"What the hell is he doing here?" Home and Away star's first impressions of Johnny Ruffo
Lynne McGranger has opened up about how her first impressions of Johnny Ruffo were "so, so wrong", before the pair formed an unlikely friendship.
Opening up to 7Life, the veteran Home and Away actress shared when she first met Ruffo, when he joined the cast of the soap in 2013 after finding fame on The X Factor.
Lynne recalled watching Ruffo, who is now battling terminal brain cancer, on the singing competition and “thinking he was such a talent”.
“I do remember him coming onto the show and, to be honest, probably rolling my eyes and thinking, bloody reality television star,” Lynne tells 7Life.
“I did see him on X Factor and I remember thinking he was gorgeous, smart, funny and a beautiful guy."
“I thought he was such a talent, but then rolled my eyes going, well he’s not an actor so what the hell is he doing here?”
Lynne says despite her reservations on his first on-set day, the pair had an instant connection and became the best of friends.
“Those initial thoughts of mine were so, so wrong,” she admits.
“It couldn’t have been further from the truth because he was a hard worker; he really, really wanted to nail it and learn about acting.”
Looking back on Ruffo’s three years on the show, Lynne says he was “fun to be around and naughty”.
“We just hit it off from day one, and I’m sort of like his older sister or he calls me his ‘East Coast Mama’ because his actual mama is on the west coast.”
Despite their 35-year age gap, Lynne believes the two remain close friends mainly because their “sense of humour is the same”.
“He is the most irreverent person you could ever, ever meet but because he’s funny and cheeky he gets away with murder,” she laughs.
“He’s just naughty and irrepressible and all those things, and I think that’s what I loved about him."
“Johnny doesn’t take himself too seriously, you know, for a young, handsome, talented man - he must have had women falling all over him.”
While Johnny has been battling brain cancer, Lynne has been a fierce supporter of him and has stuck by his side while he goes through treatment.
Previously speaking to TV Week, Ruffo said, "She's been amazing."
"I can't stress enough how people like her help get through tough times. She's just a wonderful person. Having people like that to say 'Oh, how are you feeling this week?' and little sweet things like that make all the difference. It's a great support network."
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