Alison King: From Surf Shacks to Soap Stardom

Alison King has become synonymous with the role of Carla Connor on ITV‘s “Coronation Street,” a position she has held since joining the beloved British soap in 2006. Over her 18-year tenure on the cobbled streets of Weatherfield, King has been at the center of numerous impactful and sometimes controversial storylines, ranging from personal battles with alcoholism to being a kidnapping victim, and even a suspect in a murder case.

“Coronation Street” viewers have recently seen her character Carla involved in a budding romance with DS Lisa Swain, played by Vicky Myers. Off the screen, however, Alison King’s life is remarkably less dramatic. The actress was born in Leicester and at 18, she moved to Newquay, where she worked in a surf shack, indulging her passion for surfing. Prior to her acting career, she spent four years as a dental nurse before enrolling at the North Cheshire Theatre School.

King’s early forays into television included modeling during the late 1990s, becoming recognized as the face of Boddingtons beer and featuring in Daz advertisement campaigns. Her debut in the soap opera world came with a brief stint in “Brookside,” which returned to television in 2023 following a 20-year hiatus. She played a minor role as a hair salon stylist in the Channel 4 soap.

Beyond “Coronation Street,” King is well-known for her portrayal of Lynda Block in the Sky One series “Dream Team,” during which she began a relationship with co-star Jim Alexander. Back in 2004, she made an appearance on “Coronation Street” as a one-time character named Mrs. Fanshaw but impressed the show’s executives enough to be later cast as Carla Connor.

In her personal life, King was previously engaged to Adam Huckett, a sound technician on “Coronation Street,” with whom she shares a daughter named Daisy. The couple ended their relationship in 2012. King later dated Philip Middlemiss, her co-star who played Des Barnes, for five years.

In November 2018, King was photographed with a new partner, IT consultant David Stuckley, and the couple announced their engagement in 2019 via OK! magazine. However, by May 2022, they had reportedly ended their relationship after “growing apart” during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Alison King has also been candid about her experiences with cosmetic dentistry, having undergone corrective procedures during her early years as a drama student. In a 2015 interview with dentistry.co.uk, she described her childhood thumb-sucking habit which had affected the alignment of her teeth, leading her to seek further aesthetic improvements.