A lot of the time, big soaps like Corrie, Emmerdale and Eastenders manage to cast their characters very well, and get family members to look exactly like they could be family in real life. Do you think that it’s a coincidence? Well, the fact is, there are many people who are in these soaps who play like they are family members when, in fact, they really are!
We can only imagine what it must be like to grow up and then work in an industry such as this only to realize that you are also going to work with your own family as well. In that sense, these actors probably don’t have to do very much acting when it comes to their true feelings towards other characters. Especially if those characters are their own family members. The only part that makes me wonder is if they happen to bring their personal lives to work with them. I mean, what if something bad happened between these family members over the holidays? How do they cope with the fact that they have to go into work together?
Other than that, working with family members on a job like this must be loads of fun! They must also make the rest of their family really proud of the fact that more than just one member of the family is making a living doing what they love to do because finding a good job is easy but finding a satisfying career must be an amazing feeling and to also be able to share this experience with someone that you truly love must also make the whole thing seem hard to believe. You’ll never guess which of these actors are related and when you find out, you’ll be amazed at how they are able to make this happen so beautifully:
Sometimes they get it so spot on that they actually are family members in real life! This is why we put together a list of soap actors that you probably didn’t know were actually related in real life! We can hardly believe it ourselves when we discovered this and it’s also interesting to know that they are able to relate to the characters probably as much as they are able to relate to each other! That really sounds like a lot of fun! There’s really nothing more important than family and so we are excited to share with you which of these characters are actually related in real life.
So here is the list, from the cobbles of Corrie to the streets of Eastenders, this is a list of your favourite soap stars that you didn’t actually know were related in real life… And don’t miss the end, we found some soap stars who are related to massive Hollywood celebs! That must really exciting! We can only imagine what it’s like to spend time with them over the holidays while they discuss the jobs that they have been up to since the last family reunion. It must be a real star studded event. I wonder if they are ever star struck over each other? I doubt it. . . Please, ENJOY!
1. Adam and Ryan Thomas.
Adam and Ryan are better known as Adam Barton (Emmerdale) and Jason Grimshaw (Coronation Street).
Ryan is the eldest and starred in Corrie from 2000 to 2016 before going down under to star in Aussie soap Neighbours. Adam’s wife Caroline is pregnant with their second child.
They also have another brother who you might recognise from Love Island 2016. Success and good looks run in their family!
2. Jamie Lomas and Charley Webb.
We’re used to seeing Jamie Lomas in Hollyoaks and he took part in the most recent series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here. But I bet you didn’t know he also has a famous sister.
He isn’t the only one in his family who’s decided to take up a career in acting. His sister Charley Webb has starred in Emmerdale as Debbie Dingle since 2002.
They are both really close and share a lot of the sme friends in the famous circle of soap stars. They also have a younger brother who has been on screen too!
And it appears their younger sibling, Danny Webb, played the first ever Aaron Livesy in Emmerdale between 2003 to 2006 and Lucy Webb, 13, appeared as baby Jon Dingle between 2004 and 2007 when she was tiny.
The acting gene definitely runs in their family.
3. Joe and Shauna Swash.
Joe Swash became a household name when he starred in Eastenders between 2005 and 2011 as Mickey Miller. His sister Shauna also appeared in the show as his on-screen sister Demi.
While Shauna has gone down a different route in life, Joe is still a regular on our TV screens, after becoming King of the jungle in 2008, he’s gone on to present Extra Camp among other shows.
Shauna now lives a regular life and is a barmaid in London. Here she is taking out the rubbish.
4. Nick and John Pickard.
When you think of Hollyoaks, you think of Tony Hutchinson, don’t you. And for a long time, Nick’s brother played his long-lost brother in the soap. After his character met his long-lost brother on-screen there was only one man for the job…
Between 2005 and 2010, John played Tony’s brother Dom. You can definitely tell they’re related, can’t you!
5. Lacey Turner and Lily Harvey.
Eastenders’s Lacey Turner’s little sister Lily played Shenice Quinn in Eastenders from 2011-2012.
Their sister Daisy also went into acting and played tomyboy Jenny in Hollyoaks in 2011. Her character was killed off though by serial killer Silas Blissett.
Her character was brutally killed and she hasn’t done much acting work since.
6. Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach.
Corries Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach are cousins in real-life. Brooke played Sophie Webster in the soap since she was 11, Ellie joined the soap in 2011 as Faye’s foster child.
They aren’t related in the show, you’d think they’d have cast them as related they look quite similar!
7. Jacqueline Jossa and Megan Jossa.
Jacqueline played Lauren Branning in Eastenders from 2006 to February this year and she’s the older cousin of Megan who played the daughter of Tiffany and Grant Mitchell in 2006.
