Hollyoaks casts Coronation Street star as new family to arrive

A Coronation Street icon is set to join Hollyoaks after Emmerdale‘s Matthew Wolfenden was announced as part of the cast. Rebecca Ryan, who previously played Lydia Chambers in the ITV soap, is set to star in Hollyoaks as part of a new family.

Rebecca first found fame in Shameless, where she appeared as Debbie Gallagher across six seasons. She also appeared in Waterloo Road for three seasons as student Vicki MacDonald.

Of her Corrie casting, a source told The Sun: “Rebecca and Matthew are going to launch a big new family for Hollyoaks with a major storyline later this year.

“They’ve just begun filming, and everyone’s really excited about having them on board.”

Digital Spy has reached out to Hollyoaks representatives for comment.

ITV

The publication previously revealed that Matthew, who left Emmerdale in 2024, would be joining Hollyoaks.

He first joined the soap in 2006 as David Metcalfe, announcing his departure in 2023 after landing a role in the stage adaptation of Elf.

Explaining the move to The Sun, he said: “They said ‘if we set a precedence to let you out for three months to do that we’ve got to let other people out too.’ And I absolutely understood that.

ITV

“My contract was coming to an end and I had this big decision to make, do I leave an 18-year job to do an eight-week show?

“I’m 44 now, I was 43 at the time, and I thought, ‘If I don’t do it now then I’ll never do it.'”

Of a possible return in the future, he said: “I absolutely adored [Emmerdale] and [my decision] had nothing to do with the fact that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, it was just that I wanted to go out and spread my wings and do some more musical theatre.”