‘She's not a bad person!

Corrie star Rebecca Ryan on why we shouldn’t loathe Lydia

- ALISON SLADE

CORONATION STREET

MONDAY & FRIDAY / ITV / 8PM / SOAP

There’s a dangerous woman in Weatherfield, in the shape of Adam Barlow’s ex-girlfriend Lydia Chambers.

Thrown to have Adam back in her orbit, and hurt that the relationship she deems highly significant has been dismissed by him as fleeting and meaningless, she is now determined to make trouble and threatens to destroy everything the solicitor holds dear.

But Lydia isn’t your typical soap ‘bunny boiler’. In a story that Corrie boss Iain MacLeod describes as a modern take on 80s blockbuster Fatal Attraction, we’re set to learn a lot more about the PA’s past, which will shed new light on her behaviour.

We caught up with former Shameless and Waterloo Road star Rebecca Ryan, 30, to talk about Lydia’s grand plan and her colourful journey to the cobbles…

Lydia has been going to extraordinary lengths to ruin Adam’s life. Why?

It’s not premeditated at all. She genuinely came to Underworld as part of her job, she became friends with Sarah, and then she bumped into Adam and it all spiralled from there. He treated her very badly when they were together. Their relationship changed her life, but he hasn’t acknowledged it. If he’d just said, ‘I’m sorry,’ that’s all she would’ve needed.

Later in the story, you will see her reasons for doing what she does. She might take things too far, but I hope you feel for her. She’s not a bad person! She’s not out to ruin lives for the sake of it.