Ryan Thomas and Tina O’Brien share daughter Scarlett together but it has been reported there has been clashes over decisions on how to raise their budding actress daughter

Ryan Thomas and Tina O’Brien were once love’s young dream(Image: Getty Images)

Ryan Thomas and Tina O’Brien were once love’s young dream, but their romance has since descended into a bitter war as the exes and co-parents reportedly do not see eye to eye over their daughter Scarlett.

Tensions between the Coronation Street exes have been bubbling for years and their feud came to a boiling point in 2022 when Tina was accused of smashing up Ryan’s car with a baseball bat after a furious row.

The cause of the heated row nearly three years ago has remained a mystery but it’s now been claimed that Tina’s fury was driven by her difference in opinion on how to raise the couple’s daughter, Scarlett.

Scarlett recently revealed she hadn’t taken her GCSE exams(Image: scarlettjthomas26/tiktok)

Scarlett, 16, has always had a taste of the limelight growing up but embarked on her acting career when she scooped the role of Izzy Charles in Waterloo Road. Since then, she now regularly features online, sharing TikTok videos on her own account and featuring on the joint family account, The Thomas Family.

Now it has been claimed Ryan, 41, and Tina, 42, have different approaches to raising their daughter with Tina reportedly wanting Scarlett to get a good education while Ryan includes Scarlett in his public persona, and has given her an early taste of the showbiz world.

Sources have claimed Tina was left ‘beyond raging’ after her daughter left her £20,000 per year school in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester around two years ago – with it being claimed Scarlett left ‘under a cloud’. It’s not clear how Scarlett has continued her education journey and she recently posted a TikTok video in which she pondered other students getting their GCSE results last week.

The teen penned on TikTok last week: “Watching everyone get there [sic] GCSE results today wondering if I could’ve had good results but I will forever wonder”.

The TikTok received backlash and Ryan hit back in the comments, writing: “Is it even anyone’s business or concern though?”

Ryan Thomas is supportive of his daughter’s dreams to pursue a career in the spotlight(Image: WireImage)

Now it has been claimed Tina was “desperate” for Scarlett to have a “normal upbringing and get an education”, according to a source. They added to the DailyMail: “She is less flashy than Ryan and did not want Scarlett to rely on their showbiz connections.”

While it’s been added Tina wanted Scarlett to “stay on the straight and narrow” and is the “strict” parent of the two, while Ryan reportedly “seems to like his daughter’s life in the limelight”.

They added: “Tina has been so wary of Scarlett being described as a ‘nepo baby’. She wanted her to find her own way – and get the tools and the education to help her.”

The source also claimed: “But it must be difficult being a teenage girl and being put out there by a parent. It must surely encourage certain behaviours – and there were some difficulties that began to really affect Scarlett and Tina just saw red.

Tina is said to be the stricter parent(Image: WireImage)

“She tried to get Ryan to see it, but he wouldn’t,” they added.

While Tina keeps a relatively low-key presence on social media, occasionally sharing snaps from her family life, Ryan and his family have a huge social media following and regularly share insights into their life on the platforms.

Scarlett often features on videos with her former Coronation Street star dad as well as her uncles Scott and Adam Thomas, step mum Lucy Mecklenburgh, half-brother Roman, six, half-sister Lilah, three and her cousins and aunts.

One video in particular, which was posted on TikTok under the title Who knows Scarlett best?, Scarlett featured with Scott, Ryan and Adam where they were asked questions about Scarlett, who told them if they were right or not. In the clip Scarlett asks what her favourite drink is in which Ryan says “vodka orange” before he, Adam, Scott and Scarlett all burst out laughing.

Tina was reportedly “b****y furious” over the video as a source claimed her actress mum “wants her to remain as down to earth as possible” but Ryan is “all about the connections”, which Tina reportedly finds “hard when Scarlett is exposed to all of that”.

The pair welcomed Scarlett together in 2008 but split a year later(Image: WireImage)

And a separate source claimed that while Tina sees acting “as an art” her ex Ryan “is more into being a celebrity”. They added: “Nobody knows where the feud will end but Tina just wants to look after her daughter the best way she can rather than put her out there on social media.”

The pair met while on the set of Coronation Street, as Tina played Sarah Platt and Ryan played Jason Grimshaw – sparks flew and they soon became the iconic soap couple of their time. Ryan and Tina welcomed Scarlett in 2008 but their romance was short-lived after Scarlett’s birth and the pair split a year later.

Ryan is now engaged to former The Only Way Is Essex star Lucy Mecklenburgh and the pair share two children together; Roman and Lilah. While Tina is currently dating Adam Fadlé. Last year, she split from her husband of seven years Adam Crofts.