Prior to this week, what is Alya’s thoughts on Ryan?
Alya knows Ryan from round and about. When he first came to the street he asked her for a job at the factory but he was a bit of a clown so she thought he was wasting her time. She didn’t think much of him and it’s only through Bethany that he has come back in to her orbit because Bethany wants Alya to give him a job at Speed Daal.
Alya has been unlucky in love. What is it that she sees in Ryan that makes her agree to a date?
Alya agrees to go on a date with Ryan because he doesn’t really give her the option not to! He is so flirty, so forward, so fun and she hasn’t had someone give her that attention in a very long time. Yasmeen thinks that it’s not Alya’s priority to have a relationship right now but Alya doesn’t really like people speaking on her behalf and she doesn’t want to be known as someone who is not looking for love because she does have needs and she wants to feel what she had in the past with Luke. Yasmeen makes a comment which is quite raw and fresh in Alya’s mind when Ryan makes his advances on Alya so she thinks, “Why not? What’s the harm?”
Could Ryan bring out a different side to Alya after the tough time she has had?
She really put herself out there with Luke and she is still healing from the loss of Luke in such a horrendous way added with Aidan taking his own life and she has just lost her best friend, Rana. There is definitely a hole in life and she is lacking that human connection so I think that’s why sometimes I do question her morals because she has stuck to the rules and tried to be a good person and that has done her no good because she has still lost so much. I can understand why she can be cold and black and white but she is still looking for love.
How much does Alya know about Bethany’s feelings for Ryan?
She doesn’t know anything, Alya just thinks Bethany and Ryan are friends and that she is trying to do him a favour. Even though he is a bit of a joker, Bethany really backs him but as far as Alya is concerned he is young, free and single because he tells Alya he is. Alya can only go on the information that she is told.
How compatible do you think Ryan and Alya are?
I think they are chalk and cheese! They are very opposite but I like that. When I have personally been thinking about who would be a good match for my character in terms of relationships I would never have thought Ryan but actually they are quite perfect because I think she would balance him out and he is already bringing out a more fun, relaxed, playful side to Alya which we just haven’t had the opportunity to see. It’s always been there but it’s just been buried really deep so she has needed someone to bring that out in her. She doesn’t need someone who is serious, she doesn’t need someone who is going to cause her a lot of drama, she needs someone who is going to bring out that warm side to her. Ryan is so boisterous and so wild that actually he does need taming a little bit so that will be really interesting to see if it does progress what Alya will bring out in Ryan.
What is Alya’s first thoughts when she sees Ryan and Bethany loved up?
She is very hurt and her defences go up straight away. She can’t even try and understand it because she sees it as a bit of a personal attack which obviously it’s not but she just can’t see the fuller picture. She thinks, “You’ve lied to me, you’re in the wrong, I am in the right, Bethany should know,” but that is just her defence mechanism because she is so surprised by this and really wasn’t expecting it. Ryan has been so flirty with her that she has started to catch feelings and then suddenly he stops so she gets really angry and then when she sees Bethany and Ryan together she is really hurt. Her pride is hurt, her ego is knocked and she feels really embarrassed by the whole situation.
How deep are her feelings for Ryan?
There is definitely a connection and she has really enjoyed the distraction of him, she wanted to see where it could go. The way that he has been so nice to her when she was upset about Luke came from a genuine place and she knows that so there are these little things that she is catching on to that are forming her opinion of him in a good way.
If Bethany and Alya are to go head to head for Ryan, who do you think would be the better match?
I don’t know about a better match but Bethany and Alya both have very different needs. Bethany has been through a harrowing time, she is looking for love again in a different sense so there are differences and I don’t think they are bad differences. Generally I don’t believe in ‘The One,’ you can make a connection with someone and as long as you work at it you can turn it in to a beautiful relationship and I think maybe that could be the case with Ryan; maybe he could have a really successful relationship with either of them.
Do you think this could cause a wedge between Alya and Bethany?
Alya genuinely didn’t know that Bethany had feelings for Ryan and it is Ryan who has lied. As much as it is hurtful and embarrassing for Alya, she does think there is no malicious in the situation.
What advice would you give to Alya in this situation?
I think her initial reaction is a bit too over the top and she is a bit too defensive and if it is Bethany who Ryan wants, who is Alya to hold them back? I would advise Alya to put this down to experience.
Glenda Young
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