It’s the end of an era, as Ramsay Street’s favourite son, Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi, finally leaves home in one of Neighbours’ most emotional farewells.
After nearly dying in the desert, this week, Toadie (Ryan Moloney) has the harsh revelation there’s nothing left for him in Erinsborough.
Deciding to move to Colac in Victoria with his kids Nell (Ayisha Salem-Towner) and Hugo (Tanner Ellis-Anderson), some are excited for his next chapter – like ex-wife Melanie (Lucinda Cowden) – while others are devastated by the news.
“Toadie has never got over the death of his wife Sonya [Eve Morey] and needs to find a way to do that without replacing her with a new love,” Lucinda, 59, tells TV WEEK. “I’m glad they end up understanding each other, and their friendship is still so strong at the end.”
On the other hand, his soon-to-be ex-wife Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) has the opposite reaction.
“She’s devastated by Toadie’s decision,” Rebekah, 50, says. “They were having problems, but never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined it would come to this.”
Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan (Jackie Woodburne), Toadie’s “surrogate parents”, throw him a farewell party to celebrate their many years spent together, sending him off in style – Hawaiian shirts and all!
Reflecting on Ryan’s 30 years on the series, Alan says that while it’s hard to say goodbye to anyone from the Neighbours family, it’s “particularly hard when it comes to Toadie”.
“That said, the lovely thing is we all know he is moving on to bigger things and will still be part of the team in one way or another,” Alan, 67, adds.
As Toadie packs up and heads off on his next adventure, it marks the closing of a chapter for Neighbours and is officially the end of the road for Toad.