CORONATION Street star Rebecca Ryan has revealed that bosses had no idea her brother was on the soap when they cast her for the role of Lydia Chambers.
The former Shameless actress, 30, who has also starred in Waterloo Road, joined her sibling Jack James Ryan, who plays drug dealer Jacob Hay in Weatherfield back in December.
ITV viewers have seen Lydia try to destroy Adam Barlow’s life in recent months, including faking an affair to destroy his marriage, made complaints to harm his career and set him up for fake criminal charges.
Lydia finally revealed what Adam did to her to spark her revenge scheme – leading to a heated confrontation and her pushing him off a balcony on Monday’s episode.
The actress, who has is set to leave the soap after four months, revealed the cast and crew had “no idea” Jack, 25, was her brother when she got the role of bunny boiler Lydia.
“Nobody at Coronation Street had any idea,” she told the Mirror.
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“When I joined, I’d be talking to people and say, ‘Oh, yeah, my brother works here’. And they’d go, ‘Really, who’s your brother? What? Jack!’.
“It’s a dream come true to be working on the show at the same time, but it’s a total coincidence.”
The sibling duo have shared snaps on social media showing their close bond – with Rebecca, 30, saying that she feels very “protective” over her younger brother.
Rebecca added: “It definitely brought us closer together.
“I would die for my brother. We’re best friends and it’s been like that ever since we were kids.”
“We talk on the phone at least once a day and I feel so protective towards him.
Rebecca’s character has been causing destruction ever since she stepped onto the famous cobbles.
Earlier this week she revealed Adam’s cruel behaviour during their relationship.
“Three times you cheated on me and they’re just the times I know about,” she said.
“All this fuss – it’s called being human. Admitting you’ve been hurt is hard – but it’s even harder when you fall in love with a narcissist.
“I’ve seen the way you are with Harry – you’re brilliant with him. When you shine your light on someone it’s like there’s no-one else in the universe.”
But when Adam called what they had a fling – she told him the entire horrifying truth.
“You were my first love, my first lover,” she said.
“And you were chuffed about that. I let my guard down, showed you the real me and I thought you were doing the same.
“But overnight you were gone – total amnesia. I want you to own what you did.
“’If you had any sense, you’d get rid of it’ – that’s the last thing you said to me. A scared, 19 year old girl who thought she was pregnant with your child.
She raged at him for how he reacted to her when they ran into each other – and he promised that he got it.
But when he demanded that she tell Sarah the truth, Lydia was furious.
She went to storm off but he tried to grab her and she violently pushed him off – and sent him flying over a balcony railing.
Horrified she left him for dead and rushed off but fans were devastated for her and what Adam did.
One wrote: “Oh no Adam!”
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A second said: “I didn’t expect that!!”
Another added: “OOOOOOOOOOOOH! Lydia what have you done?”
