Coronation Street villains Olivia Frances-Brown and Jonathan Howard have seemingly confirmed their real-life romance, hard launching their relationship with a sun-soaked holiday in Ibiza. The pair, who played Jodie Ramsey and Carl Webster on the ITV soap, were joined by Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas and his fiancée Jess Bell for the couples getaway.
Holiday romance confirmed
Olivia and Jonathan were among the most rotten residents of Weatherfield, both surviving the recent 'whodunnit' storyline. Now, it appears love has blossomed between the former baddies. The foursome enjoyed the island sun, with the excitement of a new romance leaving them practically glowing in photos shared on social media.
Jess Bell commented on Jonathan's carousel of Ibiza snaps: 'Best weekend ever! So happy and grateful you invited yourself along', while Jamie Lomas added: 'Unreal weekend'.
Recent splits
Back in May, Olivia called time on her relationship with fiancé James Nelson-Joyce and wiped her social media accounts clean of any reference to him. A source told The Sun: 'It's finished. They were a rock-solid showbiz couple, and their fans will be absolutely shocked and devastated', adding that the couple had been 'struggling to make time in their diaries for each other.'
Jonathan has also recently split with his wife, Elodie Yung, with whom he shares a daughter, after more than a decade together. A further source told The Sun: 'Jonathan and Elodie separated over a year ago and remain close friends and co parents.'
Long-distance challenges
Jonathan and Elodie have long lived apart, with him settled in the UK to film Coronation Street, while her filming commitments mean she's based in Los Angeles. Jonathan previously spoke out about the difficulties of being separated from his daughter on Loose Women: 'The hardest part of this job is the heartbreak, I feel, for, you know, not being with my daughter every day.'
Thankfully, she's been able to visit him a number of times. 'In America, they have long summer holidays,' he explained. 'So, this summer, she was able to come and stay at my mum's house. I grew up an hour away from Corrie, a little village in Lancashire. And so, that was really beautiful.'
Ex-partners' careers
Their respective exes are huge names in the acting industry in their own right. James Nelson-Joyce has notched roles in Mount Pleasant, Little Boy Blue, The Nest, A Town Called Malice and This City Is Ours among many other productions. Elodie Yung is known for her roles in Daredevil, The Cleaning Lady, The Hitman's Bodyguard, Gods of Egypt and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
On-screen personas
While Carl Webster's long list of misdemeanours – car theft, hit and run, scamming, cheating, and letting his dementia-suffering mum go to prison for him – have left him wracked with guilt and desperate to turn over a new leaf, Jodie Ramsey has no such conscience. In fact, the gun she stole from Carl is currently residing in her creepy trinket box, filled with stolen items from her various victims.
While Carl wants to turn over a new leaf, Jodie would still obviously rather burn the entire tree to the ground.
