Johny Ruffo 'I NEED TO STAY STRONG'

THE STAR TELLS WHO ABOUT THE FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE AND THE WOMAN WHO INSPIRES HIM

- Naomi Toy

Before he’d even sung his first note on The X Factor, Johnny Ruffo’s smile had done half the work for him to get him through the audition.

Beaming down the camera, the then 23-year-old concreter from Perth said, “I love music and I want the whole world to know that,” revealing his dream was to sing and dance in front of a global audience.

As he glided effortlessly across the stage in his tight jeans and leather jacket with musical notes shaved into his buzz cut, his voice faltered yet his charismatic personality never did. It was “an absolute no” from Mel B – “He can’t sing.” Natalie Bassingthwaighte retorted, “Whatever, he’s hot.”

More than 10 years later, his dream shattered after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, but his cheeky smile, roguish charm and relentless (if at times totally inappropriate) good humour is still getting him through – as is his love of music.

“I need to be strong,” he tells WHO. “A lot of people say ‘stay positive’, which initially bothered me because positivity doesn’t cure s--t, but you do need to stay positive. It helps get you from day to day. You’ve got to find strength … but you do need to find the fight within yourself.”