Carla Connor
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| Carla Connor | |||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||
| File:Carla+wedding.jpg | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Alison King | ||||||||
| First appearance | 1 December 2006 | ||||||||
| Created by | Steve Frost | ||||||||
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Carla Connor is a fictional character in the popular British ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street. She is played by Alison King.[1]
Background & Character Development
Carla's mother was a drug dealer, who sold drugs from a pram on an estate, and her brother, only known as Darren, is serving eight years in Strangeways prison for armed robbery.[2]
Carla made her first appearance on 1 December, 2006, at a Christmas party at her husband, Paul Connor's, factory. She arrived with a bottle of champagne in each hand immediately asserting her presence amongst the factory girls.
Storylines
Carla was furious to discover that her husband had spent all the money she needed to start her children's clothing business. She manipulated factory workers Kelly Crabtree and Joanne Jackson into working weekends, early mornings and late nights in order to raise money for her business; however, Kelly and Joanne eventually refused to continue working for Carla as they became isolated from their friends.
On 16 April 2007, after an illegal night shift making clothes for Carla's business, Polish worker Kasia tripped and fell down the stairs of the factory, killing her instantly. The only people present were Carla and Wiki. Instead of phoning for an ambulance, Carla contacted husband Paul, who came over and sent Wiki home, assuring her that matters would be taken care of. Paul then devised a plan to avoid Carla's illegal night shifts from being discovered. They would wait until 8 a.m., then clock Kasia in for work, so that they could say she came in early to help Paul, and then fell to her death.
Carla became close friends with brother-in-law Liam's girlfriend Leanne Battersby and the pair went into business together. However, their friendship was destroyed after Carla discovered that Leanne was secretly a prostitute, and that Paul was one of Leanne's clients. She vowed to divorce Paul, who blamed Leanne for wrecking his marriage, and he took revenge by kidnapping her in the boot of his car. However, Paul was distracted on the journey and the car was hit by a truck at a junction. Paul subsequently died in hospital although Leanne survived. Carla then backed out of the business relationship with Leanne and told her she wouldn’t be investing in her Italian restaurant. Carla subsequently inherited Paul's 60% share of Underworld, causing friction with Liam.
Carla overcame Paul's death very quickly and started dating Tony Gordon in September 2007. This move by Carla made Liam think about how he truly felt about her. During the middle of an argument, Liam and Carla kissed, although she denied having feelings for him, they were both left confused. Carla tried to stop Liam from marrying Maria Sutherland the night before their wedding, kissing Liam in a bid to steal him from her. It did not work, leaving Carla devastated. She turned up at Liam and Maria's wedding, upsetting Maria. Maria finally stood up to her and slapped her in the toilets. A forlorn Carla then left the reception in the back of a cab.
Carla and Tony broke up briefly as Carla believed herself to be in love with Liam; however on 17 March 2008, Tony proposed to Carla, and she accepted. However, in May that year, Carla supported Liam through the stillbirth of his and Maria's son, and the two finally slept together. On 16 June 2008, Carla blackmailed Liam into selling his share of the factory by threatening to tell of her and Liam's one-night stand.
In September that year, she and Liam went back into business, with Tom, but they both agreed to keep it quiet from their partners.
Late that month, Rosie tried to seduce Tony after becoming convinced that Tony was making a pass on her, and this eventually led to Carla and Liam's affair being revealed to Tony, who seeks revenge on Liam eventually leading to Liam's death.
Temporary departure
Carla will exit the soap at Christmas whilst actress Alison King is on maternity leave but it has not yet been confimed if she will return.[3]