Home and Away star Ray Meagher shares alternate career before soap fame

 "I sort of thought, 'I'm just not going to get more acting work'."

Home and Away star Ray Meagher has opened up about a potential alternate career he could have had before finding fame on the soap.

The actor has been a staple of Summer Bay since the show's inception in 1988, though in a new interview, the star admitted he would have been a "lost soul" had he not been an actor.

"Early on as an actor I got a cab licence, but I really only drove cabs for probably half a dozen weekends," Ray told Stuff. "That gave me enough cash in my little hand to get through the week so I could still audition.

"I held on to that cab licence for about 10 years because I sort of thought, ‘I’m just not going to get more acting work. It’s all going to dry up, so I’ll hang on’, and I hung on and hung on but I kept working and doing bits and pieces," Ray added.

"Not a lot early on, but enough to scrape through from one job to the next."

Earlier this year, the actor confirmed that he had extended his contract on Home and Away for another five years, while also revealing that when he originally signed on 35 years ago, he opted to only have a six-month contract.

"It seems ridiculous now but I wouldn’t agree to the two-year contract they wanted me to sign," he recalled to The Sun.

"We’d done the pilot and to be honest, I was older and more cynical, and was convinced it would crash and burn like most do. So when they said 'We’re going to series and we want all the main characters to stay for two years', I was like 'You’ve got to be joking!'

"It seemed like a lifetime, so I told them there was no way I was signing for two years. Then they tried to get me to sign for a year, but again I refused. In the end I agreed to six months."

Ray continued: "Having been home for six months, I was a bit seduced by that and signed for another six months. Then they said, 'What about another year?' And then it became three-year deals and five-year deals, and here were are 35 years later and I’m a lot older."

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.