Iconic Neighbours star quits after 30 years ‘I’m leaving Ramsay Street’

Neighbours actor Ryan Maloney has emotionally revealed he will be leaving the soap after 30 years.

The star first joined the Aussie soap back in 1995 as Toadie ‘Toadfish’ Rebecchi. In the announcement of his departure, Ryan explained he will be turning his hand to directing and assures fans he will remain as part of the Neighbours family.

In a video released to fans this morning, Ryan says he is ‘formerly’ a cast member. He goes on to say that “after 30 years of playing Toadie, I will be leaving Ramsay Street”.

Ryan added: “Now, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen to the character, whether or not we’re going to see him again or not.”

Ryan Maloney

Ryan continued in the video: “And although I won’t be bringing you our fantastic storylines from in front of the camera, I will be bringing them to you from the other side, behind the camera.

“I’ve just started director training and have just finished filming my first episode as director - so I really hope that you enjoy that.”

“Thank you all for the love that you have shown me and Toadie over the years. Three decades, in fact. I’ll miss you, I’ll miss him, and I’ll miss Erinsborough… but whatever you do, make sure you don’t miss what’s going to happen on Ramsay Street.”

Ryan Maloney, Stefan Dennis, Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburn

Producer of Neighbours Jason Herbison added: “Toadie is an Australian television icon and Ryan is Ramsay Street royalty. The street won’t be the same without seeing him every week however there’s every chance he will pop back in the future.

“In the meantime, we’re thrilled to support his directing ambitions and can’t wait for viewers to see how Toadie’s season-long story arc plays out. Ryan’s been instrumental in the journey and has blown us away with his performance.”

Ryan also plugged his new show, ‘Toad on the Road’ - following the success of the Neighbours celebration tour, Toadie will be going on a solo tour to talk about his three decades on screen.

Ryan Maloney and Eve Morey

The synopsis for 'Toad on the Road' reads; ‘From multiple weddings, a huge extended family, a controversial baby lie, the full monty, wrestling and more, Toadie has been at the heart of some of the Australian soaps biggest stories across the last 28 years.

‘And now audiences get to reminisce alongside Ryan as he looks back across all of Toadie’s biggest stories, reveals never before heard behind the scenes secrets, and shares his vision for some of the plots he has always wanted the lovable lawyer to be involved in.’

Ryan Maloney, Lesley Baker and Nicholas Coghlan

Neighbours was axed by Channel 5 in 2022 and went on to have a huge finale episode where the likes of Jason Donovan (Scott Robinson) and Kyle Minogue (Charlene Robinson) returned.

After being off air for a few months, Neighbours was picked up by Amazon FreeVee and returned in September 2023 with a two year time jump in which Toadie was shockingly married to Terese Willis (played by Rebebah Elmaloglou).