INTERVIEW WITH RYAN MOLONEY – RECRUIT NUMBER 12 (AUSTRALIAN)

Age: 45

From: Victoria, Australia

Occupation: Actor 

Ryan Moloney is an Australian actor best known for playing Jarrod “Toadie” Rebecchi on Neighbours for nearly 30 years, becoming one of the show’s most recognisable and beloved characters. Originally joining in 1995 for a single-scene role, he became a core cast member, earning international recognition and a Golden Rose of Montreux nomination in 2004. Beyond the soap, Ryan has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother UK (Channel 5), The Masked Singer Australia and UK pantomimes, while also directing episodes of Neighbours. Passionate about fitness, charity, and personal challenges, he has completed the Melbourne Marathon and supports causes like the Starlight Children’s Foundation and Ovarian Cancer awareness. Now, Ryan is embracing a new challenge on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, bringing the same resilience and determination that defined his acting career.

Why did you sign up to take part in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins?

For the challenge. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You’ll never get this kind of opportunity to go and do these kind of activities with these type of people, and to really just throw yourself in the deep end and kind of see what comes out at the end. It’s a really rare opportunity and I think you’ve just got to say yes to these opportunities. Whether you’re scared or not, you’ve just got to take it on and actually find out.

What did you hope to get out of the experience?

I’m not too sure, but I did know that if I tried my hardest and gave 110%, then I would find out. So that’s kind of how it went.

Do you feel like you did give it 110%?

Oh my Lord, yeah. I don’t think I could have given any more. I think I only gave too much. In fact, after one of the challenges, the next day I was so, so sore because I’d done so much for everyone. And I was kind of like, oh, I should have probably just held some in reserve because now I’m struggling for this next stuff.

What was the toughest part?

I think probably the toughest part is the keeping up, just getting back up and making sure you keep going. You're so exhausted with nothing left and just have to get up and keep going, just keep going, just keep going. So that was the hardest part, but also the best lesson to learn.

What fears did you overcome?

I think probably the main fear that I overcame was of heights. Heights is one of those things where I've done a lot at height and actually really enjoyed it, but you're always scared of it anyway. But on this stuff, it was not an issue. So in the end I really enjoyed that part. 

What was the hardest challenge for you?

The resupply mission, going through the canyon and carrying all the stuff up. We had injured team members and exhausted team members, and I spent that whole time getting to the line — the start of the line — because there were parts you had to climb up. I’d get there, climb up, drag everybody up, drag all the stuff up, send them on their way, then leapfrog to the next point and do exactly the same thing. I was carrying a lot and doing that, so that just cooked me. The rat tunnels were horrible. That was just horrible. 

Going through the rat tunnels was so dusty. I couldn’t see anything. The only way I knew what to do was to follow the boots right in front of me. It was horrible. But probably the hardest was the rescue mission of the soldier. I had nothing left in the tank. The guy was so heavy. He had full body armour. Trying to get over uneven ground, dragging, lifting — I pulled a muscle doing that. I was like, oh my God, but you’ve just got to keep going.

What was harder for you — the physical or the mental challenge?

The mental challenge was probably the hardest part for me. Physically, I could go until I fall flat on my face and then get back up and try to keep going. But because of my ADHD, I was noticing all the little things that were going to get us screwed. Shoelaces undone, bags not done up properly — things we’d get hammered for. I was noticing it 24/7. I didn’t sleep for days. So the mental aspect was definitely the hardest.

How did you manage with the lack of sleep?

It was horrible. That’s probably the worst thing you can do for someone with ADHD. Your mental capacity just goes downhill. But once you go through it, you understand what was happening. And once you know it, you kind of go, okay, cool, happy days, and off you go. So the mental aspect is the hardest, but if you work out what’s going on, it becomes the easiest.

Did you plan on sharing your ADHD story on the show?

No. No, not at all. You know there’s always going to be a story for everyone, but I didn’t know what mine would be. During the interview it just came out, and I thought, well, okay, I guess we’re going down this path now.

Are you glad that you did share it?

Yeah, I think so. During the interview, this giant uncontrollable wave of emotion just opened up. It was like something I used to tap into when performing — a really visceral feeling. But normally, when they say cut, it stops. This didn’t stop. It just kept going. For my whole time there I had these huge emotional feelings. Then we’d go do a task and my brain would switch to task mode, thank God. But outside of that, it was like, what the hell is going on? So yeah, the mental aspect was really tough.

How did you find sharing a living space with everyone?

I’m quite happy on my own, but in those circumstances, I was okay. I didn’t have anyone snoring badly next to me. There was team camaraderie. You had to do everything in pairs. Graeme was like, I’m old, I’ll always need a wee, so if anyone needs to go, wake me up. A few people were like that, so it was good.

What was the food like?

It was a lot better than I thought it would be. Some of it was crazily dry — like eating chalk — but my metabolism was going so hard that you just had to eat as much as you could. Normally you’d vomit if you ate before physical activity, but here, as soon as you started moving, it was like you’d never eaten. You’re too hungry to care what it is. You just eat and try to get some rest before the next thing.

How did you find the heat?

I really like heat. I enjoyed it. We were shooting in Aussie winter, but I trained fully kitted up beforehand. Multiple jumpers, beanies, all of that in the gym. I knew we wouldn’t be in shorts and a T-shirt, so I wanted to get used to being covered

What did you think of the DS?

I thought they were really lovely. They give and react depending on what you put in. If you’re giving 110%, that’s all they want. They want you to push through failure. You could stand with them for an hour talking. Rudy wanted to know about our lives and told us about his. You’d ask about tattoos and they’d tell you stories. It was really nice. I didn’t look at them as scary, so they weren’t. Some people were fearful of them, but my interactions were just cool.

Did any of the other recruits surprise you?

Gabby was a beast. Phenomenal. On the wounded soldier task, she held an end the whole way through. Afterwards I realised she’d done more work than us and had the heavy end. You can’t underestimate a strong woman. She was like that the whole way through. Ben’s attitude was also really good. Watching the differences between athletes, solo athletes, and team athletes — how they handled things — was really interesting.

Was there a difference between athletes and non-athletes?

It wasn’t just athletes. It was people who’d done really hard things before. People who thrive on hardship handle things differently. Cole thrived. He gave so much effort. Even without a background that reflects hardship, he tackled things just as hard as the Olympians. But if it’s how you’ve earned a living and you’ve had psychologists and training for years, you’re obviously going to be better at it.

What advice would you give someone thinking of taking part in the future?

Do it. Absolutely do it. Do as much physical training as you can. Push yourself beyond 100% and then keep trying to find a new 100%.