Ryder Jackson
Ryder Jackson (2017-2022)
Lukas Radovich
Episodes: 6760–7788
Date of Birth: October 2000
Parents: Evan Slater (deceased) & Quinn Jackson
Occupation: Student; Juice Bar Server; Salt Barman; La Cucaracha food truck owner; Cruise Ship Mixologist
Ryder had been hanging around Summer Bay for some time, stealing from the surf club and breaking in to sleep there, when he was caught by VJ and Hunter. On hearing Alf identified, he announced he was Alf’s grandson, the son of Alf’s daughter Quinn who Alf hadn’t seen in over twenty years. Alf and Roo cautiously agreed to let him stay with them even though he claimed to have no way of contacting Quinn to confirm his story. He promptly stole $50 from Alf’s wallet to shout Coco a milkshake. He got Coco’s number only for the phone to be answered by Ben who read him the riot act. It transpired that he had run away from boot camp while Quinn was on a cruise ship and Roo convinced Alf to let him stay until Quinn could come and collect him.
Alf tried to take him on an early morning fishing trip but he reacted badly to being woken after sleeping on the sofa, then started flirting with Raffy. Alf told him to get an early night but he instead stayed up with Roo, then skipped out of moving wood as punishment to again spend time with Coco and Raffy (although he failed to trick John into giving him a free milkshake). Roo did the work for him in return for him going on an afternoon fishing trip. He invited himself along to a movie night with the two girls at the Morgans’, where he flirted with both girls. However, the next day Raffy made it clear to him that they weren’t an item. He helped Raffy and Coco organise a Glow Day but continued to behave erratically, being rude to Coco when she came to find him the morning of the event, then acting hyperactive while partnering Jennifer Dutton on an obstacle course and causing her to fall and injure her wrist. Alf then caught him sleepwalking and caused him to fall down the stairs. He insisted he was fine however and was annoyed to find Roo checking his bag for drugs. He was around for VJ’s farewell dinner.
When Quinn turned up, she expected Ryder to leave with her immediately but Alf and Roo convinced her to stay for the weekend. Alf and Roo were shocked to see Ryder having a nightmare but Quinn explained he’d always had them. After hearing Quinn say that his erratic sleeping pattern had ruined her life, he stormed out and stole Alf’s car, running over Roo. After he was blasted by Alf, and Roo was rushed to hospital with back pains, he told Raffy he was leaving town alone. Raffy hid him at hers but he continued to hide from Quinn, claiming he was going to join his father despite having had virtually no contact with him. He stole a boat and took Raffy out to a cove where they found Dennis Novak’s body. Worried about getting into trouble with the police, he insisted Raffy keep quiet. He visited Roo in hospital to apologise and Alf convinced him to also go easy on Quinn. Quinn still wanted him to leave with her but accepted staying with Alf and Roo would give him stability and they parted on good terms.
He joined Coco and Raffy in drumming up teens to protest against the lack of recycling at the Diner, although Raffy suspected his main motive was impressing Coco. He later visited Coco with flowers made from recycled paper and they shared a dance at the reopening of Salt. Roo got him into regular sleeping patterns and enrolled him at Summer Bay High, repeating Year 11. Ryder tried to get out of it by getting a job as a children’s entertainer but this left Roo upset so he ended up going to school anyway. However, he managed to upset Coco by messing about with Jennifer in an ill Maggie’s classes. He cheered her up by hijacking the school PA system to play music for her, but ended up going too far and spending the rest of the day playing people’s requests, landing himself and Raffy in detention. They skipped out while Roo was out of the room and it wasn’t until a while later that they realised Alf and Roo had been trapped by a gas explosion at the school.
He and Raffy helped keep Coco occupied while she waited for her mother’s test results. He was confused when Roo suddenly moved out, worrying he was to blame, so took Alf out fishing. On his return, he was taken hostage along with Leah and Jasmine by Jasmine’s unstable ex-boyfriend David Cantrall until they were rescued by Colby Thorne. Roo explained to him that she had recently found out her mother was alive. Ryder was disheartened that, with Maggie suffering from cancer, he wasn’t spending any time with Coco but Coco proved her commitment by kissing him. He finally got to take her out for a date, dinner at Salt, and, when she worried he wanted to have sex, assured her he wasn’t any more experienced than her.
