Ryan Thomas quits acting after 'losing the bug for it'

Ryan Thomas has appeared in Coronation Street and Neighbours, as well as winning Celebrity Big Brother

Former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas has announced he is quitting acting, after having "really lost the bug for it".

Thomas starred as Jason Grimshaw in the Weatherfield-based soap from 2000 to 2016, before popping up in the Australian soap Neighbours.

More recently he was crowned as 2018's Celebrity Big Brother winner.

Speaking to the Mancs On The Mic podcast, Ryan admitted he had become tired of being rejected for roles.

"It's so hard for me," he said. "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."

• Ryan Thomas wins Celebrity Big Brother

• Roxanne Pallett: 'I apologise to Ryan'

Speaking to his brothers and podcast hosts, Adam Thomas - the former Waterloo Road and Emmerdale actor - and Love Island personality Scott Thomas, he added that receiving "negative comments" from trolls online had also influenced his decision.

"I've never had that before because social media wasn't around," he continued. "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.

"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."

Thomas first appeared in Coronation Street aged 16, with is character's storylines revolving around his love life, grieving for his father Tony and being attacked by his enemy Callum Logan. Jason Grimshaw became a suspect in the latter's murder, and ultimately left for Thailand.

In 2018, Thomas appeared as Rafael Humphreys in Neighbours' Hit & Run special.

Later that year, Thomas's Celebrity Big Brother housemate Roxanne Pallett publicly apologised to him, saying she had "overreacted" when he "punched" her on the show. She said: "I was sensitive and emotional and mistook what was playful - I apologise for it, I shouldn't have questioned his motivation."

Last year, the three brothers confronted the issue of their absent father in an ITV documentary.

Family commitments

Thomas recently revealed on social media he is now doing food deliveries for Adam's restaurant, near Stockport.

The 36-year-old went on to say that making regular trips home to Manchester to also see his daughter Scarlett - whose mother is his ex-girlfriend and former Corrie colleague Tina O'Brien - had "put a strain" on his relationship with his fiancée and former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh.

Thomas and Mecklenburgh live in Essex with their baby son Roman.

"There is that trying to find a mix of making both work, and working out where you're going to end," he said.

"I think eventually I'd like to be in Manchester with both my kids, but at the moment it's having that help at hand in London, it's just easier, but I think eventually I would love to be back where I started, with all my brothers and all our kids.

"I think that's what'll happen eventually but we're just taking it a day at a time. I think that's what you've got to do with this family life."