In this exclusive edited extract, beloved actor and musician, Johnny Ruffo, 34, recalls the moment he first laid eyes on his girlfriend Tahnee Sims
Back in 2013, Chris Harrington may have found love in Summer Bay, but I found mine in a dance studio in Sydney in 2013.
I was preparing for an upcoming tour and using the studio for rehearsals and back-up dancer auditions. While passing through the waiting area, I saw a woman I recognised from Instagram. And this, kids, is how I met your mother. (Just kidding, I don’t have kids.) And this, friends, is how I met Tahnee Sims.
Here’s how Johnny (left) fell head over heels for Tahnee (right).
(Image: Instagram)Technically, I met Tahnee on Instagram a few months prior. I don’t know what Insta-cupid was working their magic, but I stumbled onto her account, and after scrolling through a checkerboard of photos of her dancing, laughing with friends and travelling the world, I immediately knew I needed to know more.
So I did what any sane 26-year-old would do. I slid into her DMs [direct messages]. We chatted a bit back and forth, but nothing too deep. When I saw her in person, it was so unexpected that I didn’t really know how to approach her.
Hey, I’m the guy from your inbox!
Hey, I’m the guy who deep-scrolled and accidentally liked that photo you posted in February 2012. (Still dying of embarrassment.)
Hey, I’m the guy who would desperately like to get to know you.
Johnny is battling brain cancer, and recently revealed it is terminal.
(Image: Instagram)They all felt wrong (clearly). For a few weeks, we kept crossing paths at the studio, but neither of us could work up the courage to do more than hold eye contact for slightly longer than one should or fumble our way through small talk.
One Monday, we were both walking out the door at the same time when her friend, Amy, tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey! Are you free Wednesday?” she chirped.
I cracked a grin because I could smell a schoolyard date set-up a mile away.
“Yes …” I said coyly.
Amy turned to Tahnee and stated, “And you’re free Wednesday… So why don’t you two hang out?”
WATCH: Johnny Ruffo returns as special guest on Dancing With The Stars. Article continues after video
Thank God I managed to make my brain work with my mouth and tap into the charming guy I knew that lived inside me. From there, I asked Tahnee for her phone number and invited her over for dinner and a movie.
When Wednesday rolled around, I was conscious that I was nervous. There was something about Tahnee that made me struggle for words.
While she is an absolute stunner, I’m going to conclude that it was her talent as a dancer and radiant energy that rendered me smitten. The woman was pure daylight.
Tahnee arrived at 7pm on the dot and the first thing out of her mouth was a playful jab at me for not selecting her as a backup dancer. Ooooooph. “I didn’t get to choose! It was up to the producers,” I tried to explain.
Johnny and Tahnee met in a dance studio in 2013.
(Image: Instagram)Tahnee laughed and then joked with a wink, “It was sh-t choreography anyway.”
Over the course of the evening, I learned that Tahnee was originally from Byron Bay and had been studying performing arts in Sydney for two years. Passionate about dancing, she was working heaps and probably didn’t even have time to be my back-up dancer.
Even though I was touring and doing shows and Tahnee was dancing most weekends, we managed to find time to have lots of evenings like this. About three months in, I got to meet her family.
I don’t know why I thought they’d be pot-smoking, Camilla kaftan-wearing, green-juice-drinking yuppy hippies, but they couldn’t have been further from that. In fact, Tahnee’s dad, Kevin, and brother, Jayden, are total cowboys. I’m serious. You could serve an entire Christmas dinner on one of their belt buckles.
And before I knew it, we were all chatting away about everything from travel to TV shows to tennis.
On the flight back to Sydney from Byron, I kept thinking about how much I liked Tahnee and her family. The magnitude of it made me nervous.
What if I stuff it up?
What if Tahnee meets someone better?
This is an edited extract from Johnny’s new book, No Finish Line.
(Image: Instagram)What if I meet someone better?
Determined not to let my inner monologue get the best of me, I pushed those confronting thoughts aside and asked Tahnee how she felt about travelling over to Perth with me to meet my nonna and family.
She very much liked the sound of it.
No Finish Line by Johnny Ruffo is out now (Allen & Unwin). BUY HERE from Booktopia.
