Neighbours star Ryan Moloney announces he is leaving soap after nearly 30 years of playing ‘Toadie’

Ryan Moloney, pictured in 2022. Moloney, who has played Toadfish since 1995, is leaving Neighbours after 30 years on the show. Photograph: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

Ryan Moloney, the actor who has played Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi on Neighbours for nearly 30 years, is leaving the long-running Australian soap.

Moloney first joined Neighbours in 1994 aged 15, appearing as a one-off character named Cyborg. The following year he returned to play Toadfish, the brother of established character Kevin ‘Stonefish’ Rebecchi. Toadfish – or Toadie – was intended to be a one-scene role, but Moloney was called back and became so popular he was eventually made a permanent cast member in 1996.

Moloney remained with the show until it ended after 37 years in 2022, and returned when it was surprisingly rebooted by Amazon in 2023.

While the soap is famed for both dramatic deaths and reality-defying returns, both Moloney and Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison implied Toadie may avoid a tragic end – unlike many of Toadie’s wives.

On Thursday, Moloney announced he would be leaving the role and starting work as a director on the show. “I can’t tell you what is happening to the character – maybe I could be the next Jim Robinson. Or maybe I’ll be the next Harold Bishop and keep popping back over the years,” he said.

“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.”

Herbison called Moloney “Ramsay Street royalty” and said he was “ thrilled to support his directing ambitions”.

“The street won’t be the same without seeing him every week, however there’s every chance he will pop back in the future,” he said.

Speaking to the Guardian last year, Moloney said he had second thoughts about returning when the show was rebooted by Amazon, and spent the hiatus training in civil construction so he could build a farm.

“I have spent more of my life on Neighbours than off it,” he said. “It’s an interesting dynamic, to go from being famous to being nothing. I did think twice. But when the producer is sitting there in front of you, you go, ‘Well, hang on a second. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity – for an iconic show to wrap up, then get a rebirth as well.’”