Neighbors Toadie praised co-stars ‘incredibly inspiring’ before exit | Soap

Neighbors legend Ryan Moloney shocked fans around the world earlier this year when he announced he would be leaving Australian soaps after almost three decades as Toadie Rebecchi.

He is one of the most recognizable names in the Amazon Freevee soap, joining as a troubled teenager in 1995 and remaining a stalwart for thousands of subsequent episodes.

Actor Ryan Moloney has grown up on the show – by his own admission, he’s spent more of his life as Toadie than he has himself – but a few years ago he decided it was time to move on.

The plan was immediately halted when the British broadcaster Channel 5 suddenly cut funding, and the show was canceled in 2022. Ryan knew that it would be best if he remained part of television history in the ‘finale’ episode which saw Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan reprise their roles the first since the late 80s.

Fast forward four months and he is one of the faces announcing that streaming giant Amazon Freevee is launching a revival. After agreeing to sign on the dotted line for a ‘new chapter’, the boss decided to give him a contract for a year to finally fulfill his desire to continue.

Ahead of the nationwide UK tour made ‘Toad on the Road’ (clever, ay?) which kicks off tonight, and plans to spend more time renovating the extraordinary farmland-named in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Metro.co.uk caught up with Ryan to discuss the season, and the best bits of Great Britain.

Did you always want to be an actor?

No, and I still don’t want to be an actor! I really want to become a pilot and join the Air Force. I did it just for fun and then it became a job. Here we are!

I used to use Neighbors as an excuse to get out of class – especially Geography, I hate Geography. He couldn’t argue, I just said ‘Excuse me sir, I have to work.’

What causes jealousy among your friends?

Um… I don’t know. If they are, it doesn’t look like that. Everyone at school just treated me like I was an annoying nerd.

Some Neighbors stars have made it big in the music industry. Have you been approached to follow in his footsteps?

In terms of making an album? No, I think executives might hear me sing and think ‘No, that’s not the way for them.’ I think we’ll leave that to someone else. Unless you want a really crappy Christmas album, we can do that. I really enjoyed doing it.

You have to love a bit of karaoke though!

Oh well, yes. Princess by Pearl Jam is probably one that always kind of comes out. My husband loves to hear me sing that song. He always told me to sing blood! And I was like ‘oh, okay, come on…’

You are in England throughout September. Where is your favorite place?

Oh… my favorite place. I’m going with The Pot Still which is a whiskey bar up in Glasgow. I want to see more of Scotland actually. What controversial say?

What did Ryan Moloney drink last night?

It depends on who pays really! I like whiskey though – Irish whiskey too.

We have a lot of culinary here. What is your UK food?

It should be bangers and mash. And you have great tasting crisps. There’s something like grilled chicken that’s like you (right) eating grilled chicken, not like that.

There’s also pork and apples. They are good. Anything goes well with a pint.

What is your greatest achievement in life?

Probably staying married for 20 years is quite an achievement. For one woman. Having only one wife (unlike Toadie), was a good start.

Who is the most inspiring person in your life?

Now I’m going to lead with two people that I’ve actually worked with – Shiv (Palekar, who plays Haz Devkar) and Georgie (Stone, Mackenzie Hargreaves), I think they’re really inspiring.

Shiv because of the nonsense he had to go through to get an Australian visa and stay in the country as an immigrant. His story is amazing, the phenomenon that happened to him.

Georgie is a wonderful human being. He spoke to parliament (about trans rights for children) at the age of 15 or 13, and now he goes and gives a big talk in front of thousands of people.

Is that a gaffe? Not before DAS.. oooh.. (laughs). Oh but me! There. Sometimes you just have to shake things up.

We have built a new house now, and are ready to move into it, which we do today and tomorrow and at the weekend. The kids have been there since the beginning of the week and they feel good because they have the whole house.

In 2013 you were a finalist in the Celebrity Brother. Do you want to do more reality TV?

As long as it’s interesting, why not? I like the show ‘Alone’. There were like a dozen people and quite a lot of them left for the desert with ten items and they were alone, alone. Whoever can last the longest. Hunting, gathering and survival skills, things like that, are more me. I am like that.

How I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!? Of course you should do the Australian version filmed in South Africa…

My husband still wants me to do it, (but) it just doesn’t seem fun. We live on a farm, and quite often I’ll be at work and I’ll smell my hands and I’ll be like ‘oh my god’. We played a fun game of ‘who is it?’ – is that sheep sh*t? Or sheep sh*t? Or an owl or a horse?’ As long as it’s not mine, I’m fine.

Everyone is scared of scary things in Australia, but I was like ‘oh my gosh’. Horrible eating and stuff like that, I don’t think so to be honest. Not too far from my real life.

It was not your decision to leave Neighbors. How did that happen?

When Neighbors comes back, we’ll get 12 month options (in) the contract, and I guess that’s the sort of plan to kind of wind up Toadie in the way.

When Neighbors wrapped up the first time from Channel 5, I was thinking ‘I would like to leave, but I think it is finished so I would like to be there for the end of the show.’

When they said Neighbors back I thought ‘I’m going to be there for when they come back.’

The producers also knew that I wanted to move on and do other things, but at the same time I wasn’t happy with the experience. So who knows, I might end up ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!’

You have taken a step behind the scenes and have directed an episode. How can this be done?

Yes, I really like it and it feels very natural, like where I should be. I just love the whole process, it works sing creative from the start, and not just for my character but other people’s characters. Not only creative but also helping and guiding in a way, be it the crew or the cast.

All processes, can navigate and solve problems. If I can see that something is better, I can make it better.

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