Johnny Ruffo
John Patrick Ruffo (8 March 1988 – 10 November 2023)[1] was an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, actor, and television presenter. He played main character Chris Harrington from 2013-2016.
Biography[]
Johnny Ruffo was born in Balcatta, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia in 1988. A keen musician, he taught himself to play guitar and piano. He wrote his first song at the age of 14 and later performed around Perth with an electropop band. In 2011 he competed in X-Factor and made it to the final. His debut single On Top reached number 14 in the charts. He returned to the X-Factor franchise, presenting the online tie-in show The X Stream. In 2012 he was a supporting act for the Australian leg of the NKOTBSB Tour (a joint tour of 90s superstars New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys). Johnny competed in Dancing with the Stars in that same year and won the competition. Over the coming years he released more singles, but none of them were as successful as his debut.
Home and Away[]
In 2013 Johnny joined the cast of Home and Away, playing Chris Harrington. He was initially signed up for 16 episodes but his contact was extended. In 2014 he received a Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent nomination, though he lost out to H&A castmate Bonnie Sveen. He left Home and Away in 2016 to pursue other projects.
2016-2023[]
After leaving Home and Away, Johnny played Dave King in the TV mini-series House of Bond[2].
In August 2017 Johnny underwent brain surgery and announced that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer. He underwent aggressive treatment for it and in 2019 he told Fitzy & Wippa that he was "currently clear of cancer ". In 2020 he appeared in 6 episodes of Neighbours, playing Owen Campbell.
Sadly, Johnny's cancer returned and in 2022 he revealed that the condition was now terminal [3] He died in November 2023.