ITV Emmerdale Kim Tate star's real-life health battles - including 'invisible disease'

Claire King has been on television for nearly 40 years after landing her first acting role in 1987 appearing in film Eat the Rich after gaining recognition as part of the pop group To Be Continued.

However, the soap icon is most famous for playing Emmerdale baddie Kim Tate, arriving in the Dales in 1989. She played the role for 10 years before departing for other job opportunities including roles on Bad Girls and Coronation Street.

Claire made a triumphant return to the Dales in 2018 and has been at the heart of the drama ever since. Claire also once found love on set with co-star Peter Amory, who portrayed Chris Tate on the show.

The pair got hitched in 1994 and were together for a decade. Their marriage, however, ended abruptly when it was alleged that Peter had been unfaithful with fellow Emmerdale star Samantha Giles, who played Bernice Blackstock.

"I had a feeling that something was going on," she told the Mirror in 2005. "I was working in London and we were spending less and less time together. I was travelling back to Yorkshire every weekend. I remember Pete saying that I only came back to see my dogs and horses... and I thought: 'Well, yeah, and to catch you at it!'.

"But then it was Samantha's husband who wrote me a letter and told me. That was about four years ago. I questioned Pete and he admitted it had been going on for a while. He told me it was over but then it started again. "

Despite the heartbreak, Claire found love again and is now happily married. Her husband prefers to stay away from the limelight, and she is a stepmother to his two teenage children.

Opening-up about family life during an interview with OK!, Claire said: "My ex-husband Pete had a son, so luckily I’d already had the experience of