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MAFS groom Bryce's Home & Away acting role resurfaces

Years before he turned heads as a groom on Married At First Sight, Bryce Ruthven was carving out a name for himself on the Aussie acting scene.

The 31-year-old was just a fresh-faced teen when he landed a guest role on beloved Channel 7 soap, Home & Away in 2008.

Bryce says he remains pals with his Home & Away co-stars Lincoln Lewis (left) and Todd Lasance. Photo: Channel 7.
Bryce says he remains pals with his Home & Away co-stars Lincoln Lewis (left) and Todd Lasance. Photo: Channel 7.

Soap star

Bryce donned the iconic Summer Bay High school uniform for a three-month stint playing a cousin to star Todd Lasance's character, Aden Jefferies.

In resurfaced photos supplied to TV Week by the man himself, Bryce can be seen on set with Todd and co-star Charlotte Best who played Annie Campbell.

He told the publication at a MAFS event hosted by Nova 96.9 on Wednesday night that he's still mates with Todd as well as other Home & Away stars Lincoln Lewis (Geoff Campbell) and David Roberts (Xavier Austin).

And according to his LinkedIn profile, Bryce also appeared on the long-running medical drama All Saints and Stupid, Stupid Man, a comedy about a fictional men's magazine.

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Bryce in 2009 (left), shortly after his stint on Home & Away, and 10 years later in 2019. Photo: Channel 7.
Bryce in 2009 (left), shortly after his stint on Home & Away, and 10 years later in 2019. Photo: Channel 7.
The MAFS groom shared this throwback snap of himself on set in 2008. Photo: Channel 7.
The MAFS groom shared this throwback snap of himself on set in 2008. Photo: Channel 7.

In September 2018, Bryce took to his Instagram account to post a throwback snap of himself on the set of an unidentified acting project he took part in a decade earlier.

"10 years ago to the day since I had a dreadful hairstyle! #retired," he captioned the pic.

Despite rising to fame as a controversial figure in reality TV, Bryce once had his sights firmly set on becoming an actor — that's if he couldn't make it as a soccer player first.

"Soccer is my main priority at the moment," the then 20-year-old told The Morning Bulletin in 2010.

"But if it doesn't work out I will definitely keep pursuing acting," he added.

A newly resurfaced standup routine by MAFS groom Bryce Ruthven has been branded 'disgusting' on social media. Photo: YouTube/ACERadioOnline.
A newly resurfaced standup routine by MAFS groom Bryce Ruthven has been branded 'disgusting' on social media. Photo: YouTube/ACERadioOnline.

Standup debut

Neither career appeared to stick, however, and Bryce instead got into radio announcing for various regional stations including Gippsland-based station TRFM.

It was during his time with TRFM in 2013 that he made his standup comedy debut with a nearly five-minute opening routine for comedian Akmal Saleh.

The full video still lives on Bryce's own YouTube page however an edited version of the routine recently resurfaced when it was uploaded by the Instagram account BachieGossip on Tuesday.

In his opening joke, Bryce calls himself a 'Black person stuck inside a white person's body'.

"There's a bit of a thing going around on stage, I cop a bit of s**t," he tells the silent crowd.

"Because... I'm a Black person stuck inside a white person's body," he adds to a patter of awkward laughs.

Bryce goes on to say that he's a big fan of 'ghetto music' and that Aussie singer Johnny Ruffo — who is best known for his pop music — is his 'number one man'.

Later in the routine, Bryce references a song by Ruffo, "On Top of the World," by singing the lyrics, "I'm on top of the world, when I'm on top of you, girl."

"Classy!" a heckler calls out, to which Bryce responds, "Classy, yeah, that's what I was [like] when I was 18."

"I'm now 24," he continues, "and at 3am in the morning I like to sing that line to a girl, she normally has to be drunk to actually buy it and come home."

Summer Bay 'birds'

Also during the set, Bryce mentions his former acting aspirations in a joke about how his bad driving might see him featured on the doco series RBT.

"If I do end up on RBT I could get my acting career back up," he told the crowd.

He then goes on to talk about the 'birds' — presumably the female actors — on Home & Away, saying that he'd be keen to bump into one of them in the Saloon Bar in Traralgon.

"Some of the birds in Summer Bay, have you seen Home & Away? Anyone agree with me? If only I could get one of them in Saloon on a Saturday night, I tell you what..." he trails off.

MAFS fans were shocked by Bryce's comedic debut. Photo: Instagram.
MAFS fans were shocked by Bryce's comedic debut. Photo: Instagram.

'Disgusting' routine

After doing the rounds on social media, shocked MAFS fans have branded Bryce's comedy set 'disgusting' and 'problematic'.

"That’s disgusting!" declared one in the comments section of BachieGossip's post.

"Did he really just call himself a Black man trapped inside a white man's body because he’s into 'ghetto' music. Oh my goddddd," added another.

"He is beyond problematic," wrote a third.

"The racially inappropriate remarks are horrible as well as the reference to him having to get girls drunk to go home and 'on top' at 3am and the fact he is trying to make a joke of a lack of consent. Also note the district [sic] lack of laughs for his very poor attempts at humour," they went on.

Even former MAFS star Nasser Sultan wasn't on board with Bryce's standup attempt, writing, "This is cringe-worthy".

In another video from 2013, Bryce attempts Miley Cyrus' infamous twerking performance. Photo: YouTube/ACERadioOnline.
In another video from 2013, Bryce attempts Miley Cyrus' infamous twerking performance. Photo: YouTube/ACERadioOnline.

Bryce's YouTube past

His standup debut isn't the only video that Bryce might not want to see resurface now that he's carving out a niche for himself as a controversial character on Married At First Sight.

He appears in multiple clips from his time at TRFM including a parody of Jimmy Barnes' hit "Working Class Man" called "Twerking Class Man" where he attempts to learn how to twerk al la Miley Cyrus at the 2013 MTV VMAs.

After watching a video of Miley's infamous performance with Robin Thicke, Bryce dons a pair of tight gold hotpants and a large inflatable hand to dance around the station office in front of some unimpressed female co-workers.

In another video, Bryce has his legs waxed by actor Samuel Johnson and also takes part in a Snog, Marry, Avoid spoof where 76 per cent of local Gippsland women said they would avoid him.

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