Paula Lane

English actress

Paula Lane

Born|  (1986-04-17) 17 April 1986 (age 37)

Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England

Alma mater| Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation| Actress
Years active| 2008–present
Known for| Coronation Street Emmerdale
Spouse|

Tom Shaw

(m. 2014)​

Children| 2

Paula Lane (born 17 April 1986)[1] is an English actress. She is best known for portraying the roles of Kylie Platt in ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2010–2016), and Ella Forster in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2024–present).

## Early life[edit]

Lane is originally from Hebden Bridge near Halifax.[2] Lane attended Halifax Catholic High School and then Huddersfield Technical College.[3] At the age of 19 she was accepted to train at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London, graduating in 2008 with a 1st class honours degree in acting. On finishing drama school, Lane was cast immediately in the ITV 1960s-based drama  Heartbeat where she made her television debut playing a teacher, Wendy Kelshaw, in the episode "School Of Hard Knocks".

## Career[edit]

Lane made her professional acting debut in Heartbeat in 2009. Since then she has appeared in Going Postal by Terry Pratchett for Sky, The Royal and Doctors. Lane was also featured in the short film War Wounds alongside Stephen Mangan. In 2024, Lane joined Emmerdale, playing character Ella Forster.[4]

### Coronation Street[edit]

Lane joined Coronation Street in 2010, portraying Kylie Platt, half-sister of established character Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly).

She departed her role as Kylie Platt in 2014, when she left for maternity leave. Lane returned in June 2015. On 9 February 2016, it was confirmed that Lane was to leave for maternity leave for her second pregnancy but this time she would not be returning and she would leave the soap permanently. Her character was killed off in episodes aired on 15 July 2016. The last episode in which she appeared aired on 20 July 2016.

### Theatre[edit]

Lane has also acted in several stage productions. She has played the role of Rachel in Be More Martyn at Southwark Playhouse,[citation needed] Lily in The Bengal Lily at Manchester Royal Exchange,[5] Lauren in the UK tour of Kinky Boots.[6] and most recently appeared in Road at Oldham Coliseum.

## Personal life[edit]

Lane married her long-term partner Tom Shaw in May 2014 at Leeds Cathedral.[7] They have a son and a daughter. Tom has also appeared in Coronation Street in 2017 and 2018 as Kim on a recurring basis.

## Filmography[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

2008, 2011  | The Royal | Geraldine  | 2 episodes
2009  | Heartbeat | Wendy Kelshaw  | Episode: "School of Hard Knocks"
Doctors | Anna Copping  | Episode: "Tracing the Lines"
2010  | War Wounds | Nurse Gemma  | Short film
Going Postal | Princess  | Television film
2010–2016  | Coronation Street | Kylie Platt | 616 episodes
2021  | Call the Midwife | Vera Sands  |
2022  | Father Brown | Emily Harris  | Series 9
2023  | City 17 | Chell | Series 24
2024–present  | Emmerdale | Ella Forster | Regular role

## Awards and nominations[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2011  | 16th National Television Awards | Best Newcomer  | Nominated  | [8]
2011  | All About Soap Bubble Awards | Best Newcomer  | Nominated  | [9]
2011  | The British Soap Awards | Villain of the Year | Nominated  | [10]
2011  | The British Soap Awards  | Best Newcomer | Nominated  | [11]
2011  | TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Newcomer  | Won  | [12]
2011  | Inside Soap Awards | Best Newcomer  | Shortlisted  | [13]
2012  | Inside Soap Awards  | Best Bitch  | Shortlisted  | [14]
2013  | Inside Soap Awards  | Best Actress  | Nominated  | [15]
2014  | 19th National Television Awards | Serial Drama Performance  | Nominated  | [16]
2014  | Inside Soap Awards  | Best Actress  | Nominated  | [17]
2015  | 20th National Television Awards | Serial Drama Performance  | Nominated  | [18]
2016  | 21st National Television Awards | Serial Drama Performance  | Nominated  | [19]
2016  | The British Soap Awards  | Best Actress | Nominated  | [20]
2016  | TV Choice Awards  | Best Soap Actress  | Shortlisted  | [21]
2016  | Inside Soap Awards  | Best Actress  | Shortlisted  | [22]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Paula Lane". Unit One Entertainment. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
2. ^ Atkinson, Neil (24 September 2014). "Former Huddersfield student Paula Lane at centre of dramatic Coronation Street drugs storyline". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
3. ^ "Caring side of soap girl from Hebden Bridge". Yorkshire Post. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
4. ^ Spackman, Maisie (21 November 2023). "Coronation Street icon Paula Lane joins Emmerdale cast as major new character". Metro. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
5. ^ "Paula Lane CV". United Agents. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
6. ^ "Kinky Boots UK Tour | Casting Announced for the UK T..." www.kinkybootsthemusical.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018.
7. ^ "Pictured: Coronation Street stars turn out to see Paula Lane marry her childhood sweetheart". mirror.co.uk. 17 May 2014.
8. ^ Wightman, Catriona (21 September 2010). "National Television Awards 2011 - Nominees". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
9. ^ "In Full: All About Soap Bubble winners". Digital Spy. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
10. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 March 2011). "British Soap Awards 2011 voting opens". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
11. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (14 May 2011). "British Soap Awards 2011: The Winners". Digital Spy.
12. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (13 September 2011). "'EastEnders' triumphs at TV Choice Awards". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
13. ^ Millar, Paul (26 September 2011). "Inside Soap Awards 2011: The full winners list". Digital Spy.
14. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (17 September 2012). "'Coronation Street' leads Inside Soap Awards 2012 shortlist". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
15. ^ Dainty, Sophie (22 July 2013). "Inside Soap Awards 2013 - longlist nominees in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
16. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (17 September 2013). "Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks stars up for NTAs - full list". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
17. ^ Dainty, Sophie (29 July 2014). "Inside Soap Awards 2014 longlist revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
18. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (14 October 2014). "National Television Awards 2015 - Which soap stars made the long list?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
19. ^ "National Television Awards 2016: Voting now open!". ITV. 6 October 2015.
20. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (4 April 2016). "British Soap Awards 2016 nominations: Which Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars are up?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
21. ^ "TV Choice Awards 2016". ITV. 27 June 2016.
22. ^ Lindsay, Duncan (26 September 2016). "Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale: Inside Soap Awards shortlist is revealed". Metro. Retrieved 4 October 2016.

## External links[edit]

* Paula Lane at IMDb

*[m.]: married
*[Ref.]: Reference