paula carp is the mother of established character julie carp (katy cavanagh). she first appears on 27 february 2009, having a drink with her daughter and meeting old friend eileen grimshaw (sue cleaver) for the first time in years. she surprises eileen by revealing that she gave birth to julie when she was only fifteen. paula and eileen meet several times at eileen's house but paula leaves quickly on one occasion when colin (edward de souza), eileen's father, enters as she feels awkward around him.