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Ryan Thomas' daughter meets newborn baby brother over Facetime during coronavirus lockdown

Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh welcomed baby boy Roman on March 12. (Getty Images)
Ryan Thomas and Lucy Mecklenburgh welcomed baby boy Roman on March 12. (Getty Images)

Ryan Thomas is feeling grateful for technology after his daughter met her newborn stepbrother for the first time over Facetime.

The former Coronation Street actor and his fiancee, ex The Only Way Is Essex star Lucy Mecklenburgh welcomed baby boy Roman on March 12, but due to self-isolation to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), his 11-year-old Scarlett has been unable to visit.

Thomas, 35, wrote on Instagram: “Thank god for technology! I’m finding it really tough being away from my family and sad this is how my daughter met her baby brother. To any other broken families I feel your pain and it’s killing me being apart from my daughter and family for so long, especially at this special time.

Read more: Lucy Mecklenburgh and Ryan Thomas welcome baby boy

“BUT we all need to take social isolation and social distancing seriously and it’s a sacrifice we have to make to save lives.”

Thomas shares custody of Scarlett with his ex Tina O’Brien, who he met when they starred together as on-screen sweethearts Jason Grimshaw and Sarah Platt in Corrie. They split in 2009.

He began dating Mecklenburgh, 28, in 2017 and they announced their engagement last June.

The Coronation Street wedding of Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) and Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) at St Marys Church, Prestwich, Manchester.
Ryan Thomas and Tina O'Brien played marrie couple Sarah and Jason Grimshaw on 'Corrie' and dated from 2003 to 2009. (PA)

The actor’s touching social media post comes as the government issued confusing advice to seperated parents sharing custody of children amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a ban on visiting any household other than one's own as well as a ban on more than two people meeting in public unless they are from the same household.

This has led to confusion among co-parents.

But cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has now clarified to BBC Breakfast: "It is the case that there can be that contact. One of the things I'm anxious to do is make sure we minimise social contact. But... children under the age of 18 can see both parents."