CORONATION Street newcomer Kel Allen was once propositioned after being mistaken for a prostitute after auditioning for Emmerdale.
The actress – who plays Laura Neelan on the cobbles – says she was approached by a man demanding to know “how much” after an audition to play an escort on the Dales set soap.
Kel played escort Tiff who was hired to take serial killer Lachlan White’s virginity in 2017.
She told HOAR Online: “I had an audition for Emmerdale to play an escort, not a prostitute, called Tiff.
“You generally go with a tiny hint of what they should be or look like, the other girls looked like ladies of the night, shall we say.
“On the way out a builder asked me ‘How much?’ and I thought I’ve nailed the look!”
And she revealed how it was one of a string of roles she played in the sex industry.
The actress will be familiar to Corrie viewers already after playing Bethany Platt’s strip club boss Lulu Locket in 2018.
Kel added: “I literally had a run of being cast as hookers, escorts, lap dancers, madams.
“The owner of Tassels night club that was a better role cos she was an MD of a sex club rather than just dancing in one!
“Didn’t know whether it was a compliment or should it be giving me a complex that people were seeing me in that way.”
Kel has now joined Corrie for a major role as murdered loan shark Rick Neelan’s ex-wife.
Viewers know Gary killed Rick and buried him in the woods last year – but he has kept up the pretence that Rick is alive and on the run and has been funding Rick’s financial obligations to his family.
But with his secret soon set to be revealed, Rick’s ex Laura will want her pound of flesh, says actress Kel.
She revealed that Laura won’t be scared of Gary – even if she does discover he murdered Rick.
Speaking to HOAR Online she said: “I think for Laura, in her eyes, she could eat Gary for breakfast.
“She’d chew him up and spit him out because to her, her husband is this huge loan shark and she’s lived that life and dealt with the likes of Rick.
“To her, Gary is just one of his little minions and he’s one of the ones that runs around doing things.
“She sees there’s something in him, something more in him where it could rattle her and there’s fear there with her, but she’s the feisty one.
“I think she can deal with that kind of man and chew him up and spit him out.
“Gary can intimidate so many different people, so it’s nice to see a character giving it back. It’s nice to see a strong feisty woman giving him what for and standing her own grounds against him so they are clashing horns quite a lot.”
