Coronation Street actress Rebecca Ryan is currently front and centre of the show as manipulative Lydia Chambers, but it’s not the first time the actress has starred in an ITV soap.
Speaking exclusively to OK! Rebecca, 30, revealed she previously played Emmerdale character Bob Hope’s (Tony Audenshaw) daughter Carly.
Rebecca stepped into Carly’s shoes for a brief stint on the soap in 2001, and again in 2006, before the part was recast and went to former Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson.
Rebecca told us: “I was actually in Emmerdale years ago as Bob Hope’s daughter, and then Gemma Atkinson took over my part.”
Continuing to reminisce about her time in the Dales as a child actor, Rebecca continued to explain how she’d like to make an appearance on the Leeds based show again in the future.
She said: “I had an amazing time on the show so it would be great to go back.”
Elsewhere in our chat, Rebecca, who stars on Corrie alongside younger brother Jack James Ryan, also opened up about her rise to stardom.
Rebecca explained how her older brother Charlie, who is also an actor, is partly to thank for her acting career.
She explained: “I fell into acting – it wasn’t something that I said I wanted to do at ten years old.”
“My older brother Charlie, who has always wanted to do acting from a very young age, got a part in BBC drama State of Play.”
“They rang up to ask about him bringing some photos of his family to dress the set and they happened to mention that they hadn’t cast a little sister for him yet. He said, 'Well, I’ve got a little sister!'”
After Charlie mentioned Rebecca to TV bosses, they sent a cameraman to their hometown of Manchester to watch how the siblings would work together.
Former Casualty actress Rebecca continued: “I had a great day hanging out with my brother, it was like playing a game, and then I got the call to say I had the part.”
“That was my first ever TV role, but I was only ten years old, so I just thought that was the end and went back to school.”
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However, Rebecca's fortune went on to change forever when she was once again cast in a Paul Abbott drama, and she hasn’t looked back since.
The star, who at the time was competing as an Irish dancer said: “Paul Abbott got in touch and said he was writing a new show [Shameless] and asked me to audition for one of the parts.”
She concluded: “And then my life completely changed. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
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