The 30 seconds that changed Johnny Ruffo’s life forever
Johnny Ruffo made the (literal) last-minute decision to apply to the X-Factor auditions – a move which he now credits for his life changing irrevocably.
The 34-year-old was still tossing up between whether or not he should apply for the singing show in 2009, and when he did he only had 30 seconds to do so before the cut-off kicked in and he would miss his chance forever.
Of course, he went on to wow the judges and made it to the top three – which eventually saw him rise to fame and head off on tour tour with One Direction and The Backstreet Boys.
“I was fairly happy with the path that I made for myself,” Ruffo says.
“I had concerts, I was doing performances and shows, and I was really quite happy with how everything was going.”
It was a few years later, in 2017, when Ruffo was first diagnosed with brain cancer as he struggled with multiple headaches.
His girlfriend Tahnee Sims pushed him to go to hospital where he was told that if he hadn’t come in then he wouldn’t have woken up the next day.
But the Home and Away actor has now revealed that his cancer is back and it is terminal.
As he struggled through the headaches, Ruffo was forced to wait four months before seeing a specialist.
“The anxiety levels go up through the roof and you’re just waiting and waiting,” he told 7 Entertainment.
“And it’s like it feels like six months, but it’s only a week. And that’s just honestly... a day feels like a month.”
It was only when he suffered 11 seizures in four days that Ruffo was rushed to hospital where he underwent an MRI scan.
There they found multiple tumours and determined that he would have to start treatment immediately.
“It felt like another kick in the teeth... yeah, dammit,” he said.
The terminal diagnosis gave Ruffo a new “goal” in which he is waiting for Christmas where he will reunite with his brother and “best friend”, who has been away in Ireland for the past three years.
He has also released a book, No Finish Line, dedicated to his girlfriend, in which he details his experiences recording music, acting, his girlfriend, family and partying.
The title, he explains, is that “it wasn’t the end”.
Ruffo is currently receiving chemotherapy injections every three weeks which he says are making him feel like “s***”.
I’m always fatigued, just walking up a set of stairs,” he says.
“By the time I get to the top I just want to have a sleep.”
Images: Instagram