The spotlight can be blinding—especially when the shadows behind you hold secrets darker than the public could ever imagine.

Kelly Hollis, a name once warmly recognized from British living rooms as Ali Spencer on ITV’s Emmerdale, is finally telling a story she’s carried in silence. The story of a man she once adored—a man the world would later label a drug kingpin.

For years, Kelly wore the mask of normalcy with elegance. From 2011 to 2015, she delivered gripping performances on-screen, her face etched into the hearts of viewers across the country. But away from the cameras, she bore a truth few could fathom. Now, at 49, she’s pulled back the curtain in an emotional, exclusive interview with the Manchester Evening News—one that would send ripples across the media world.

“I always knew,” she said softly but firmly.

Behind her calm voice lies the storm of a childhood shaped by a father whose world operated outside the bounds of the law. Gwyn Thomas Hollis—once her hero—had lived a double life. Known to authorities as a drug trafficker, sentenced to a staggering 17 years behind bars. Known to Kelly… simply as Dad.

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Growing up in Beeston, Leeds—a place where grit and hardship walk hand in hand—Kelly’s early life mirrored something out of Shameless. Council estates, tough love, and the daily dance between survival and scandal. Yet, despite the chaos, she remembers her dad as the center of her universe.

“My dad was my world,” she admitted, the weight of that sentiment echoing through every syllable. “We haven’t spoken in almost ten years, but that’s just family stuff… not because he’s in prison.”

It’s not shame she carries. It’s sorrow. It’s complexity. Love, twisted with truth.

Gwyn and Kelly’s mother separated when she was just three. But even as a single father, Gwyn remained a strong presence in her life. Charismatic, confident, and larger than life—he was the kind of man people noticed when he walked into a room. The kind of man other people didn’t question. But as Kelly grew older, she began to sense something wasn’t right.

There were whispers. Looks. Quiet acknowledgments in the pub where she worked, where secrets were shared more freely than drinks. Even as a teenager, the puzzle pieces had begun to fall into place.

“There was just something about him,” she recalled. “His persona. The way people acted around him… I had suspicions.” She paused, then laughed lightly—not out of humor, but familiarity. “I didn’t think, ‘Oh my God, my dad is a drug dealer.’ It wasn’t like that. You only know what you know, growing up.”

She never claimed to condone his choices. Never excused his actions. But she understood the world he came from—and how easy it was to be swallowed by it.

Still, Gwyn had a surprising side. He was supportive—especially when Kelly made the unexpected leap into acting. That world had come calling without warning, and he never once tried to drag her back down.

“In fact,” she said, “he always encouraged me to stay away from the life he had lived.”

In a twist no screenwriter could dream up, both father and daughter even shared the stage—literally. Gwyn dabbled in acting too, appearing alongside Kelly in several projects, including the BAFTA-nominated Tanner’s Shopping. The irony wasn’t lost on her: the career criminal playing characters in dramas that sometimes mirrored the life he actually lived.

But Gwyn, despite his talent, recognized the line he couldn’t cross.

“He told me, ‘I can’t be on the back of your coattails. I can’t risk your career because of what I’m doing,’” Kelly revealed.

That moment, that admission—it was the beginning of a quiet distance between them. And while the love lingered, reality loomed ever closer.

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When Gwyn was finally sentenced—17 years behind bars for supplying Class A drugs—Kelly’s private truth became a public spectacle. Paparazzi flashbulbs couldn’t light up the darkness that came with having a loved one shamed so publicly.

Still, she stood firm.

This wasn’t a revelation. It was confirmation.

“I’ve always known all my life what he does,” she said plainly.

But for years, Kelly refused to let that knowledge define her. Despite taunts on social media, despite attempts to unearth her family’s history, she remained silent. Until now.

In this rare, emotional unveiling, she’s not seeking sympathy. She’s not defending him. She’s simply reclaiming her story—and doing it on her terms.

“He’s not part of my life anymore,” she said. “But he is still my dad. I loved him with all my heart.”

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There’s something undeniably human about Kelly’s story—about holding love and truth in the same trembling hands. It’s a story of pain, yes—but also of resilience, of carving a path through the wreckage of choices she didn’t make but still had to carry.

Now, as she steps forward into this next chapter, Kelly isn’t hiding anymore.

She’s not just the actress who played Ali Spencer.

She’s the woman who faced the harshest truths, stayed on her feet, and kept walking.

Because sometimes, the bravest thing a person can do… is tell the truth they’ve always known.