Coronation Street actors Jonathan Howard and Olivia Frances-Brown have gone public with their new romance, and Olivia's ex-fiancé has shown his approval by liking their holiday photos.
Holiday romance revealed
The pair, who play Carl Webster and Jodie Ramsey on the ITV soap, shared snaps from a recent trip to Ibiza alongside fellow couple Hollyoaks' Jamie Lomas and Jess Bell. In the selfies, they appear smitten, including one where they are both tanning on sunbeds.
These pictures were liked by James Nelson-Joyce, Olivia's ex-fiancé and star of BBC's This City Is Ours, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA this year.
Recent split
The approval comes only a few months after James, 37, and Olivia, 27, broke up. The two unfollowed each other on Instagram in March and removed all traces of each other from their social media accounts, including their engagement announcement from last August.
A source told the Sun at the time: "It’s finished. They were a rock-solid showbiz couple, and their fans will be absolutely shocked and devastated."
Famous exes
James, who played Michael Kavanagh in This City Is Ours, has also appeared in Disney's A Thousand Blows, the BBC's Brinks-Mat crime series The Gold, and detective drama Strike. In 2024, he appeared in Reputation and short film Ryan Can't Read, both of which also featured Olivia. The Liverpudlian actor has previously been thought to be a contender for the next James Bond.
Jonathan Howard has a famous ex of his own: he was married to French actress Elodie Yung, known for playing Elektra Natchios in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Thony De La Rosa in The Cleaning Lady. They share a daughter.
After posting his trip to Ibiza with Olivia, Jonathan posted pictures of a holiday to France with his daughter, who spent time with both of her grandmothers. Elodie was tagged in those pictures.
"Jonathan and Elodie separated over a year ago and remain close friends and co parents," a source told The Sun. Elodie has been open about their lockdown wedding, saying: "It was during COVID, during lockdown. The cute part was we had another couple of friends (who) were here. Our parents are in Europe, my mum is in Paris, and his mum is in the UK. So Jonny had his mum on his phone, and I had my mum on my phone, and they were all dressed up. They made an effort! And this is how we did it, which was fun."
Olivia and Jonathan have been co-starring on Coronation Street since January, when Olivia's character Jodie was introduced during the crossover Corriedale episode. Jodie is the half-sister of Shona Ramsey and reunited with her sister briefly before being thrown out amid her love of lying and revenge.
