Tina O'Brien Faces New Feud with Ex Ryan Thomas's Family as Friends Unveil Her Ambitious Plans for Daughter's Crown

SHE’S been part of the British TV furniture as Coronation Street fan favourite Sarah Platt for nearly 30 years, but Tina O’Brien’s life has had more ups and downs than a hard-hitting soap storyline.

And ‘s latest move is also worthy of a controversial cobbles plot, as insiders have told us how she is gearing up to take on her ex-partner and former Corrie co-star , and his famous family.

Tina O’Brien, pictured with daughter Scarlett, who she shares with ex Ryan Thomas Credit: Getty Tina, in Coronation Street as Sarah Platt, has signed up to an agency that will be helping her land a series of brand partnerships Credit: ITV

An insider tells The Sun: “Tina has always been well loved from Corrie, but in recent years she’s seen how well people are doing off-screen.

“Her daughter is a huge influencer and, of course, is part of the Thomas family, who rack up millions of views.

“It’s really made her think she can do it too and bring in a nice little earner away from the soap.”

Tina, 42, has had a love-hate relationship with over the years, vowing to take a break from in 2020 after and admitting she felt like a “fraud” trying to present a “filtered version” of her life to gain validation.

But six years on, things are completely different and she has big plans for the future after signing up to an agency – Alpha Talent Group – which will be helping her land a series of brand partnerships.

Alpha already has a string of clients. They look after boxer , The Wanted star , ‘s , and stars , , and twins Eve and .

Tina will have to tread carefully with Corrie bosses, though – according to internal documents, outside work must be pre-approved, must not conflict with ’s commercial partners or damage an actor’s character’s integrity.

A spokeswoman previously said: “The cast are aware that all requests for commercial deals go through an approvals process and are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.”

Of course, Tina’s 17-year-old daughter Scarlett, who she shares with ex Ryan, is no stranger to social media and often shows off her to her 352,000 followers and 245,000 Instagram followers.

Scarlett recently shared a 36-second snippet of her “first song”, which has been viewed 3.2million times on TikTok.

While Tina is set to branch out on socials, fans shouldn’t expect to see her all over TikTok, like Scarlett and her dad Ryan, and his brothers Adam and , are.

The source adds: “She won’t be doing cringe TikTok trends, but there are some exciting brand deals on the horizon.

“And don’t be surprised if she steps out of her comfort zone and does some reality TV – she did over a decade ago and feels like she wants the public to see her personality.”

The Thomas Brothers boast a massive one million following on TikTok, and often entertain fans with comical clips.

In December, they received more than 6.2million views for a flour farting trend video, which featured the trio as well as Adam’s wife Caroline Thomas and their two children, Teddy, 11, and Elsie-Rose, seven, and Ryan’s six-year-old son Roman, who he shares with his ex-Towie star partner .

However, Tina is getting her influencer career off the ground at a .

Tina’s 17-year-old daughter, pictured with ex Ryan, is no stranger to social media Credit: Instagram Scarlett often shows off her singing talents to her 352,000 TikTok followers Credit: Instagram

Adam’s recent … South Africa stint, in which he divided opinion with a foul-mouthed rant at fellow contestant , has been somewhat contentious.

There was further controversy and disputes involving Jimmy, Adam and pro boxer in the show’s live finale, when Adam was crowned winner of the star-studded series.

But this could be to Tina’s gain, with the source adding: “Tina would never admit it, but friends have said she really sees it as her chance to get one up on Ryan.

“Tina has no plans to leave Corrie but is thinking about her future. She has a huge fan base – men love her, but women do, too, so things are looking very bright away from the cobbles.”

Away from Weatherfield, Tina’s off-screen life hasn’t been without incident.

She and Ryan have endured a turbulent relationship following their split in 2009, after a six-year romance.

Things reached breaking point in 2022, when Ryan accused Tina of smashing up his Range Rover with a baseball bat, with a source telling us at the time she “caused around £1,000 worth of damage”.

A year later, Tina caused a further stir when she shared a cryptic Instagram post about a “tyrannical narcissistic father” being a “bully” and a “cruel, lying, arrogant person”.

Tina was just a teen herself when she joined Corrie in 2000, as 13-year-old Sarah-Louise.

She was named Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards following a hard-hitting teen pregnancy storyline, when her character gave birth to daughter Bethany Platt, who is now played by .

While Tina has been a close supporter of Lucy since she joined Corrie in 2015, the roles have recently reversed.

Tina is now being influenced by her on-screen daughter, as well as her off-screen daughter Scarlett, after she witnessed Lucy’s huge online success.

Tina, above with Ryan in 2006, is getting her influencer career off the ground at a controversial time for the Thomas Brothers Credit: Getty Adam, pictured alongside Ryan, Scarlett and son Teddy, endured a turbulent time on I’m A Celeb Credit: Splash

Lucy has been sporadic on the soap in recent years, partly due to her maternity leave after giving birth to daughter Nancy in January 2025, but the star – who also has son Sonny, three, with her pro footballer fiancé – cashed in with lucrative online deals after quitting Corrie in 2000.

Insiders tell The Sun she commanded around £2,000-a-post for sharing goods when she first quit Corrie.

While Tina is heading in the opposite direction with a new-look influencer career, she is still very much involved with -based drama school The Drama MOB, which she co-created with her friend Esther Morgan.

Scarlett previously signed up to the drama school, and it has already produced an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning talent – Adolescence actor .

Owen made history at the latest Emmys and by becoming the youngest-ever male winner of the Best Supporting Actor gong for his role as 13-year-old murderer Jamie Miller in the miniseries.

Just days after Cooper, now 16, made his acting debut in , Tina took to Instagram to point out he was a Drama MOB graduate.

Cooper was just 15 when he landed his Emmy Award, and had turned 16 by the time he landed a Golden Globe.

While he mentioned in his Globes acceptance speech about attending drama classes as a youngster and feeling “embarrassed” about being the only boy there, he failed to give The Drama MOB a namecheck.

Despite that, Owen’s success is spurring Tina on, and as well as her influencer side project and Corrie career, she is keen to focus on improving The Drama MOB and finding more stars.

The source adds: “Not many people knew that Tina ran her own school before Owen shot to fame, but she’s suddenly on the map now.

“It’s always been her passion project, but now she’s decided she’s going to be the face of it more and take it to the next level.

“They already helped produce one of the biggest talent’s the UK has seen in years, so they really feel like the sky’s the limit.”