When actor Ryan Moloney first stepped onto the set of Neighbours in 1994 to play Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi, the role was only supposed to be a one-off guest appearance.
Fast-forward almost three decades and Toadie, as he’s affectionately known, is the third continuous longest-serving character in the show’s 39-year history, after Dr Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne).
Toadie’s journey from troubled class clown (complete with resplendent mullet) to clean-cut lawyer is one of Erinsborough’s greatest success stories.
“Ryan is a beloved Neighbours cast member and Toadie is an iconic character,” executive producer Jason Herbison tells TV WEEK. “Very few actors can turn a bit-part into a near-30-year acting role and that’s testament to Ryan’s talent and versatility.”
Fans have weathered plenty of storms with Toadie, including five marriages, often ending in tragic circumstances.
But Toadie’s eventful and impressively long run is coming to an end, with Ryan, 44, announcing in June that he would be leaving the iconic soap.
“Although I won’t be bringing you our fantastic storylines from in front of the camera, I do hope to be bringing them to you from the other side, behind the camera,” Ryan said in a video posted to social media.
“I’m going to miss you and I’m going to miss him [Toadie], and I’m going to miss Erinsborough.”
While fans prepare to say goodbye to the beloved character, we’ve collected some of Toadie’s biggest moments on Neighbours.
1999: Mullet gets the chop!
History was made when Australia’s most iconic hairdo was hacked off. As it turns out, off-screen, Ryan wasn’t a fan of the mullet, revealing in a 2012 interview: “It looked like I had a dead rat hanging out the back of my head.” His long-held desire to get the chop became a storyline in which Toadie agreed to let Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver) cut his hair for charity.
2003: Dee goes off a cliff
Poor Toadie is truly cursed in the romance department, and it all started with his first wedding – to Dee Bliss (Madeleine West). The just-married couple made the fateful decision to have a smooch while driving, but Toadie lost control of the vehicle and it plummeted off a cliff and into the ocean. While Toadie survived, Dee vanished (more on that later).
2008: Toadie is humiliated at the alter by Steph
Keen for another friends-to-lovers romance after Dee’s presumed death, Toadie set his sights on mate Steph Scully (Carla Bonner). Initially hesitant, Steph eventually caved and soon, the pair got engaged. But on the big day, Steph was late to the ceremony and then stumbled over her vows. A devastated Toadie halted proceedings, realising that Steph never really loved him. Ouch!
2013: Deadly explosion at Toadie & Sonya’s wedding
You’d think Toadie would have taken the hint to not get married again, but he loved Sonya Mitchell (Eve Morey) enough to tempt fate again. All was well until the reception, when a gas bottle exploded and brought their marquee down. The tragedy took the lives of Erinsborough locals Rhys Lawson (Ben Barber) and Priya Kapoor (Menik Gooneratne), while Sonya suffered short-term memory loss.
2014: Broken bum-induced abstinence
They say you should never drive angry, and when Kathy Carpenter (Tina Bursill) did, she suffered a heart attack and mowed down an unsuspecting Toadie! Surviving the accident, Toadie fractured his tailbone and was forced to suffer the double indignity of using a doughnut cushion and being unable to perform his marital duties.
2017: Fake Dee scandal
After Dee’s apparent post-wedding demise, Toadie always wondered if she’d somehow survived. Which is why he was willing to believe it when “Dee” showed up on his doorstep more than a decade later. It’s tough to sum up the Fake Dee Saga concisely, but it involves conwoman Andrea Somers, a doctored paternity test, an affair in London and the eventual revelation that Dee had an evil twin!
2019: Sonya’s death
We told you it was mostly “downs” when it comes to Toadie’s journey, and this has to be one of his toughest moments. After many years of marriage and even a renewal of their vows, Sonya was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and ultimately lost her battle with the illness, slipping away in Toadie’s arms at the beach with her family.
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