Emmerdale’s Kelli Hollis has shared a video from the set of rival soap Coronation Street, two years after leaving the acting industry. Kelli, 49, first joined Emmerdale in 2002 as Melanie Say, appearing in just a few episodes.

She later returned for one episode in 2005 before returning in 2011 to play Ali Spencer. After leaving the soap in 2015, Kelli took on a few small roles before leaving the UK to begin a cannabis business in Thailand – where marijuana is now legal.

Now, Kelli has broken her silence since her return to acting was revealed. The soap star shared a video of herself on the Coronation Street set, confirming that she’ll be playing an inmate at the prison where Debbie Webster is serving time.

Telling her TikTok followers that it was “so weird” to be filming, she said: “Now I know how people felt when they used to come up to Emmerdale.

“The bloody Rovers! I’m filming just around the corner… bit of Rovers, f**king hell!”

She also admitted that she’s a “little bit nervous” to start the job, while in another clip, she showed off her new dressing room. “Why do I get all the glamourous jobs? Actually looks a lot worse than it does on camera.

“So far I’ve bumped into about five people I know, which is always really nice, especially when you walk onto a new job. Especially when they work in make-up!”

Kelli is set to reunite with her Shameless co-star Aaron McCusker, who plays the roles of Ben Driscoll on the cobbles. She also described old co-star Jane Hazlegrove as “one of the funniest women” she had ever met.

The 49-year-old actress left Emmerdale back in 2015, after her character Ali died in a car crash while driving to work. Ali left behind kids Sean and Amelia, with Amelia staying in the village.

After Emmerdale, Kelli took on roles in Casualty, TV series Clink, Doctors, Sky’s Wolfe and Channel 4 drama Ackley Bridge. She quit showbusiness in 2023 to head to Thailand, where she set up her own ‘weed bar’.

Speaking to the Daily Star last year, she revealed that she ran the business in Pattaya with her partner Martin. “I am never coming home, never going home,” she said at the time. “Obviously I miss England and there are aspects of my life there like I have two grown up children at home and a grandson.

“But you only live once and I have learned that a lot over the last few years, losing friends to things and my friend losing a child and it just makes you access a lot of things in your life.”