”I wondered whether I’d be able to feed myself let alone anybody else.”
Although Ray Meagher has played the seasoned Summer Bay resident Alf Stewart on our televisions for a long time, the reality of his life differs slightly from that of his fictitious persona.
While Ray has previously explained why he doesn’t have any children, Alf has served as a father, stepfather, and foster parent.
In 2018, he told The Daily Telegraph that he had considered having children but decided against it owing to the unpredictable nature of playing. “When I was younger and a freelance actor, I wondered whether I’d be able to feed myself let alone anyone else,” he said.
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He continued, “It’s an odd old profession, highly precarious, and an odd old job employment-wise.
Despite not having any children of his own, Ray is the stepfather to Rebecca, an adult daughter of his wife Gilly, and the two keep in touch on a daily basis.
He told the publication, “I have a stepdaughter Rebecca who is in her early 40s.”
I love that I get to talk to her at least once a week and meet up with her for brunch or breakfast as often as the Home and Away schedule allows, which is maybe once every two weeks.
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The actor and Gilly were wed in 2010, and after 12 years of marriage, he claimed that she prefers to keep a low profile.
The 78-year-old gave an explanation for why she skipped the Logies in 2018: “Gilly would rather swallow a tonne of bricks than go there.”
She is at ease with that since she adds, “That’s your business; you go, and you don’t have to worry about me… not knowing a whole bunch of people.”
Gilly, a former nurse who prefers to stay in the background, plays a significant role in Ray’s life.
Ray, who underwent life-saving triple-bypass surgery in 2019 and was given the all-clear, attributed a lot of his recovery to his wife Gilly.
In 2020, Ray told our sister site New Idea that Gilly was “absolutely terrific” and that she had always been a great help to him.
After his first heart operation, he reiterated that sentiment when he also said to New Idea, “I truly don’t know what I would have done without Gilly.
“Once a nurse, always a nurse.”
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When Gilly isn’t saving his life, Ray says she’s a great cook, which is why the two of them are a good match.
I think it’s safe to say that I eat a reasonably balanced diet, and Gilly is also to blame for that, he remarked.
I can probably prepare three or four things, but I never go near the kitchen. I’m a lucky man indeed, Gilly adores cooking, and I enjoy eating, so we make a natural partnership.
Ray acknowledged that his health before Gilly entered his life was significantly different and that his “poor living for 40 years” as a result of prioritising “having too much fun” was the cause.
“She was a lifesaver, and she keeps me on the straight and narrow now,” he said.
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