He and Coco were soon spending all their time with each other, sitting together and partnering each other at school. Coco realised they were neglecting Raffy and invited her to play basketball with them. Soon after, Ryder was the first person to meet Roo’s mother Martha when she turned up in town. He was initially dismissive when Ava went missing, but when he realised it was serious he went to support Raffy. He helped convince Coco to go to a camp for the children of cancer sufferers and gave John and Marilyn advice on not making Raffy’s room too girly when she moved in with them.
He was reunited with Coco when she returned from camp and also quickly befriended Ty Anderson, who was being fostered by John and Marilyn. Coco seemed reluctant to talk to him and he bothered Roo and Hunter with theories that she was going off him, prompting Mason to send him to talk to her, where he was rebuffed. He was bothered that Coco spent all her time messaging Jeremy, who she initially claimed was one of the counsellors at the camp but who turned out to be a boy their age. He tried to tell her to talk to him instead of Jeremy but instead she broke up with him.
When Leah set up a forum only to be plagued by trolls, Ryder secretly videoed her saying it was worth it to help one person and trolls didn’t have anything better to do and uploaded it to the site. Despite it getting a positive reaction, Leah was annoyed but got him to help with a vlog on privacy. He matchmaked between Ty and Raffy and arranged for the three of them to surprise Coco at Salt for some friend time to take her mind off what was happening with Maggie. He started work at the juice bar and spent his first shift inventing smoothies with Ty. He was nearly blamed for some missing money that had actually been taken by Willow.
With John and Marilyn trying to keep Ty and Raffy apart, Ryder worked with Coco to get them some alone time together on the beach. However, he also warned Raffy that she was crowding Ty. He arranged to meet Ty after school to do a computer assignment but forgot about him after getting distracted helping Coco with arrangements for Brody and Ziggy’s wedding. After a ticking off from Roo, he apologised and asked Ty and Raffy to help pick the music. After listening to one of Ty’s song, he was taken aback when Ty kissed him, explaining he didn’t like him in that manner. He confided in Coco but felt it wasn’t his place to tell Raffy. He tried telling Ty it was okay he was gay but Ty angrily denied it and violently pushed him away. He refused to tell Alf, John and Marilyn what it was about, resulting in Alf sentencing him to clean the surf club. However, he had to tell them when Ty ran away and was the one Ty rang after being injured in the bush. He later visited Ty, now more accepting of his sexuality, in hospital and gave his support, while Alf told him he’d handled it well.
He managed to clear the air with Ty although things remained somewhat tense with Raffy. However, the teens all came together to support Ty when he accidentally came out to the school and he helped show Ty’s side of the story by getting him to play his personal song over the school’s PA system. He and the other teens arranged a birthday party for Ty where Ryder and Coco got back together. He planned a first date and decided to take her for a picnic on the clifftop. Roo gave him a talk about the relationship but he said he was happy to take it slow. He was surprised then when Coco promptly suggested they sleep together and decided they should wait. However, he was quickly moving on with the plans but was unable to convince Alf and Roo to go out for the night then failed to purloin caravan keys or book a motel room, with Alf also stopping them sneaking off onto the beach. They eventually had the farm house to themselves, but after a succession of calamities during the foreplay they concluded they weren’t ready. He also had to say goodbye to Ty when he went back to live with his mother Jodi. He worked with Raffy and Coco to trick John and Marilyn into having dinner together after they fell out over Ty leaving.
