Former Corrie star Ryan Thomas has admitted that making the round trip to visit his daughter Scarlett, who lives in Manchester with her mum Tina O’Brien, has put a strain on his current relationship.
Ryan and his fiancé Lucy Mecklenburgh, who have recently bought a doer-upper second home in Cheshire, live with their newborn son Roman in Essex but the soap star regularly travels up north to visit 12-year-old Scarlett.
"I know I’ve got Scarlett [who] I have to keep going back and forward for,” he told brothers Adam and Scott on the podcast they host together.
“That puts a strain on our relationship because I’m not with [Lucy] because I’ve got to get back for Scarlett.”
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Closer-Corrie-spoilers
Fiz ridicules Tyrone for fancying Alina, saying she's far too young and beautiful for him, but later it's awkward when Alina lets slip to Fiz that she and Tyrone are in the same yoga class. When Tyrone lends a sympathetic ear after Alina's family dog back in Romania passes away, she can't deny her feelings for him.
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Elsewhere, Steve is miffed when Peter doesn't show up for work and finds him at home acting completely out of it. Peter swears he hasn't been drinking but Steve is unconvinced and sends him off in an ambulance to the hospital.
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Steve breaks the news to Carla that Peter is back in the hospital after hitting the bottle again, leaving Carla in despair. When Lucas shares his experiences of living with an addict and suggests Carla comes back to Devon with him for a break, Steve encourages her to take the opportunity and Carla packs her bags.
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Carla pays a visit to the hospital to say goodbye to Peter, telling him she can't live like this forever. But they're soon interrupted by the doctor who confirms that Peter's episode was to do with his liver condition and that he hadn't been drinking. A remorseful Carla begs him to forgive her.
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When school bully Corey learns that Asha is now dating Nina, he's disgusted, but Asha and Nina aren't bothered by what he thinks. When Asha tentatively suggests a night away at a hotel together, Nina breaks the news that she's not ready for that kind of relationship and that maybe they should just be friends, after all.
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Meanwhile, Leanne has been worried sick about Simon as it's clear she's lost all control when Jacob turns up at the house and whisks Simon away from his coursework. Ken decides to intervene and takes Simon for a coffee at the café, but will Simon be able to open up?
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After getting dumped by Nina, a downtrodden Asha is craving an escape and suggests to Kelly and Summer they have a wild night. Kelly's got just the solution and texts Simon begging him to hook them up with some pills. Simon reluctantly agrees, but soon tragedy strikes when Kelly falls unconscious.
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Jacob boastfully tells Simon about how he's been ripping off big boss Harvey by siphoning off a portion of the drugs to sell separately. In Victoria Gardens, Harvey corners Simon and demands he tell him what he knows about Jacob, or he'll end up in hospital. A terrified Simon denies all knowledge.
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Following Kevin and Debbie's brush with death in the Bistro freezer, Debbie offers one of her hotels for free as a venue for his upcoming wedding to Abi. While Kevin is thrilled, Abi insists they won't be accepting charity from his sister and that she doesn't trust Debbie as far as she could throw her.
Closer-Corrie-spoilers
Finally realising he's in well over his head, Simon races home and tells Leanne about his run in with Harvey. Leanne determines to go to the police but soon they hear word of Kelly and Simon freaks out, admitting he sold her the pills. Realising she can't go to the police now, Leanne resolves to deal with Harvey herself.
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He continued, “There is that trying to find a mix of making both work and working out where you’re going to end [up].
“I think eventually I’d like to be in Manchester with both my kids, but at the moment it’s having that help at hand in London it’s just easier, but I think eventually I would love to be back where I started with all my brothers and all our kids.
"I think that’s what’ll happen eventually but we’re just taking it a day at a time. I think that’s what you’ve got to do with this family life.”
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Ryan recently surprised his wife-to-be with the massive Edwardian Cheshire property without her ever having seen it, with Lucy admitting it would be more work than she expected but that he did “a great job” on choosing it.
But it seems as though they’re not looking to add to their brood any time soon with Ryan previously admitting, “I just want to escape our parenting for a long weekend and just let our hair down like we did before [Roman] was here.
“I want the old Lucy back sometimes. It’s not that she’s not there - it’s just I’m not the main priority anymore.”