Coronation Street bosses didn't realise Rebecca and Jack James Ryan were siblings

Rebecca Ryan says “nobody at 'Coronation Street' had any idea” that Jack James Ryan is her brother.

The 30-year-old actress - who has played Lydia Chambers on the ITV soap since December - called working with her 25-year-old sibling on the show “a dream come true", and she is adamant that it's “a total coincidence”.

Rebecca told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Nobody at 'Coronation Street' had any idea. 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 soap star believes her bond with Jack - who plays drug dealer Jacob Hay on the cobbles - has been close since they were youngsters, but it increased when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer five years ago.

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Rebecca said: “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. I was there for him through all his hospital appointments, but I felt so helpless.”

Jack - who wrote the show ‘Me and My Left Ball’ about the ordeal - was at drama school when he received the news, which Rebecca felt like "it wasn’t real”.

She said: “I’m a very emotional person. I cry over adverts, I cry when I’m happy, when I’m sad and when I’m hungry, but this was weird. I did cry, but at the same time it felt like it wasn’t real.”