He was somewhat smug when Coco and Raffy both needed extra tutoring after their grades slipped and planned snacks and a movie with Coco after a study session, only for Raffy to turn up instead and reveal Coco wasn’t coming. When Raffy had a go at Coco, Ryder told Coco she’d done nothing wrong and stood by as she accused Raffy of stirring up trouble. Despite being torn, he continued to focus on Coco, not wanting to upset her, resulting in Raffy blasting him for turning his back on her. After a chat with Dean about standing by friends, he admitted to Coco that he had told Raffy he was upset about her standing him up. This resulted in him and Coco falling out although they soon made up. However, they also broke up, deciding they were better off as friends.
Ryder began to feel somewhat isolated, with Raffy and Coco going shopping together and Ty no longer around. Leah encouraged him to join the surf club and he tried using the gym, only to get trapped under a weight when using it unsupervised and have to be rescued. He ended up befriending Dean, although Dean also encouraged him to appreciate Alf and Leah more. However, he was annoyed that they tried to keep him away from Dean, sending him instead to study with Raffy and Coco where he was soon bored and sent away for being disruptive. When Raffy and Coco tried to spend time with him, he felt they were only doing it out of pity because Alf put them up to it. Alf convinced him otherwise but then had to join Roo in the States for Caroline’s funeral, leaving Ryder with Leah.
Raffy and Coco offered to let him pick an activity and, having heard stories from Dean about the River Boys’ old hideout, challenged them to spend the night there with him. Dean and Ben both convinced him not to take his frustrations out on Leah, although he did steal supplies from the bait shop for the trip. However, the night fell flat when the girls were more bored than scared. Raffy attempted to cheer him up by climbing out through the old escape tunnel but she brought it down on herself. Although Dean, Colby and Chelsea soon arrived to help them, Ryder felt guilty about her suffering a head injuy. He decided not to sit his Year 11 exams but a pep-talk from Raffy convinced him to go. Afterwards, however, he witnessed Raffy having a seizure on the wharf. Although his information helped her be treated, John blamed him for the injury, although he later apologised. Roo took him to the hospital to see Raffy, but the sight of her comatose after brain surgery just increased his guilt.
He showed little interest in doing the rest of his exams and, although he eventually went, he just sat without writing anything, then took some beer from the house and got drunk in a caravan. Roo quickly found out and took him to task but on hearing Raffy had been diagnosed with epilepsy he swiped a bottle of wine to get drunk in his room. He reminded Alf and Roo that they hadn’t been there for him after the accident, while only Raffy remembered his 18th. He went to Salt for his first legal drink, but was upset that he wasn’t allowed to see Raffy when she was discharged from hospital, especially when John and Marilyn were. He turned up at the Morgans’ drunk, with Alf and Roo initially assuming someone must have bought alcohol for him. He then announced he was leaving town.
Ignoring texts from Raffy, he hitched a lift with Dean, who was going to visit his father Rick Booth. After the trip however, Dean insisted on taking him back to Alf and Roo, who promised they’d try and be there for him more. He was uninterested in discussing his HSC options, instead convincing Raffy to go out to the Diner. When Raffy learned she had passed Year 11, Ryder kept the fact he had failed from her, since she was expecting him to be there to support her. He told Alf and Roo he needed to stay in school and, after a meeting with education officer Edwina, it was agreed he could retake his exams in private with Maggie. Although he passed, there was a delay in him being given permission to start Year 12 and he had to admit the truth to a disappointed Raffy. However, at the last minute he was cleared and convinced her to come to school with him, only to end up being hit in the face by her when she got into a row with bully Abbi Simmonds.
He invited Raffy to the cancer fundraiser and supported her on her second first day back at school, only to nearly kiss her after calming her down. Raffy tried to pretend it didn’t happen before saying they should just be friends. Seeing how worried Raffy was at coping at school without Coco, he tried to convince Coco not to go to a camp but Raffy decided she should. Ryder was thus the one who had to help Raffy with an assignment, convincing her to adapt to the changes in her brain by using a slide show instead of lengthy text. Afterwards, they kissed only for Raffy to run off. He agreed to Roo taking a placement in the Kimberleys and, after waving her off, he and Raffy kissed again, establishing them as a couple. They decided to keep it secret although he confided in Alf. Marilyn helped the couple have their first date together at the juice bar although Raffy worried about telling Coco. He looked after Bella Nixon on finding her hiding from Colby and offered her a caravan to stay in, although Dean found her straightaway and he was left worrying everyone would think she was his girlfriend.
