As the UK’s biggest soap stars, these three siblings should be used to being recognised but their parents make sure they have as normal childhood as possible.
Meet the Leeds family with three child stars who have taken the soap world by storm.
Chris Flanagan, a store manager at TK Maxx, and his wife Rachel are parents to Amelia, 15, and 12-year-old twins Will and Bella, who are all making waves in the country’s biggest soap operas.
Despite their fame, family life in their home near Leeds remains remarkably normal.
Amelia is a familiar face as April Windsor in Emmerdale, a role she landed at just five-years-old, playing the daughter of Donna Windsor and Marlon Dingle.
Meanwhile, her younger siblings Will and Bella joined the cast of Coronation Street as cousins Joseph Brown and Hope Dobbs nearly four years later.
For Chris and Rachel, life is a juggling act, ferrying their children between school and the sets of Emmerdale and Coronation Street.
Rachel admits it’s a “lot to manage” with each week bringing a new and unpredictable schedule. In an interview with OK! magazine, she revealed: “The kids can work anything from zero to five days a week. So multiplied by three, that’s a lot to manage.”
When asked how their children’s soap stardom came about, Rachel confessed she’s often asked but doesn’t have an answer.
Recalling the moment they found out Will had landed a role, Rachel said: “After Will auditioned I remember we were in Pizza Hut in Liverpool and the agent rang us and said, ‘Are you sitting down?’ and she told us we were going to have three kids in soaps.”
She added: “It was just crazy. I don’t ever think things are forever but for the last six years that’s been our life.”
Chris revealed that their days often begin as early as 6am, and it takes some time to adjust to the demanding filming schedules.
He said: “They’ll be filming summer in early spring, and it’s still freezing, then filming Christmas when it’s still warm because it’s only September.
“They do it all and just take it in their stride. Amelia doesn’t know any different really, she’s been in Emmerdale for two thirds of her life.”
Despite the soap taking up a significant amount of their time, Chris emphasized that school is always a priority, and if they miss any classes, they catch up online.
Rachel added that they maintain regular contact with the school and have tutors on set, with the children sometimes receiving an additional three hours of tutoring per day on top of filming. So, how do they manage it all?
Rachel credited their supportive network, saying: “We have the most fantastic friends and family who I can ring up and ask, ‘Can you go pick Bella up from such and such and take her to such and such,’ and they’re all just wonderful. My mum helps with the chaperoning too and we have a really supportive family.”
