Corrie’s Rebecca Ryan looks unrecognisable in Emmerdale role, 14 years after soap appearance

REBECCA Ryan has wreaked a lot of havoc on the cobbles since her first appearance as Lydia Chambers.

But while viewers will remember her Coronation Street role, many seem to forget the actress also appeared in Emmerdale.

Rebecca Ryan starred as Lydia Chambers in Coronation StreetShe has been known for her role in Shameless

Lydia first arrived in the Street as the PA of an Underworld client on December 10, 2021, before befriending Sarah Barlow (Tina O’Brien).

At first glance, the budding friendship seemed promising when both women bonded over raising their respective children, Finn and Harry.

However, Sarah and Lydia soon joined the long list of friends that were torn by love when it became clear the newcomer had a romantic past with Sarah’s husband Adam.

Slowly but surely, Lydia showed her true colours and left the cobbles a disgraced villain after making the couple’s life a nightmare.

But before settling into Weatherfield – and becoming a hated character among Corrie fans – actress Rebecca Ryan took a trip to the Dales.

Rebecca has some impressive TV credits to her name including Shameless (2004-2009), Waterloo Road, Holby City and Casualty.

Yet her appearance in Yorkshire-based programme Emmerdale remains overlooked.

After a brief appearance in Holby City, Rebecca had a small stint in the long-running ITV soap as Carly Hope in February, 2006, years before Gemma Atkinson reprised the role in 2015.

Rebecca was seen as Carly while her character attended her father Bob’s remarriage to Viv Hope.

As Emmerdale fans may know, Carly had a complicated relationship with her father and didn’t have much contact with him during her childhood as her mother Barbara stopped her and her older brother Josh developing a strong bond with him.

During her on-screen father’s wedding, Carly was seen exchanging numbers with Darren Eden, with whom she briefly kept in touch by text message.

Rebecca was a 15-year-old teenager when she appeared in Emmerdale and while some of her fans may recognise her, she still looks drastically different.

Following her stint in Emmerdale, and as mentioned above, Rebecca went on to appear in Waterloo Road as Vicki MacDonald until 2011.

She then took on the role of Gemma Dean in medical drama Casualty from 2017 to 2019.

Rebecca left Coronation Street in March, 2022, after she admitted to Sarah she had lied about having an affair with Adam.

But which soap could she be turning to next?

Rebecca Ryan had a brief stint in the Yorkshire-based soap as Carly Hope in 2006

She has also appeared in a number of soaps throughout her career including Casualty and Waterloo Road