Coronation Street actor Jack James Ryan has defended his co-star and sister Rebecca Ryan to ITV fans who “hate” her character Lydia.
Jack, 25, said he could relate to fans taking against villainous characters as he plays bad boy Jacob Hay, who recently had a dramatic punch-up with Steve McDonald after his secret relationship with Amy Barlow was revealed.
Jack’s older sister Rebecca, 30, joined the cobbles at the end of last year as Lydia Chambers, Adam Barlow’s ex-girlfriend from his university days.
Since arriving on the soaps, Lydia has sowed chaos in the Barlow marriage as she convinced Adam’s wife Sarah the former flames were having an affair.
Spurred on by some murky slight during their relationship at university, ITV spoilers have revealed that Lydia is now set to land Adam in even more hot water and get him arrested.
However, Rebecca’s brother Jack has taken to Instagram to defend his sister as he acknowledged he has learnt it is hard for Coronation Street fans to root for villains.
In a Q&A session on the social media platform on Tuesday, a fan asked Jack what it is like to work with his sister and he told fans it was “an absolute dream” in a story shared with his 13,000 followers.
He wrote: “We're super close outside of work so it's just like getting to work with your best mate.”
He then added as a “side note” that he is enormously proud of his older sister, noting that she has been “killing it” on the soap.
He continued: “I know first hand how hard it is for the fans to get behind villains but she deserves all the love!!
“If you hate Lydia then you know Rebecca is doing an incredible job. She couldn't be any less like her character in real life, she is a literal angel.”
Another fan asked when he decided to pursue a career in acting, which he replied to with an adorable throwback snap of himself with Rebecca and brother Charlie as youngsters.
The actor wrote: “LOOK AT US!!! I've known I wanted to be an actor from a really young age. Both my brother and sister are actors and I grew up watching them on stage and screen and it was so inspiring.”
Jack added: “So, basically I just copied them,” as he tagged both Rebecca and Charlie.
Jack has previously spoken about sharing the Corrie soap set with his older sister in recent months and said the experience had been “incredible”.
“I'm incredibly biased, but I think she is a stunning actor, and I think she's going to make an impact,” he said. “I know she's going to make a great addition to the cast.”
