Ryan Thomas is famously known for his portrayal of Jason Grimshaw on ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2000 until 2016. The actor also enjoyed a few stints on reality TV following his departure from the show.
In a new interview, Ryan revealed all about his finances during his time on the show and after. He said that he didn’t have a good role model when it came to money while growing up. He has had an interesting career – he won Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip in 2022 and won this year’s Dancing on Ice.
Now 40, he reflected on how he handled money aged 16. He told The Times: “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.
“It’s so long ago I can’t remember how much I took my eye off the ball, but I know that I was always late paying it back and it became a debt that I never knew existed.”
The then-16-year-old used to even pay for his friends as they couldn’t afford to go out – meaning Ryan ended up spending a lot as he wanted them to go out.
Getting candid about money further, Ryan explained he did have a difficult time in his life. He told The Times he filed for bankruptcy in 2013 over a tax bill which he says came down to pure carelessness.
“But I don’t regret any of the things that happened to me because I actually feel like they’ve been a real blessing. 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,” he said.
Last week Ryan Thomas proudly joined his daughter to help her celebrate her sixteenth birthday – but the teenager’s Coronation Street star mum was seemingly absent.
Soap star Ryan fell for co-star Tina O’Brien, 41 – who has played Sarah-Louise Platt since 1999 on Coronation Street. The couple enjoyed a romance that lasted from 2003 until 2009, welcoming their daughter, Scarlett in 2008.