CORO STAR’S NEW LIFE
HER ON-SCREEN LIFE IS MESSY BUT OFF SCREEN IT’S PERFECT
Tina’s in a happy place
Her Coronation Street character Sarah Platt has been through a lot in the past couple of decades. There’s the teenage pregnancy, finding out her partner was gay and losing a premature baby.
Now she’s discovered she is unexpectedly pregnant again, this time to a drug dealer who has been killed and his body hidden underneath her house.
So in comparison, Tina O’Brien’s life in recent years seems relatively tame. Still, there’s been plenty of drama. She had a passionate romance with a colleague that led to her having a baby and then being unceremoniously dumped; she had to work alongside the guy who ditched her when she returned to Coro after an eight-year break; and her new relationship is with a man who has ended up becoming great mates with her ex.
Tina (33) acknowledges it is unusual but everything works well. “It took a while to find a way to make it work, but now it does – really well, in fact.”
Tina’s romance with co-star Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw) made headlines when they started dating in 2003, four years after she joined Coro at 16 to play 12-year-old Sarah Platt.
They were a couple onscreen too, and their characters had a rocky relationship – Jason jilted Sarah at the altar before eventually marrying her, then walked out on her when she planted drugs on her brother.
In real life, they fought a lot, but that just seemed to be a normal part of their relationship. Ryan supported Tina’s decision to leave Coro in 2007 to try new projects and the following year she gave birth to their daughter Scarlett (8). Despite their sometimes fiery rows, the pair seemed happy so it was a surprise when Ryan called off the romance when Scarlett was less than a year old.
Tina was heartbroken, especially when Ryan was quoted as saying she “just doesn’t do it for me any more”. Meanwhile, she was angry that he was “behaving like a Jack the Lad”, drinking with his mates and not taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood.
Tina, who had guest roles on the TV series Call the Midwife and a regular part in school drama Waterloo Road after leaving Coro, wasn’t looking for love when she met personal trainer Adam Crofts 18 months after breaking up with Ryan.
Her toddler daughter brought the two together in a coffee shop in Manchester in 2011.
“He was on his computer and Scarlett went over and said, ‘Hello man’,” recalls Tina. “He told us his name was Adam and we got talking.”
Their first date was spent watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. “I was nervous because I didn’t want to get involved with anyone,” admits Tina. “There were a couple of times when I thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t such a good idea and maybe I’m better off on my own.’”
But Adam (32) won her over, especially with the way he treated Scarlett. On his first visit to their home, he wasted no time in joining Scarlett in her playhouse. “He’s nearly 6ft but he climbed straight in and started playing. There was no awkwardness. That’s when I knew he was the one.”
The pair are engaged but
haven’t set a date yet. They have, however, had a baby together. Their son Beau was born in October 2014, just three months before Tina returned to Coronation Street to once again play Sarah.
Tina felt guilty about taking on a full-time job with a baby, but it has worked out well because she has been able to share his care with Adam, her mum and a nanny.
One thing she wasn’t worried about was working once again with Ryan (33), despite everything that had happened between them. “Ryan and I get on great, there were absolutely no issues. We obviously see each other a lot because we’ve got Scarlett together, so it really wasn’t weird.”
Tina says they didn’t solve their problems overnight, but got there in the end. “It’s taken a lot of years and a lot of biting my tongue. It helps that everyone has moved on and is in a happy place. For the sake of Scarlett, it has been well worth preserving our relationship.”
Not only do they get on well enough to have spent Christmas together, but Ryan has hired Adam to get him in shape.
The two often hang out together and there’s talk of a boys’ holiday, says Tina.
“A lot of it stems from Adam being so laid-back and brilliant. There have been times when
I’ve called Adam and said, ‘Oh, you’re with Ryan.’ Adam is one in a million.”