Coronation Street Lydia Chambers actress Rebecca Ryan's secret Emmerdale past and the star that replaced her

The Corrie newcomer is certainly making waves in Weatherfield at the minute but fans might not know actress Rebecca Ryan has a secret soap past in Emmerdale.

Rebecca is currently portraying the role of Lydia Chambers on the long running ITV soap, and her character is causing a strong reaction from viewers as she continues with her vindictive mission to destroy her ex Adam Barlow's life.

The bitter ex is hell bent on getting her revenge in a ploy to get even with him after he supposedly destroyed her life when they were younger.

For more of the latest celebrity, TV and showbiz news, click here.

While Rebecca's on-screen persona in Coronation Street is well and truly evil in viewers bad books, her role in Emmerdale was much sweeter.

The 30-year-old star first burst on to our screens back in 2001 with a little known role in ITV soap rival Emmerdale, she also made another brief appearance in 2006, before being replaced by Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson.

She appeared in Emmerdale village as a young Carly Hope in 2006 but it was only for a short while before the role was recast and Rebecca bagged the role of Vicki MacDonald in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road in 2009.

Rebecca played Carly Hope on Emmerdale before Gemma Atkinson took over the role (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

In a previous interview with OK! Rebecca explained her brief role in Emmerdale: "I had an amazing time on the show so it would be great to go back."

Thanks to her iconic role in Shameless Rebecca is now a household name, but the star never planned to go into acting.

Can't see this survey? Click here

She said: "I fell into acting - it wasn’t something that I said I wanted to do at ten years old. My older brother Charlie, who has always wanted to do acting from a very young age, got a part in BBC drama State of Play.

"They rang up to ask about him bringing some photos of his family to dress the set and they happened to mention that they hadn’t cast a little sister for him yet. He said, 'Well, I’ve got a little sister!'"

And the rest, as they say, is history!

Don't miss the latest Emmerdale news - keep up to date by signing up to our dedicated newsletter here.