It's been almost three years seen Paula Wilcox made a return to the cobbles a whopping 51 years after her first appearance in Coronation Street. In 2020 she made her first appearance on-screen as Elaine Jones, the mother of ITV soap favourite Tim Metcalfe.
Previously known as Philippa, Elaine had Tim in 1972 with her husband Geoff Metcalfe but she left a year later when his controlling and abusive behaviour left her frightened for her life. But decades later she found herself drawn back to her ex and came out of hiding when she read in the papers that Geoff had been assaulted by his current wife Yasmeen Nazir.
Assuming Yasmeen has suffered like she had, Elaine contacted her and later gave evidence against their abuser in court, helping to exonerate her after she was jailed for her assault on Geoff. Following Geoff's death, Elaine has since tried to make up for lost time with Tim, with spells living at 4 Coronation Street.
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But now, Elaine appears loved-up with Stephen Reid, not knowing he is a bogus businessman and serial killer having secretly claimed the lives of Leo Thompkins, his dad Teddy and more recently Underworldd client Rufus Donahue.
During Friday night's trip to the cobbles, Elaine was heard telling Tim and his wife Sally that she and Stephen will be moving into their apartment any day but Tim was left horrified to realise her intentions to marry him and he angrily tells Stephen that he’d prefer to die than let him marry his mum.
And next week, viewers will see Elaine agreeing to fly out to Vegas that afternoon to marry killer Stephen. Sally is shocked and breaks the news to Tim, so Tim offers to run Elaine and Stephen to the airport, making out that he accepts their marriage plans. Tim then lures Elaine into his taxi and, leaving Stephen on the doorstep, speeds away with his mum a hostage in the car. As Sally and Stephen watch in disbelief, Tim sets out to put a stop to his mum’s wedding.
But playing Elaine wasn't Paula's first stint in the long-running soap. In fact, she began her career on the cobbles back in 1969 when she played Tracy Barlow's aunt Janice who left home to move in with her brother Ray. However, just three weeks after her debut, she ran off with his money and exited the soap.
During an appearance on ITV's Lorraine back in 2020, Paula was shown a clip of her first stint in Weatherfield. She explained: "I was playing a runaway from Borstal and I showed up on the Street dead rough and I was rude to everyone. I was particularly rude to Elsiee Tanner, I... told her where to go."
She added: "And a friend of my mum’s who was a huge Corrie fan was like 'Oh I’m so glad you told that Elsie Tanner where to get off. She’s been getting above herself'. “It was like I wasn’t this girl she had known since I was eight."
Paula went on to enjoy decades in the spotlight having launched her successful career in her 20s when she starred as Chrissy Plummer in Man About The House in the 70s. She quickly became a household name and earned 'sex symbol' status.
The Manchester-born actress previously told Woman's Weekly magazine: "I definitely still get recognised from Man About the House. I get taxi drivers saying they used to be in love with me, and I say, 'What do you mean, used to be?'"
She added: "It's very flattering after all this time. It was a lovely programme and it's nice to be recognised for something that was dear to people's hearts. It's difficult to believe it nowadays, but it was quite cheeky for its time."
Paula then went on to star in other big TV shows including The Lovers, opposite the father of Kate Beckinsale - Richard Beckinsale. She was also in sitcom The Liver Birds and from 2007 to 2008 was Hilary Potts in Emmerdale. And she also starred in the spin-off prequel of Only Fools And Horses in 2011 as Del Boy's grandmother, Violet Trotter.
Away from work, Paula is happily married to Nelson "Skip" Riddle with the pair having tied the knot in 1991. And Skip has his own showbiz connections. The American businessman is the eldest son of the composer, bandleader and arranger Nelson Smock Riddle. Nelson worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland and Dean Martin.
Skip is Paula's second husband, after her first husband tragically died just 10 years into their marriage. She was married to fellow actor Derek Seaton from 1969 until his death in 1979. Derek was producing a play at the National Youth Theatre – and they were married a year later.
Derek died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of just 35 when Paula was just 29. Before his death, Derek Seaton had a very successful acting career of his own. He played Commander Hilred in the Doctor Who story The Deadly Assassin.
He too also made an appearance in Coronation Street in June 1975 where he played crooked salesman Les Buckley. His character was a smooth-talking salesman who conned Mavis Riley when she was left in charge of The Kabin for several days while Rita Littlewood was away visiting friends.
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