Moloney: Old clips are hair-raising

Neighbours stalwart Ryan Moloney has confessed that snaps of his early days on the soap make him blush.

The actor joined the soap nearly 18 years ago as teen tearaway Toadie Rebecchi, who was known for his distinctive long ponytail.

"It's a little embarrassing when you look back at those photos and go, 'Wow, what was I thinking?'" Ryan said.

"I think it was the worst haircut in the world, it looked like I had a dead rat hanging out the back of my head. And unfortunately the producers made me keep it for a number of years. It was quite hard being an 18-year-old guy with that kind of thing hanging on your head."

Toadie's ponytail was eventually chopped off by Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver) during an episode, which Ryan joked was the high point of his career.

"It was the most fantastic moment of my Neighbours life. It's gotta be the most freeing part of the whole thing. They auctioned it off for a charity. Someone in England got it."

Ryan - who said his job "beats working for a living" - also revealed what storyline he would like next for dad-to-be Toadie.

"I'd like to see him take up flying and that way Neighbours can pay for my flying lessons, that would be brilliant. I'm going for my commercial license. It's a little pricey so it'd be nice if Toadie did the same thing."