Claire doesn't mince her words when it comes to describing her new screen character Wing Governor Karen Betts: "Firm but fair, a strong woman who knows her own mind and knows how to treat people. Someone you would want on your side, as she will always deliver on the job and plays by the book".

"She's a real good egg. I usually seem to always be playing bitches or vamps so this is great!"

Coming into Bad Girls was very exciting for Claire but "It's always nerve wracking being the new girl on the block. But on this series there are no egos and everyone is working together, towards the same goal".

Claire has worked hard on "Trying to develop her new character, who's been married before and has a son at University. It's a first to have a teenager (I've had a baby before in Emmerdale) but to suddenly have a nineteen year old is a little upsetting!"

Karen Betts arrives at HMP Larkhall to discover that she will be working with Senior Prison Officer Jim Fenner with whom she had a fling with four years before. "On the whole, the prisoners like Karen when she takes over as the Wing Governor, because she is a fair person. She's worked her way up through the ranks, having 'trod the landings'. She's had a bit of a fast promotion as Simon Stubberfield sees her as his protégé. Jim Fenner certainly has his nose put out of joint when he is passed over".