Karen Blick

Karen Louise Blick (born 25 October 1974) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Lydia Hart in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale since 2016.

Karen Blick
Blick in 2019
Born	Karen Louise Blick (1974-10-25) 25 October 1974 (age 50) Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2006–present
Television	Emmerdale
Spouse	Simon ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	2

Life and career

Karen Louise Blick was born on 25 October 1974 in Leeds, West Yorkshire.^[1][2] She began her acting career in 2006, portraying a teacher in the Channel 4 comedy series No Angels and appeared in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as a nurse at an abortion clinic attended by Viv Hope (Deena Payne).^[3] The following year, after struggling find acting work in what Blick described as a "precarious business", she trained as a teacher and began teaching drama at secondary schools, before working at her old sixth form college in Halifax.^[4] Blick said she did not initially disclose her career as an actress, not wanting to be seen as "deluded".^[5] In 2011, Blick married her husband Simon, having been together 15 years. They have a son and a daughter.^[6][7]

In 2015, she appeared as Sandra in the comedy series Nomads.^[8] In 2016, Blick joined the cast of Emmerdale as Lydia Hart, who first appeared as the leader of a bereavement support group that Jimmy King (Nick Miles) attends by mistake. Her character's storylines on the show have since included the discovery of her past as someone who gave birth to a stillborn baby that she buried, her marriage to Sam Dingle (James Hooton), being diagnosed with Huntington's disease and being the victim of rape by Craig Reed (Ben Addis).^[9][10] Blick has made appearances on Big Star's Little Star alongside her daughter Ruby, Good Evening Britain, Lorraine, Loose Women and The Big Quiz. She also appeared in the short film Treasure in 2022.^[11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	No Angels	Teacher	Guest role	[12]
2006	Emmerdale	Nurse	Guest role	[13]
2015	Nomads	Sandra	Guest role	[14]
2016–present	Emmerdale	Lydia Hart	Regular role	[15]
2018	Good Evening Britain	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[16]
2018	Big Star's Little Star	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[17]
2019	Lorraine	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[11]
2019	Loose Women	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[11]
2020	The Big Quiz	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[18]
2022	Jeremy Vine	Herself	Guest; 1 episode	[11]
2022	Treasure	Alice's Mum	Short film	[11]