CORONATION Street is famous for its hot pots and bacon butties – but the soap’s latest recruit is all about Big Macs.
Kimberly Hart-Simpson, who has joined the soap playing £150-an-hour escort girl Nicky Wheatley, rose to the rank of burger outlet boss when she was only a teenager.
Speaking exclusively to HOAR, she says: “I was one of the youngest-ever managers of McDonald’s at a branch in Oldham. I was just 16.
“I find myself in higher positions for jobs and I’m never too sure how I’ve got there.
“McDonald’s was definitely one of those times. I think I’ve got the gift of the gab in those situations. I was customer-facing so I didn’t have to do the food stuff. You learn some amazing life skills.
“They’re a great company. You get paid well but I soon came to realise it wasn’t a long-term plan — it was just for the money.”
The 33-year-old actress made a brief appearance on Wednesday night’s episode — and this week viewers will learn more about her character, who is Daniel Osbourne’s new love interest.
‘Living with mum is not good for my dating profile’
Kimberly’s stint on the cobbles has been years in the making as she has spent more than a decade trying to land her dream role on the ITV soap.
And securing the part has been made extra-special by the fact it was her father’s dying wish.
The former Hollyoaks actress explains: “I’ve been watching Coronation Street from the womb. I have been brought up on it. No one would dare ring our house phone when Corrie was on.
“My dad was a massive Corrie fan. Every time I went to him, even if I hadn’t seen him in a month, he’d want me to shut up while it was on. I think it might have mattered more to him than I did.
“Unfortunately, I lost my dad in 2007. One of the last things he said to me was, ‘Just do me a favour and get on Corrie, love.’ We had that shared connection with it.”
And signing up for Corrie could not have been better timed for Kimberly. The coronavirus has halted productions, leading to acting jobs drying up — and the star was one of many who found themselves out of work.
She says: “I couldn’t pay for my house any more and had to live with my mum in Bolton. That was about a month and a half into lockdown.
“But I know I can’t stay there for ever as I can’t be 33 and living with my mum. It’s not a good look for the dating profile. On paper I’m successful, I’m in a soap, loving life — and then live with my mum.
“It’s got to come to an end at some point but right now we’re just enjoying each other’s company.” Her mum Gill Simpson was overjoyed when Kimberly got the part.
The actress says: “She can’t stop crying. As a parent the last thing you want to hear is your kid wants to be an actor. She wanted me to get a proper job in Sainsbury’s.
‘Sex workers are the same as us and an awful lot stronger’
“But she has watched the tears, pain and the hard work that can come with this industry. The family are just so proud. It’s bigger than me, this. It’s for them as well.”
Kimberly was raised in Rhyl, North Wales, before moving to Oldham, Gtr Manchester, when she was 16 to study musical theatre at college while living with her dad Kevin, a drummer.
Later, she spent five years in London where she studied at the Italia Conti performing arts academy and worked as a manager at Topshop in Oxford Street to pay the bills.
But after getting fed up with acting and the lack of opportunities, she switched careers to focus on her other love — fashion.
Kimberly says she brought a £90 sewing machine from Argos and progressed from making pencil cases and cushions to designing an LGBTQ flag for Hollyoaks actress Jessica Ellis to wear at the 2018 Soap Awards.
She also set up her own fashion label called Hart-Work, specialising in revitalising clothes which were “destined for landfill” — and has modelled some of her designs on the company’s website.
The reaction to her work alerted online shopping giant Asos, which signed her up. Then events firm Visual Architects hired her to create the decor for bars and festivals in Dubai and Ibiza.
It was while she was visiting the White Isle that her agent called asking her to come back to the UK to try out for a theatre role.
The move revived her interest in acting. She failed to get the part — but the return home was not wasted as she successfully auditioned for the part of landlord Beverley in Hollyoaks, which paved the way for her role on Corrie.
Her character Nicky, who Kimberly describes as “sassy, cute, headstrong, affectionate and understanding”, provides a shoulder to cry on for grieving widower Daniel, who lost wife Sinead to cervical cancer last October.
She is set to have a series of run-ins with Tracy Barlow, the soap’s resident bitch and Daniel’s stepsister.
Kimberly says: “Daniel deserves a happy storyline and to find himself again and have a laugh. I don’t believe he is rushing in too quickly. You can’t time love.
“They could be best friends, sort each other out and offer solidarity. I think Tracy would have something to say about Nicky’s job, wouldn’t she?
“But Nicky is a good person. You have to be a strong person to do what she does so she won’t take any prisoners. That will get right on Tracy’s nerves.”
Asked if she had any reservations playing a sex worker, Kimberly insisted: “Not once, no. It’s another job to do to survive in an incredibly difficult world.
“We don’t know what drives her but there is something. It’s too easy to jump to negatives. These women are the same as us, and an awful lot stronger. I don’t think she is ashamed — she just sees it as a job.”
Kimberly is signed up to appear on Corrie until the autumn — but her contract could be extended if viewers are riveted by her storyline.
And she revealed that she found out she had got the role while working on her fashion brand. Kimberly said: “I was sewing downstairs in a cellar under a stage in St Helen’s Theatre in Merseyside making dresses.
“I got the call and I was with four other people — I cried on the floor like Leona Lewis from Bleeding Love.
“They thought someone was being murdered but it was me. We all just cried and ate cakes.” Sounds like the perfect excuse for having a Happy Meal.