Jaqueline has repeatedly won the award for sexiest female at the Inside Soap Awards, and its not hard to see why…
8. Debbie Rush and Poppy Rush.
Poppy, the daughter of Debbie Rush (Anne Windass), joined the cast of Eastenders this year playing Kyle’s best friend Sophie Dodd.
9. Jill Halfpenny and Chelsea Halfpenny.
Jill played undercover policewoman Kate in Eastenders. She turns out to be Chelsea Halfpenny’s aunt, who played teen mum Amy Wyatt in Emmerdale from 2010 to 2013.
While Jill doesn’t look old enough to be Chesea’s aunt, the two of them certainly played big roles in their shows!
10. Sue Jenkins and Richard Fleeshman.
Sue played barmaid Gloria Todd in Corrie in the 80s and it seems her son followed in her footsteps. He went on to star in Corrie from 2002 to 2006 as Craig Harris, Rosie Webster’s boyfriend.
Richard Fleeshman is now quite the hunk, who could believe he’d turn out like this!
11. Kara Tointon and Hannah Tointon
Kara was in the soap business before Hannah, in EastEnders! She played Dawn Swann.
Her younger sister Hannah is in Hollyoaks and played Katy Fox! Her storyline was certianly interesting!
Here they are together, they’re so similar!
Lily Allen and Alfie Allen
Lily Allen is one of the UK’s biggest singing stars, but did you know that Theon from Game of Thrones is her brother in real life?
The two of them are together quite a lot to say they are both very busy and famous.
Jason Momoa and Zoë Kravitz
Another GoT star and now Aquaman, Jason Momoa is actually the stepfather to Zoë Kravitz!
Jason has been with her mother for Lisa Bonet for 12 years and the two of them even go out in London together!
Antonio Banderas and Dakota Johnson
This one is a massive, massive surprise. Antonio used to be Dakota’s stepfather before he split from her mother in 2015.
Dakota is now a massive star after her role in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, but apparently, she wanted to do it on her own merit, and not with the help of her Hollywood family.
Julia Roberts and Emma Roberts
Julia Roberts is one of the most established actresses in all of Hollywood, and her niece, Emma, is working her own way in the industry and becoming a very recognisable face.
The two of them are both very open about their relationship and always answer questions about each other when asked. The two apparently spend a lot of time together and Julia thinks an awful lot of Emma.
They certainly look alike!
The two of them are very complimentary of each other, Julia said this of Emma…
“She’s so lovely, we spend a lot of time together. Emma is a remarkable girl.”
Jenny McCarthy and Melissa McCarthy
These two are both now big actresses but looking at the two of them you wouldn’t think that they were related at all!
The two of them are cousins and even have photos of themselves together as children!
Joan and John Cusack
The two of them have both succeeded in taking on Hollywood and are not afraid to work together.
The pair have appeared in a massive 10 movies together yet a lot of people don’t put 2 and 2 together and realise that they are in fact siblings!
Joan is thankful for John always being there throughout their time in Hollywood and spurring her on through the business.
One of the biggest shocks that Twitter has ever faced may just be the world finding out that one of the best soap characters to ever grace our tv’s actually has a Hollywood A-lister for a brother.
Big Mo first appeared in EastEnders in 2000 and quickly became a firm favourite of the fans. She had a very quiet spell after 2012 and ended up leaving in 2016 for a short while.
Fans rejoiced to hear that she was returning and officially returned in March 2018 to the main cast, but did you know she has one of the most famous actors in the world for a brother?
Twitter reacted to finding out that Gary Oldman is actually Big Mo’s brother perfectly.
finding out Big Mo off Eastenders is Gary Oldman’s sister has absolutely blown my head off this morning hahaha pic.twitter.com/4uXHOWVHTZ
— Joe Bone (@josefbone) March 5, 2018
The two of them are very close even though Gary spends a lot of his time in America filming, after starring in so many successful movies.
We can’t believe that we never knew this, and Twitter had some unbelievable responses too…
This girl couldn’t believe she didn’t know about the relationship between the two of them!
How have I only just found out that Big Mo, of Eastenders fame, is Gary Oldman’s actual sister!? pic.twitter.com/0DjcK1ZAwe
— sarah ballantyne ✨ (@sarahahrose) March 4, 2018
This guy thought that Gary, upon winning an Oscar, should have thanked his sister during his speech at the ceremony…
Disgraceful that Gary Oldman did not give special thanks to Big Mo in his speech. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/ifWBkPXElI
— Lewis Pringle (@lewispringle) March 5, 2018
And this guy just adores the fact that the two of them are related…
If there is a better fact out there than Big Mo being Gary Oldman’s sister I want to hear it
— David Fraser (@DavidEFraser) March 6, 2018