Former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas has opened up about how he dealt with being declared bankrupt.
The actor, best known for his role as Jason Grimshaw in the show, filed for bankruptcy in 2013 as a result of being aware of an unpaid tax bill.
As a result of joining the ITV soap at the age of 16, Ryan began earning a lot of money at a very young age, even securing a salary of £100k a year after joining the show. Because he couldn’t manage his finances though, things quickly spiralled for him.
‘I had money from a very young age – and for a 16 year old I had a hell of a lot of money. So, I did have a credit card growing up and it caused me a few problems’, he explained to The Times.
Ryan, who also featured in Australian soap Neighbours in 2018, revealed that he fell into debt as a result of struggling to pay off credit card bills.
‘I don’t regret any of the things that happened to me because I actually feel like they’ve been a real blessing’, he said.
‘I’ve learnt so much and I don’t think to myself, “Oh, I did this, I did that,” because I’m the sort of guy who takes a day at a time anyway. I don’t really think about too much into the future and during that time I was earning anyway, so it wasn’t like I was jobless. I just lost everything and started again.’
After leaving the acting industry in 2021, Ryan went on to feature in shows such as Celebrity MasterChef, Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Big Brother.
When asked about returning to acting, the star said: ‘It is my trade after all, so I need to use that to the best of my advantage’.
Ryan is the brother of Adam Thomas, a former Emmerdale star who also stars in Waterloo Road as Donte Charles.
It’s very much a family affair where this show is concerned, as Donte’s daughter is played by Scarlett Thomas, who is the real-life daughter of Ryan and Coronation Street’s Tina O’Brien.
Donte’s son is also played by Adam’s son Teddy.
