Home and Away star Johnny Ruffo passed away last year following a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

Johnny Ruffo and his girlfriend Tahnee Sims

Johnny Ruffo’s girlfriend Tahnee Sims has paid tribute to the singer one year after his death. Photo: Instagram/tahneesims

Johnny Ruffo’s girlfriend, Tahnee Sims, paid tribute to the late singer and actor one year after his passing. Tahnee’s heartbreaking post featured several black-and-white images of the pair, who were together for eight years after first meeting at a dance studio.

The former X-Factor and Home and Away star tragically died on November 10 2023, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was first diagnosed with the disease in 2017 before undergoing treatment, entering remission, and finding out the cancer had returned in 2020.

Tahnee’s lengthy tribute read: “One year on without you… It feels like just yesterday & a lifetime ago all at once. There are so many things I wish I could say to you, so many moments I have wanted to share with you, so many times I’ve reached for my phone to call you, but the main thing I would want you to know, is that I am okay.”

She added, “Grief is incredibly heavy, but it’s the price we pay for love & I’m so grateful for all of the years we got to share together & the lifetime of love & adventure we packed in.

“Forever wouldn’t have been long enough with you… Miss you J.”

Tahnee’s friends and followers shared messages of support, with one user writing, “My heart breaks for you 😭 sending so much love your way. He is with you every step of the way.”

“Thinking of you today and everyday,” another added.

“He was such an inspiration and will continue to be remembered as such what a beautiful story you both had together sending so much love,” a third wrote.

“He’d be so proud of you,” someone else said.

Johnny Ruffo in hospital

Johnny previously credited Tahnee with saving his life in 2017, when she noticed he was slurring his words and mixing up words. Photo: Instagram/tahneesims
“Your love story was one of my all-time favourites,” another wrote. “Whoever said time heals, lied. You’re so strong and admirable and one day you will be together again I’m a huge believer in that. All my thoughts and love being sent your way.”

In a Channel Seven Spotlight special, Johnny credited his girlfriend with saving his life in 2017.

He and Tahnee detailed how she was cooking dinner one night when Johnny started slurring his speech and mixing up his words. The pair ended up going straight to the hospital on Tahnee’s insistence, with Johnny later slipping into a coma that night.

They then found out he had a brain tumour, and if they hadn’t gone to hospital that night he could’ve died within weeks.