Smashing up ex’s car, street brawls & lads mag fame that left her scared to leave home… Tina O’Brien’s tumultuous life
HELLISH stalkers, fighting in the street and attacking your ex’s car with a baseball bat all sound like typical occurrences on Coronation Street.
But these are ordeals that actress Tina O’Brien has had to face in real life.
Today we revealed the star – who has played Sarah Platt on Corrie since she was 16 years old – was caught on camera brawling outside her home with three teenagers.
The shocking footage shows the 5ft 1in 40-year-old trying to break up a fight before getting involved and throwing punches.
Poor Tina hasn’t had an easy time of it over the years, from struggling to cope with her early fame to her very public break-up from former co-star Ryan Thomas.
Here we take a look at her tumultuous life.
Couldn’t leave the house
Baby-faced Tina joined the cast of Corrie in 2000, taking over the role of 13-year-old Sarah-Louise from actress Lynsay King.
A groundbreaking teen pregnancy storyline helped her win over viewers and she was named Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards.
Tina also won Best Storyline at the British Soap Awards with her on-screen mum Gail, played by Helen Worth.
She went on to play pivotal roles in some of the Street’s biggest plots, including her serial killer stepdad Richard Hillman‘s reign of terror, her daughter’s internet grooming and covering up a murder.
Off-screen, as she got older, she became a lads’ mag regular, often posing in her underwear.
FHM even voted her as one of the 100 Sexiest Women in the World twice.
But behind the scenes Tina was suffering from panic attacks brought on by the pressure of her newfound fame, which got so bad she “couldn’t even go to the supermarket”.
She told the Mirror: “It was horrific. It was to do with people staring at me and wanting to talk to me. And it was irrational. It was so scary.
“My heart pounded, head spun, my breathing quickened, my palms got sweaty and I’d be red hot. If someone was talking to me, I’d feel really distant. It lasted anything between a minute and an hour.
“It was all part of learning to deal with fame. I didn’t know what to do about it, and that stress led to more panic attacks.”
I couldn’t sleep at night as I used to worry so much, listening to every creak, thinking someone was in the house
Tina O'Brien
Tina’s panic attacks got worse after her house in Manchester was burgled while she was alone upstairs.
Someone had come in through the back door and took her coat, keys and purse.
She phoned her mum, who came round and took her back home.
Tina said: “Whoever burgled me knew it was my home. I couldn’t feel happy or safe there afterwards so I moved out very quickly.
“I couldn’t sleep at night as I used to worry so much, listening to every creak, thinking someone was in the house.”
Stalker hell
Tina’s early love life could have been lifted straight from the Corrie script, as she fell for two co-stars who happened to play brothers in the soap — Bruno Langley and Ryan Thomas.
Tina’s short romance with Bruno started when her character Sarah was dating his character Todd Grimshaw in 2003.
Later that year, having split from Bruno, Tina fell for Ryan — who played Jason Grimshaw — which required some diplomacy behind the scenes.
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.”
It was Tina who made the first move on Ryan after a night out. When he went to Spain with pals shortly after they got together, they were so besotted he spent more than £2,000 on his hotel phone bill.
Sometimes she put things in place of my head and said, ‘I wish Sarah-Lou would die,’ or, ‘Why are you with that girl?’
Tina O'Brien
But their romance brought unwanted attention; one female fan began stalking them, waiting outside the gates of the Corrie studios in Manchester and sending them photos with Tina’s head cut off.
Tina said: “Sometimes she put things in place of my head and said, ‘I wish Sarah-Lou would die,’ or, ‘Why are you with that girl?’
“I also had one who was a foot fetishist and sent pictures of feet. It was very weird.”
In October 2008, Tina and Ryan welcomed daughter Scarlett, now 15, but they split a year later.
Tina claimed: “He didn’t love me any more. He said I didn’t do it for him any more. Those were his words.”
She’d left Corrie to have Scarlett, and claimed Ryan – who was still on the soap – talked her out of returning.
“Maybe he knew he was going to end it and didn’t want the hassle of us working together,” she said.
Post-natal depression
Tina has since confessed she suffered from crippling postnatal depression.
In 2019 she took to Instagram, as part of the 10 Year Challenge, sharing a picture of herself in 2009 alongside a present-day one.
She wrote: “I wouldn’t be complete without my incredible 10-year-old daughter.
“I wish I could tell the scared and fragile Tina of 10 years ago, ‘It’s going to be ok, you will get through this.’
He didn’t love me any more. He said I didn’t do it for him any more. Those were his words
Tina O'Brien
“I had very bad postnatal depression, even looking at the pic on the left reminds me how bad it was, and that makes me so sad.
“I wish I’d had the confidence to ask for help. Life felt pretty dark for a little while.
“Luckily the dark days eventually lifted. I was then a single mum, times when absolutely no income was coming in. I’d be lying if I said it was easy.
“2009 was a tough year. But to get through things sure as hell makes you stronger.”
Amicable co-parenting
Tina eventually returned to Corrie in 2015, with Ryan leaving the following year for a stint in Neighbours. He later went on to win Celebrity Big Brother.
The exes seemed to be getting back on track in 2018, when Tina married Adam Crofts and invited Ryan to their wedding.
At the time Ryan said: “Adam is cool, he’s just a lovely guy. As a stepfather in Scarlett’s life, I’ve hit the jackpot. She adores him.”
Tina and Adam, who share eight-year-old son Beau, even spent Christmas with Ryan and Scarlett, along with Ryan’s partner, former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh, who he’s been engaged to since June 2019.
Tina confessed their ability to be amicable was all down to Adam and Ryan, adding: “It’s taken a lot of years and a lot of biting my tongue.
“It helps that everyone has moved on and is in a happy place. Ryan is really happy and we are happy, so there aren’t any issues.
“For the sake of Scarlett, it has been well worth preserving [our relationship] and choosing our battles.”
Smashed up car
But in 2019, when Ryan and Lucy announced they were expecting their first child, Tina appeared to reignite their feud.
She posted: “Don’t always trust what you see on social media. Even salt looks like sugar.”
She later deleted the post, before writing: “Don’t waste your time with explanations. People will hear what they want to hear.”
In 2022, Ryan accused Tina of smashing up his Range Rover with a baseball bat.
A source told The Sun: “Ryan will be billing Tina for what she has done to his car. She caused around £1,000 worth of damage… The paintwork needs sorting out and the wing mirror is a write-off.
“Ryan doesn’t want any more drama with Tina and was left really shaken up by her actions.
“But he wants her to right the wrong when it comes to the cost he was saddled with. This incident has caused a huge amount of tension but Ryan wants to move on.”
‘Tyrannical narcissistic father’
Tina caused a stir in September last year when she shared a cryptic Instagram post about ‘tyrannical narcissistic fathers’.
Fans questioned whether the scathing post, which she later deleted, was a swipe at her ex – who now has two children with Lucy – Roman, four, and Lilah, one.
She confirmed she wasn’t talking about her own dad – and it’s thought she wasn’t referring to husband Adam either.
Allegedly the cutting post came after a blistering row between the exes over the phone.
A source told The Sun at the time: “Tina had a blazing row with Ryan over the phone about their daughter – which ended with her hanging up.
“They rarely speak these days because they do tend to clash.”