‘I'd Only Move To Australia If My Ex Came!'

The former Coronation Street and now Neighbours star reveals all to us about his time in Oz and how he’s looking forward to being a family man again

- Rosie Gizauskas

Ryan Thomas is a soap actor through and through. we know him best for his 16-year run on Corrie’s cobbles as ladies’ man Jason Grimshaw, but when we chat to him it’s about his stint in Neighbours, his first big TV role since leaving weatherfield. while on Corrie, Ryan dated Tina o’Brien, who plays Sarah Platt on the soap, and they had daughter Scarlett, now nine. They’ve split but remain friends, and Ryan, 33, is now seeing reality star Lucy mecklenburgh. He opens up about what he missed most when he was in australia…

‘Everyone watched Neighbours when they were younger. I grew up watching the soap and that’s why it was such huge deal to me when I was asked to be on it! I played a troublesome character called Rafael. He’s back in Oz after he moved back to England when he was 10 years old. I don’t want to say too much because I have a tendency to give away plotlines sometimes, but let’s just say that Rafael has some scores to settle. He’s not a happy bunny. Luckily, I didn’t have to do a dodgy Aussie accent as Rafael grew up in Manchester!’

‘I couldn’t move over to Australia permanently. It’s too difficult, as I have a daughter. Moving to the other side of the world wouldn’t be possible for me. It was an amazing experience though and it was a really important step for me in my career.’