Former Coronation Street star Paula Wilcox has opened up about a “terribly upsetting” struggle that has been “close to home” for her and her family.
Ms Wilcox, 76, left the ITV soap in 2023 after making her debut as Elaine Jones in 2020 as part of the harrowing abuse plot by Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew).
Elaine was a previous wife of his who had suffered at his hands and arrived on the cobbles during his horrific abuse of Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King).
Ms Wilcox had also featured in the soap in 1969 as Janice, the sister of Ray Langton (Neville Buswell).
Paula Wilcox starred as Elaine in Coronation Street from 2020 to 2023
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ITV
The actress is now prompting her role in new Channel 5 thriller, The Fortune, and opened up on a difficult part of the show she had a personal connection to.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show on Wednesday, she detailed the “awful” struggle she had endured.
The thriller follows Amanda (Eleanor Tomlinson), who is shocked to receive a substantial inheritance from a stranger.
Ms Wilcox stars as Amanda’s mother, who is living with dementia.
Paula Wilcox opened up about her role in new Channel 5 thriller, The Fortune
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ITV
The plot resonated with Ms Wilcox, whose mother went through the condition herself.
“It’s terribly upsetting,” the actress told Ms Kelly, who responded: “It’s a horrible, cruel disease.
“You were saying you maybe couldn’t have done this a wee while ago when it was still so raw, because it’s close to home, right?”
“It is quite close to home,” Ms Wilcox confirmed, adding: “So it was quite painful to think about it for quite a while.
Paula Wilcox’s Coronation Street character played a major role in the Geoff abuse plot
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ITV
“People change so much, you don’t really know what’s going on.
“This was interesting, because of the in and out nature of [her character’s] dementia – you so want her to be able to explain what she knows, and she does, she starts to, and suddenly you’ve lost her again, and she’s looking out into the garden and thinking about trees. That’s exactly my experience with my mum.”
The Scottish presenter replied: “It’s a very accurate portrayal of that disease, it really is.
“Maybe [it will] give people a better understanding of it as well while they’re watching this. Gosh, it’s very intriguing.”
The actress went on: “It’s very difficult to talk about without giving too much away, because there’s lots and lots of twists and turns around the way, obviously.”
The Fortune sees Amanda’s world turned upside down by the inheritance she receives, and draws her into the secretive world of the Worrall family.
Her journey sees her piecing together bits of the past, with everything she had believed to be true crumbling around her.