Coronation Street guest star Kel Allen has nabbed a new role as Kelly Neelan's mum Claire.

Viewers may remember the actress from her time as Lulu Lockett, manager of the strip club Tassels, where Bethany Platt was working for a little while.

Kel made five appearances as Lulu back in January 2018, eventually sacking Bethany after her mum Sarah, grandmother Gail, and great-grandma Audrey went snooping around the club.

Kel clearly made an impression on the Corrie casting department, as she'll debut as her new character Claire in next week's episodes, where Gary Windass will issue a big threat to her.

As it happens, Claire has been sneakily pocketing her daughter Kelly's school tuition fees provided by Gary (everyone thinks it's Rick Neelan paying them, who Gary killed last year).

This leaves Gary in a tricky spot, so he warns Claire that there'll be severe consequences if Rick was to find out she was keeping the money.

Terrified by this, she makes a swift exit – but something tells us we'll be seeing more of Claire in the near future...

If you think Kel's recasting might seem odd, this isn't the first time somebody's been given two separate roles in a soap.

For instance, EastEnders favourite Lorraine Stanley played Thelma Bragg across eight episodes back in 2016, before she was brought back as series regular Karen Taylor just a year later.


Digital Spy