Yahoo News Real life of Coronation Street's Sarah Platt actress Tina O'Brien - surprising age, co-star ex and actress daughter
Tina O'Brien has been busy once again on the cobbles. She's set to find herself back in the thick of another big plot on Coronation Street. The actress is best known for playing Sarah Barlow - nee Platt - in the ITV soap, but didn't join until the daughter of matriarch Gail Platt turned 12.
The character was originally portrayed by then-babies Leah King and Lynsay King in 1987, when Sarah was born to Gail Platt and Brian Tilsley. Sarah and her older brother Nick were later adopted by Martin Platt when he married Gail in 1991. Lynsay was kept in the role until Sarah turned 12 on-screen in 1999, which is when Tina, then 16, joined the cast.
And, over the years she has faced a whole host of hard-hitting storylines - from giving birth to her first child, Bethany, at 13 and being kidnapped alongside her family by her psychotic stepfather Richard Hillman; to suffering child loss when her son, Billy, died shortly after his birth, to being attacked by Callum Logan and witnessing him be killed by sister-in-law Kylie.
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More recently viewers have watched her have an affair behind her husband Adam Barlow's back before suffering a tragic miscarried with Damon Hay's child. He has since been put behind bars and ended his relationship with Sarah and after paying of her daughter's recently returned groomer Nathan Curtis, she'll be soon taking matters into her own hands and attempting to get him done for the murder of Lauren Bolton.
Speaking about her involvement in the big storyline, which began back in February when teenager Lauren, played by Cait Fitton, disappeared, and whether she's enjoying it, Tina recently said: "Absolutely, originally Sarah was quite separate to the Lauren storyline, it seemed to have nothing to do with her, but the second that Nathan resurfaced it brought her into the fold.
"It’s this want and need to find Lauren, to know if she’s alive or dead and to know if it’s Nathan who’s done this to her. So I’m really enjoyed being part of it."
Sarah's long stint in Weatherfield has meant that viewers have also seen the Rusholme-born actress grow up on-screen. But it wasn't on Corrie where her career started.
Before Tina scooped the role of Sarah Platt in Corrie more than 20 years ago, she played the role of Claire in CITV favourite Children's Ward in 1997. She then joined the Salford-based soap in 1999 and her character was part of a shock pregnancy storyline at the age of 12, after which she gave birth to daughter Bethany.
Tina, now 40, left the role in 2008 and, speaking of her reason for her quitting at the time, she said: "This has been an extremely difficult decision to make. I love playing Sarah and have had an amazing seven-and-a-half years in Coronation Street, but I feel that the time has come to see what else is out there for me as an actress."
She went on to star in other shows, most notably as pupil Bex Fisher in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road. She also appeared in Casualty, Doctors, Blue Murder and Clocking Off before returning to Corrie in 2015, where she still appears now. She told The Mirror in 2021: "I think I got a three month contract to begin with and I was just hoping to get through the first three months here and hopefully stay. I feel incredibly lucky to be where I am and be part of such an amazing family."
Away from the cobbles, Tina was in a relationship with co-star Ryan Thomas, who played on-screen former hubby Jason Grimshaw, from 2003 to 2009. They became an item just after Tina ended a year-long romance with Bruno Langley, who played Ryan's on-screen brother Todd in Corrie before being replaced.
Speaking to The Mirror in 2007, Tina said: "It was five months later when I got together with Ryan and I was worried about it as he's a friend of Bruno. But we worked hard to make sure there wasn't any tension between the three of us." Tina and Ryan enjoyed a long-term romance off-screen, dating for six years. They also had a daughter named Scarlett before they split in 2009.
Scarlett has followed in her parents acting footsteps. It was announced last year that the now-14-year-old would be joining the brand new reboot of Waterloo Road alongside her real-life uncle Adam Thomas and cousin Teddy Thomas. While Adam reprised the role of Donte Charles, Scarlett and Teddy took on the roles of his on-screen children Izzy and Tommy.
Tina has since moved on from Ryan and is now married to Adam Crofts. The couple married on New Year's Eve 2018 at the uber-luxurious King Street Townhouse in Manchester after welcoming their now-eight-year-old son Beau into the world four years earlier.
And Tina showed last year that she was more loved-up than ever as she shared a gushing tribute to her husband on social media. The mum-of-two shared a bunch of photos and videos of Adam, some on his own and some of them together. It showed them when they got married, on holiday, and on nights out together.
There were also plenty of appearances from Scarlett and Beau from when they were younger to now, including on a trip to Disney. "I love this incredible human so much, Mr Adam Crofts," Tina gushed. She then added: "It’s not his birthday or our wedding anniversary. Just cos."
With a long stint on the cobbles under her belt, Tina has plenty of links to her current and former co-stars. Tina is the real-life godmother of Emily Walton, who played the original Bethany Platt. Emily played Sarah's on-screen daughter from 2000 until 2007 before the role was taken over by Lucy Fallon in 2015.
Last March, Corrie fans also recalled how Tina and co-star Ciaran Griffiths appeared in Waterloo Road together back in 2011, when Tina starred as Rebecca "Bex" Fisher and Ciaran played porn-obsessed Dylan. He forced Bex to live with him for 18 months, made films of her and posted them on a porn website before she eventually went back home. But, because Dylan couldn't have Bex, he went after her sister Jess Fisher.
While her character often faces drama on the cobbles, Tina found her real-life being subject to it too. Soap bosses reportedly gave her a week off work last month after it was revealed that she'd been caught up in a brawl 'over boys' outside her home in Stockport as a 'victim of an unprovoked incident'.
Greater Manchester Police were investigating reports of an assault outside the soap star's home in Bramhall on March 15. Footage of the alleged incident appeared to show Tina caught in the middle of a brawl.
The Manchester Evening News understands no arrests have been made following the incident. It's understood police have now ended their enquiries, as the M.E.N. reported in April. A spokesperson for Tina told The Sun last month: "Tina was the victim of an unprovoked incident outside her home which she has reported to the police."
