Kelli Hollis is best known for being a regular in the Yorkshire Dales as Ali Spencer but she now runs her own self-styled weed bar in Thailand. But she is temporarily back in the UK - and things have not been straight forward
19:00, 27 Dec 2024Updated 19:14, 27 Dec 2024
One of Emmerdale’s most popular former characters jokingly revealed she “hates” living in England.
Kelli Hollis, who played Ali Spencer on the soap, is temporarily back in the UK after returning from her weed bar in Thailand.
The former Shameless star has 123,000 followers on TikTok and the bubbly ex-actress enjoys keeping her fans entertained.
And in a recent explicit rant, the Leeds native spoke of her frustration at being in the country once more.
She said: “I hate living in England. I hate it. Since I have been back, it is now just one f*cking thing after another. Banks, new sim cards, going round the houses with new PayPal accounts, f****** this, this and this.
“Not having a UK number to bloody register anything. Oh my god, last night and this morning has just been chaos. It is like 2pm, I should have been on the road at 10-o’clock this morning.”
One person replied: “Same. It’s completely rubbish. I swear it’s this country. I need out.”
Another said: “You are so down to earth gotta love ya.”
A fan added: “I’m going to Thailand next year for a holiday here it’s just work pay bills work pay bills.”
And one follower joked that it was “odd” seeing Kelli in winter clothes and she replied: “It feels suffocating.”
Asked why she was no longer on the TV, she answered: “Been living in Thailand.”
Ditching Dales
Kelli runs her La Choza Pratumnak bar in Pattaya with her partner Martin, where smoking cannabis for personal use was decriminalised two years ago.
Despite now living a completely different life, she is still best known for being in Emmerdale from 2011 until 2015, where Kelli played the mum of Sean and Amelia.
She also featured in Shameless and her Thailand adventure happened by “total accident” after her partner was offered a job with a car company in Bangkok.
They did some travelling and met someone who had just got a licence for selling weed before the actress took a leap of faith.
Many of her customers are older expats and many have recognised her from the show and she said her lifestyle is a complete contrast to “wet and miserable” Britain.
Speaking to us from her new home in Thailand earlier this year, she said: “I am never coming home, never going home. 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.
“You just have to do what you have to do because you are not promised tomorrow are you? My mentality now is I am nearly 50 f*ck it will just do it. There is no point having that ‘oh god I can’t do this and I can’t do that’ attitude. I have been so fortunate in my life that opportunities have come my way.”
English (US) ·