Home and Away star Ray Meagher has revealed we will be seeing a little less of legendary Alf Stewart...
Home and Away legend Ray Meagher has revealed that he is reducing the number of hours he spends filming at the soap after more than three decades playing the role of Summer Bay favourite, Alf Stewart.
Ray currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving actor in an Australian TV show, but thankfully while he might be winding down a little, he doesn't have any plans for retirement just yet.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald: "I don't really think much about retirement. 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!"
Considering what a Home and Away legend he is, it is understandable that after all this time Ray gets to call some of the shots when it comes to his working hours.
He has also revealed there are some clauses in his contract that mean he can 'work less' if he wants too...
"We work for 46 weeks of the year," he told the Australian newspaper. "But I have clauses where I can give producers reasonable amount of notice for them to write me out to go to the UK and do pantomimes or go to London and do Pricilla in the West End.
"In this latest contract I said I wanted to work less weeks, so we've worked that out. But I'm still here more often than I'm not.
"I'm taking a tiny little bit of extra time... but it's not a bridge to retirement."
But with Alf still at the very heart of Summer Bay, it's going to take a while for fans to notice his reduced hours on screen.
The Home and Away stalwart currently has a big storyline on the cards that sees his first wife Martha returning to the Bay.
A promo for the soap has hinted that there could be romance on the cards for the pair more than 29 years after it was believed that Martha was dead.
Is this the reunion we have all been waiting for?
Watch Home and Away every weekday at 1.15pm and 6pm on Channel 5.
Picture credits: Channel 5
