EMMERDALE star Kelli Hollis is returning to acting with a huge new job – three years after moving to Thailand to sell cannabis.
The actress, 49, played Ali Spencer for four years in the ITV soap before turning her back on fame in 2020.
She took a break from acting and went travelling before settling in Thailand and opened a bar selling the drug.
However now The Sun can exclusively reveal she is joining rival soap Coronation Street for her big comeback role.
She will play the Queen Bee of Weatherfield’s women’s prison as Debbie Webster, played by Sue Devaney, 58, is jailed for causing the horrific multi-car pile-up in Corriedale.
A source said: “Corrie bosses wanted someone who could really make an impact and knew Kelli would be perfect for the guest role.
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“She’s been away from Emmerdale for over a decade now, so the soap fans are going to love seeing her back on our screens.
“Although her character is going to leave them shocked because she is not very nice at all and is set to make Debbie’s life hell.”
Her first scenes will air later this month for her guest stint.
Kelli played Ali Spencer in Emmerdale for four years and left the village in 2015.
Her character was killed off in 2018 in a car accident that happened off-screen leaving her no way back.
She also played Yvonne Karib in Channel 4’s Shameless for six years.
In 2023 she stunned fans after revealing she had moved to Thailand to sell cannabis.
Taking advantage of the changes in the law to legalise the drug’s use for recreational reasons, she opened her bar – revealing the news to fans on TikTok.
In her posts, she said: “Came for 4 months, now run a weed bar.”
Pictures of her bar show hoardings advertising “marijuana”, “hash”, “joints” and “brownies”.
Thailand is one of the few countries in Asia to have legalised the substance for personal use.
Cannabis dispensaries and so-called ‘weed bars’ are now regular sights in Thailand with over 8,000 licenses thought to have been handed out to sell the product.
However last year the Thai government tightened up the laws and Kelli opted to shut her bar and return home where she has no resumed her acting career.