later embarked on a five-year relationship with Corrie co-star Philip Middlemiss, who portrayed Des Barnes.

In November 2018, Alison was seen with a new 'mystery man', who she disclosed was IT consultant David Stuckley when they announced their engagement in OK! magazine a year later. In May 2022, it was reported that the couple had parted ways after 'growing apart' during lockdown.

The actress shared that she's previously taken steps to enhance her smile due to early childhood habits. She opened up about how thumb-sucking as a youngster left her insecure about her dental appearance. She opted for cosmetic surgery during her days as a drama student, yet she confessed in 2015 to further aesthetic treatments.

Speaking to dentistry.co.uk, she said: "As an actress onscreen I'd begun to notice how my top and bottom front teeth had been pushed into the middle where my thumb had been. The inside bottom four teeth around the gum line were much shorter than the rest of the teeth.

"It was during my time at drama school that I decided to undergo cosmetic surgery at a dental practice in London. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with the final result and always felt there was room for improvement."

Birmingham: A Child Poverty Emergency

Child poverty is soaring in Birmingham and without urgent change, will only get worse. Having worked with charities and community groups, BirminghamLive is campaigning for the following changes to start to turn the tide:

1. End the two-child benefit cap
2. Provide free school meals to every child in poverty
3. Create a city “aid bank” for baby and child essentials
4. Protect children’s and youth services
5. Create permanent, multi year Household Support Fund and give more Discretionary Housing grants
6. Set up child health and wellbeing hubs in our most deprived neighbourhoods
7. Appoint a Birmingham child poverty tsar
8. Provide free public travel for young people

You can see why in more detail here.

Read our full report Birmingham: A Child Poverty Emergency here.

What you can do to help.