Facing the most unfair of health battles, Home and Away star Johnny Ruffo shocked the nation in November when he revealed his cancer had returned, despite previously getting the all-clear from the disease just on year earlier.
As he takes up his second fierce fight against brain cancer, the 33-year-old has girlfriend Tahnee Sims by his side every step of the way – a woman he has often credited with saving his life.
Back in August 2017, Johnny was suffering an excruciating migraine and was urged by Tahnee to go to hospital. It was here he discovered he actually had a seven-centimetre brain tumour and he urgently needed surgery to save his life.
“I was just at home and I had a headache, but everyone has headaches and you never think much of it,” he told Who Are You? podcast host Pete Timbs.
“It had been ongoing and it just got worse and worse. It got to about 4 or 5 in the afternoon and I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t communicate with [Tahnee] at all.”
Johnny has often confessed in media interviews that he believes Tahnee’s insistence that he go to hospital saved his life and he would no longer be around if it hadn’t been for her.
The support of Tahnee, who Johnny began dating after meeting her in a dance studio in 2015, has not been lost on him and he doesn’t hold back with his praise.
“She’s been incredible. I can’t fault her. She’s been there for me every step of the way from literally the day I was diagnosed to now,” Johnny gushed to Daily Mail Australia in 2018.
“She’s been absolutely amazing. She’s been my rock so it’s been really good.”
And while the couple occasionally post loved up snaps together on Instagram, they keep the details of their relationship relatively private.
Johnny has let slip in the past that “laughter” has been key to their successful relationship.
“We just have fun. We make each other laugh so much. You know that gut-wrenching laugh with tears coming from your eyes?” the X Factor star explained.
“We argue and fight just like every other couple, but we make up too. We kiss and makeup you know?”
With Johnny’s cancer diagnosis, the couple have had to endure an ordeal that many others may never have to face – especially at such a young age.
However, Johnny and Tahnee have been taking it in their stride, with the Home and Away star admitting: “We’ve been through so much together now. The longer we stay together, the stronger the bond.”
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Want more coverage on Johnny Ruffo’s harrowing cancer ordeal? See below!
Inside Johnny Ruffo’s courageous cancer battle
FIRST LOOK: Johnny Ruffo’s most candid cancer update yet
Celebrities reach out to Johnny Ruffo after he shares heartbreaking news his cancer has returned
Johnny Ruffo’s mum is “so proud” of her son
A look back at Johnny Ruffo’s Home and Away stint as co-stars rally behind him
Johnny Ruffo announces exciting new music
Johnny Ruffo shock: ‘Doctors misdiagnosed my brain cancer’
EXCLUSIVE: Johnny Ruffo: ‘The truth about my cancer battle’
Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger shares sweet message of support to Johnny Ruffo
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