'I'VE LOST THE BUG' Ryan Thomas says he’s quit acting after being rejected from auditions and trolls slammed his Neighbours performance
CORONATION Street favourite Ryan Thomas says he has no desire to act again after a string of rejections - admitting: "I've lost the bug for it."
The 36-year-old soap star explained he found being criticised for his performances "really hard". Ryan played Corrie's Jason Grimshaw for 16 years before joining Neighbours as Rafael Humphreys. But more recently he has concentrated on projects with his brothers Adam and Scott, such as their travel TV series and podcast.
Speaking on their popular Mancs On The Mic show, Ryan explained rejection had ground him down. He said: "It's so hard for me. I started off acting, I started off in that game and I really lost the bug for it. "I feel the reason for losing the bug is rejection and going to auditions and not getting them."
He added that he was stung after reading unkind comments about his performances in Australia on social media. Ryan said: "I went over to do Neighbours and I just saw on social media that there were just quite negative comments towards me and my acting. "I’ve never had that before because social media wasn’t around. I never got it in Corrie because I never had social media when I was in Corrie. "If I did, it was at the end but I was so established there that people saw me as fixtures and fittings, so I never really got that sort of negative criticism.
He added: "It happens in all aspects but I just found it really really hard to deal with at first. "I always think, ‘Oh, it’ll [the desire to act] come back at some point and maybe it will and it’s still something that I have in my locker if I want to explore it again. "Right now I’m really happy with the direction I’m going."