"He is everything to me": Why Johnny Ruffo is hanging on for Christmas
Beloved former Home and Away star Johnny Ruffo has opened up amid his terminal cancer diagnosis sharing the emotional reason he is holding out for Christmas.
After spending years in the public eye, Ruffo is telling his tragic yet heartwarming story in a memoir.
The 34-year-old told 7entertainment in an exclusive interview that his terminal diagnosis has given him a new goal, that being, looking forward to Christmas time. Johnny will reunite with his brother and “best friend”, who has been away in Ireland for the past three years.
The siblings share a two-year age gap and fondly says they are “thick as thieves”.
Ruffo has also admitted that his greatest hopes in life have changed. “Just time now, I suppose," he said. "More time with loved ones."
“My brother lives in Ireland now so I haven’t seen him for three years and he’s coming home for Christmas and I honestly can’t wait to see him.”
The singer speaks highly of his brother, stating he is his “closest” confidante, other than girlfriend Tahnee Sims.
“We’re thick as thieves. Honestly, he is my hero, he is everything to me. And I cannot wait to see him,” he said.
“I don’t know how I’m going to react, I cannot wait, he’s everything.”
Ruffo touched on the brothers’ long-distance relationship throughout COVID and his second battle with cancer, calling Michael’s physical absence “the most glaring impact” of it all.
Ruffo called his last family Christmas “very quiet and low-key”.
"Sadly, the most contact I could have with my brother in Ireland was via WhatsApp. All jokes aside, I miss him a lot because out of all the men in my life, my brother is the one who sees me even better than I can see myself.”
Talking about what he plans to do with his remaining time, Ruffo said he “still has so many things that I want to achieve and that I want to do in life”.
He revealed that naming the book No Finish Line meant it “wasn’t the end”.
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