Home and Away actor Ray Meagher has clarified how much time he will be taking off the soap as he reduces his workload.
The Alf Stewart actor has been an icon of the show since it began in 1988, but he recently revealed that he plans to give the character a bit of a rest.
He was pressed on this during a live link-up with This Morning today (March 27), as Phillip Schofield asked what the reduced hours mean.
"Oh, it doesn't mean much, Phillip, really," Ray said. "Over the last 10, 15, maybe 20 years, each Christmas I go over to your country to do a pantomime.
"And more recently I went over twice to do Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in the West End – once was a six-month stint, and another a run of four months in that same show.
"So if you average my time over the last 10 or 15 years, I probably work 40 weeks a year. From now on, on a new contract, I'll probably work 35, 36 weeks of the year."
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Ray added that "it's just taking a tiny bit more time out", reassuring fans that he "ain't going nowhere".
In the original quotes about his reduced hours, the actor dismissed speculation that he was planning to retire.
"I don't really think much about retirement," he said. "I guess the time will come and I will, but I just signed another contract for three years... but sometimes contracts are made to be broken."
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.15pm and 6pm on Channel 5 (UK) and Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 (Australia).
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