Nearly a decade after her dramatic departure from Coronation Street, actress Paula Lane, who famously portrayed Kylie Platt, has openly expressed her profound gratitude for her time on the iconic soap. Despite her initial “shock” and heartbreak at the decision to kill off her character, Lane recently reflected on the role as an “amazing chapter” of her career, acknowledging the significant opportunities it brought. This sentiment underscores the lasting impact Kylie Platt had not only on the show’s narrative but also on the actress herself.

Paula Lane joined the cast of Coronation Street in 2010 as Kylie Turner, making an immediate and controversial impression on the cobbles. Her character’s tumultuous introduction saw her sell her own son, Max, to her half-sister Becky McDonald (played by Katherine Kelly), a storyline that unfolded dramatically in the run-up to the programme’s 50th anniversary. This early plot established Kylie as a troubled, often reckless individual, but one with a hidden vulnerability that would gradually endear her to viewers.

Over the years, Kylie’s journey was marked by significant evolution. She famously tied the knot with David Platt (Jack P Shepherd), a relationship that quickly became one of the show’s most compelling and ultimately tragic. Initially, Kylie’s presence sparked conflict within the Platt household, especially with David’s mother, Gail (Helen Worth), who famously attempted to pay Kylie off to leave before the wedding. However, as time progressed, Kylie’s fierce loyalty and genuine love for David helped to mend these fractured relationships. In 2012, she demonstrated her growing maturity by helping Becky clear her name against damaging lies spread by Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford). The following year, she gave birth to her daughter, Lily, on the leopard-print sofa at number eight, a moment of domestic bliss shared with her family, albeit briefly overshadowed by a paternity dispute when it emerged Kylie had slept with David’s brother, Nick (Ben Price), before it was confirmed David was indeed Lily’s father.

However, Kylie’s past continued to haunt her, leading to one of the most gripping and dark storylines of her tenure. In 2014, Max’s biological father, Callum Logan (Sean Ward), arrived on the Street as a menacing drug dealer, drawing Kylie back into a dangerous world. The following year, in a shocking live episode marking ITV’s 60th anniversary, Kylie killed Callum during a confrontation in the Platt’s garage to protect Sarah Platt. The subsequent cover-up, involving David and Sarah burying Callum’s body beneath the Platt’s new granny flat, tormented the family for months. The secret eventually came to light, leading to severe psychological distress for Sarah and a period of intense scrutiny for the Platts. Despite managing to evade justice for Callum’s murder, Kylie’s redemption arc was ultimately cut short by another act of violence. Her story culminated in tragedy when she was fatally stabbed by Clayton Hibbs (Callum Harrison) in broad daylight while trying to defend her friend Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) outside the kebab shop. In one of Coronation Street’s most heart-wrenching scenes, she died in David’s arms just moments before the ambulance arrived, leaving David utterly devastated and viewers reeling.

Kylie’s death had a profound and lasting impact on David Platt, shaping his character and future storylines for years to come. In the immediate aftermath, David plunged into a deep spiral of grief and reckless behaviour. Consumed by rage and a thirst for revenge against Clayton, he embarked on a dangerous path, including a harrowing attempt to crash his car and kill himself and Clayton, which ultimately led to a horrific accident that injured others. Raising Max and Lily as a single father, while battling his own trauma, presented immense challenges. The weight of his loss, coupled with the pressure of protecting his children and maintaining the family secrets surrounding Callum’s death, transformed David into a more hardened yet fiercely protective individual.

It was amidst this turmoil that David met Shona Ramsay (Julia Goulding), a character whose connection to Kylie’s killer added another layer of extraordinary complexity to David’s life. Shona was, in fact, Clayton Hibbs’s mother. The journey for David to overcome this significant barrier, to forgive, and ultimately to fall in love with Shona, was a testament to his capacity for healing and his desire for a stable family life. Their relationship was fraught with challenges, including Shona’s own near-fatal brain injury after she was shot on Christmas Day, which resulted in memory loss and a temporary estrangement from David. Through it all, David’s unwavering commitment to Shona, even when she forgot who he was, demonstrated how much he had evolved since Kylie’s death, learning to cherish love and fight for his family.

Kylie’s children, Max and Lily, also continued to feature prominently in David’s life. Max, who had been at the centre of Kylie’s first major storyline, continued to experience difficulties, including an autism diagnosis and later, a deeply unsettling storyline involving his radicalisation by a far-right extremist group. David’s desperate attempts to pull Max back from the brink of extremism highlighted his ongoing struggles as a parent, grappling with the complexities of raising children who had experienced immense trauma and loss from a young age. The shadow of Kylie’s initial struggles with Max, and her ultimate absence, often felt like an unspoken factor in David’s parenting challenges. Lily, now played by Grace Ashcroft-Gardner, has grown up largely in the care of David and Shona, her young life forever shaped by the early loss of her mother.

For Paula Lane, the decision to leave Coronation Street and the subsequent choice to kill off Kylie was a complex one. She had left to give birth to her second child, Penny, and had initially hoped to return to the show, much as she had done after the birth of her first child, Arthur. However, producers at the time opted for a “clean exit.” During an appearance on the Soap from the Box podcast, Lane recounted her shock and heartbreak: “I felt very strongly that I wanted to go but I was kind of up for maybe having Penny and then coming back for a bit but I think they felt that muddied the water a little bit. They came to the conclusion that they wanted a clean exit… I don’t think it was across the board – the writers were very torn by all accounts with what they wanted to do. It was Stuart Blackburn, the producer at the time, who made the call and said ‘We’re gonna kill her off’. I was so shocked. I was heartbroken.” Lane acknowledged that while the decision was initially devastating, she understood the dramatic impact it would have, believing audiences would be “equally shocked.”

Since her departure from Coronation Street, Paula Lane has continued to build a diverse acting career. Prior to her iconic role as Kylie, she had made guest appearances in dramas such as “The Royal” and “Heartbeat.” Post-Coronation Street, she has appeared in “Call The Midwife” and took on the female lead of factory worker Lauren in a UK tour of the musical “Kinky Boots” in 2018. More recently, she had a regular role as Ella Forster on “Emmerdale,” where her character’s reign of terror concluded with her arrest after a showdown with her ex-boyfriend, Liam Cavanagh. Away from the screen, Paula is a mother to Arthur, 10, and Penny, 9, with husband Tom Shaw, and recently announced she is expecting her third child.

Despite the progression of her career and personal life, Kylie Platt remains an unforgettable character, and her tragic end a pivotal moment in Coronation Street’s history. Paula Lane’s recent reflection on her gratitude for the role serves as a poignant reminder of Kylie’s enduring legacy, not just as a fan-favourite character who brought both chaos and heart to the cobbles, but also as a catalyst for some of the most dramatic and emotionally resonant storylines that continue to shape the lives of characters like David Platt to this day.