Paula Wilcox 'thrilled' to be part of Corrie's coercive control plot

Paula Wilcox was "thrilled" when she was asked to be part of \'Coronation Street\', and became "hooked" on Shelley King and Ian Bartholomew\'s coercive control storyline.

The 70-year-old actress\' character Elaine shocked fans last night (27.07.20) when it was revealed she is Tim Metcalfe\'s (Joe Duttine) long-lost mother, and the star couldn\'t wait to be part of the hard-hitting storyline which has seen Tim\'s dad and Elaine\'s ex, evil Geoff Metcalfe (Ian), emotionally abuse his wife Yasmeen Metcalfe (Shelley) for months.

Paula said: "When I was asked to do it I was so thrilled, I immediately started watching \'Corrie\' to catch up on the whole Yasmine and Geoff story, and it\'s a wonderful story.

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"I was hooked from the moment I started watching.

"Shelley and Ian are just brilliant. I was so keen to be part of that story."

Quizzed on whether her character will be part of the plot\'s "climax", she replied: "I think so, yeah.

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"There is a big climax coming, for sure."

Elaine was also a domestic abuse victim at the hands of evil Geoff 50 years ago, which resulted in her leaving her son Tim with him.

Paula now hopes the hard-hitting plot will encourage women that they are "not alone".

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She said: "It\'s an extraordinarily powerful story, and I hope it does encourage women to know that they\'re not alone.

"But golly, it\'s a frightening story to be in with your children or without.

"To leave your baby behind with somebody like that, out of your own sheer terror, and then wonder for the next 50 years what has happened must be quite devastating."

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But this isn\'t Paula\'s first foray onto the cobbles, as the \'The Queen\'s Nose\' star appeared as Ray Langton\'s (Neville Buswell) sister Janice back in 1969.

Speaking on \'Lorraine\', she added: "It was in it for three weeks. It was just about one of the first jobs I ever did, so it was rather thrilling.

"The whole thing was gobsmacking."