‘I was Emmerdale star who quit to sell weed – there’s only one way it becomes legal in UK’

A former Emmerdale star who quit the Dales to sell weed abroad believes cannabis will only become legal in the UK if the government can profit from it.

Kelli Hollis, 47, is famed for playing Ali Spencer on the soap but she now manages her own ‘weed bar’ in Thailand after it was decriminalised in the country two years ago.

She runs La Choza Pratumnak in Pattaya with her partner Martin and said she was loving life so much in South East Asia that she could never contemplate moving home.

Martin and Kelli cater for both expats and locals in their bar that happens to also sell weed (Image: Kelli Hollis)

Her first experience with the psychoactive drug came as a rebellious teenager in Beeston, Leeds, but despite now selling it for a living, she doesn’t actually like the feeling of getting high. She has also never been a hardcore smoker but she does have memories of blistered fingers and holes in her clothes growing up.

She also understands why some people are against cannabis and during an interview with Daily Star she spoke about the possibility of it becoming legal in the UK.

Kelli, who was in Emmerdale from 2011 until 2015, said: “I know they are testing medical cards for marijuana but I only know a small handful of people who have them.

“Up until recently England was the biggest producer of marijuana in the world. Can you actually believe that? I am not going to get political on here because it is not worth it. But they will only do it when they can make enough money out of it basically.”

She is living the high life in Thailand and tests edibles for her customers before going to bed and the grandmother promotes her business on TikTok where she has almost 133,000 followers.

And while she is all for people having the right to get stoned if they want – the former Shameless actress recognises both sides of the debate.

She said: “You are either very pro cannabis or you are not and I understand why some people are not. For instance I have a family member – a very young lad – who unfortunately has got cannabis induced psychosis.

“So I get why people are worried about the downsides to certain things but I think looking forward over the next few years… obviously in the states there are medical reasons and there is a lot of good from it. And the way Thailand is going is good for me because I would rather have rules and structures so we all know where we are.”

Kelli, who played the mum of Sean and Amelia Spencer on the iconic Dales farm, said she fell into her current job just like she fell into acting by chance. She found herself in Asia when Martin, who she was flat-sharing with in Leeds, was offered a job in Bangkok with a car company.

They travelled together before meeting someone who had just got a licence for selling weed – before she took a leap of faith by embracing a similar path.

And it is clear that the pub landlord has no regrets. She told us: “I am never coming home, never coming home. Obviously I miss England and there are aspects of my life there like I have two grown up children 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*** it 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.”