Coronation Street fans stunned after discovering two actors are brothers in real life

They kept that quiet!

Author: Emma DoddsPublished 4th Apr 2019
Last updated 4th Apr 2019

Coronation Street fans have been left absolutely baffled by the news that two actors on the show are actually brothers in real life. It turns out that Matt Milburn, who plays Weatherfield County footballer Tommy Orpington, and Greg Wood, who plays loan shark Rick Neelan, are siblings - and none of the fans even knew!

Although they've never shared any scenes together, Matt has been starring on the show since 2016 as semi-famous footballer Tommy Orpington and Greg has been acting on the show on and off since 2009.

Not only that, but both brothers have had roles on Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, too. 'Oaks fans will instantly recognise Greg as bad boy Trevor Royle who was tragically killed on his wedding day to Grace Black, and some may even remember Matt's character Joe Spencer from 2003-6.

In Emmerdale, Greg had a recurring role in 2006 as Nick Callow, and Matt starred for 34 episodes in 2011 as Nicky Pritchard, a new local vet that was caught in a love triangle with Gennie Walker and Nikhil Sharma.

Swipe through to see which other soap stars are secretly related...

Jamie Lomax and Charley Webb

Former Hollyoaks actor Jamie Lomas, who played bad boy Warren Fox in the soap, is the brother of Emmerdale star Charley Webb.

Coronation Street fans stunned after discovering two actors are brothers in real life
2 of 10

Greg even quietly confirmed the pair were related back in 2017 on his Instagram page, sharing some sweet snaps of the two of them together on Matt's wedding day looking dapper in their outfits.

He wrote, 'Beautiful day, couldn't of gone better. Proud of my bro x.' sic and even shared a second post of the day with the caption, 'Still buzzin...so happy for my bro and his wife Kelly. A day to remember. Love u guys xxx.' sic

Even back then, fans commented on the photo in shock, with many writing that they couldn't believe the pair were related, let alone brothers! One commented, 'Oh my god I never would have made the connection that you were brothers??!! He played Joe in Hollyoaks....keeping it in the family!' sic

Not only that, but he also posted a photo of the brothers with their father on Father's Day in 2017, captioning it, 'Happy fathers day!!! Love you pops, you make your kids proud xxx.' sic

So... It's not exactly a secret, but we still didn't see it coming!

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.

Tune into Northern Ireland’s number 1 for music, Cool FM on 97.4FM, online, on our Rayo app, your DAB radio, or say ‘Play Cool FM’ on your Smart Speaker. We play you the biggest hits from the world’s hottest artists, from Pete Snodden in the morning to the NI Hit 40.