ITV Coronation Street's Ryan Thomas admits he 'lost everything' after going bankrupt

Former ITV Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas has opened up about his financial struggles. The 40-year-old is best known for playing Jason Grimshaw on the popular soap from 2000 to 2016.

After leaving the cobbles, he won Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip in 2022 and went on to win this year's Dancing on Ice. Despite his TV successes, Ryan confessed he has struggled managing his finances.

He found fame at just 16, earning £100,000. But he said he lacked a financial role model growing up.

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Speaking to The Times, he said: "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." Young Ryan would also foot the bill for nights out with his friends which meant he would spend more than he should.

Ryan revealed he filed for bankruptcy in 2013 due to an unpaid tax bill, which he said was down to him being careless. But he does not regret his past money mistakes.

The dad - who is engaged to former TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenburgh - said: "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."