With Raffy away in Canberra when Coco returned, he was told not to talk to her and quickly ushered her out of the house when she came round. Despite their efforts, Coco walked in on him and Raffy kissing in Salt. He managed to convince her they could all still be friends and it was suggested he and Coco learn to drive together. Although he had second thoughts when Raffy couldn’t join them, they both got driving permits but Ryder also received a warning from Mason to remember Raffy wasn’t eighteen.
Ryder was awkward around Justin and Mason as a result of the warning but did take a leading hand in organising a presentation to convince Maggie to let Coco go to boarding school. He eventually admitted what had been said to Raffy who took Mason to task. Worried about Raffy, he received advice from Martha, who was staying at the caravan park, about handling anxiety. When Raffy told him that marijuana could help but Justin and Tori were refusing to let her go on a trial, he got Dean to put him in touch with someone that would sell him a joint for her. However, both of them stressed out trying to hide it and they were eventually stopped from using it by Mason. He joined John and Marilyn in a disastrous attempt to stage an intervention for Raffy.
When Raffy had another seizure at school, Ryder organised a Purple Day with Maggie’s agreement to educate people about epilepsy. Raffy felt ill and admitted to Ryder that Mason had been giving her cannabis oil and she had taken an extra dose. Ryder helped convince Mason to continue with the secret trial. Colby encouraged Ryder and Raffy to spend time with Bella. When someone graffited Simone’s office door with “HOMEWRECKER” and Raffy was suspected, Ryder realised it was Bella and convinced her to own up. He correctly guessed she had done it to impress Raffy and joined the two girls in cleaning up the graffiti.
He was somewhat bemused to learn Leah and Justin were together and initially impressed that Bella had set off the fire alarm and got them out of an afternoon at school until he learned it had led to Raffy missing a meeting to help with her homework. He kept Bella busy so Raffy could work on an assignment without distractions and helped Bella with a photography assignment. After Raffy was taken off the oil, Ryder found her unconscious after a seizure and helped get her to hospital. On her 16th birthday, he presented her with a poem which she was rather underwhelmed by, then showed her her real present: He had arranged a visit from Coco.
He was left running the juice bar on his own while John was away and was annoyed that John kept objecting to the promotions he came up with. He had to work an extra shift when he was meant to be doing an English assignment and was frustrated when John didn’t even pay him for the overtime although it was quickly corrected. He clashed with Roo when he worked an extra shift instead of handing in his assignment on time and she told him he couldn’t work at the juice bar until after his HSC. He struggled to get down to work despite pep-talks from Raffy, Bella and Maggie and while he ended up doing a good job he lost 40% of the mark for handing it in four days late. He told Roo he wanted his HSC but didn’t want to go to uni and was offered a job at Salt by Mackenzie.
Although Roo opposed the idea, Ryder began studying to get his RSA, leading to an argument with Roo, although Alf supported him. When John didn’t give him enough shifts, he resigned and took the job with Mackenzie, although he struggled during his first shift. He soon improved but neglected Raffy, since he had to turn her away from Salt for being too young. He was also uncomfortable when she took a job at the juice bar to be near him while he began flirting with older customers and got one of their number. Realising they were drifting apart, he broke up with her. Alf advised him not to cut off ties with her and he suggested they could still be friends.
He had his first test of responsibility when he had to cut a drunk Ben off and confiscate his car keys. He and Raffy had already arranged to do an assignment together and got on well at first, but when Raffy tried to kiss him and he pulled away, she declared they couldn’t be friends. After making disastrous attempts to do their own separate projects, they eventually worked together although their friendship remained over. He was concerned when she missed a maths exam, which no-one would explain: When he learned her CBD trial had been cancelled and she was taking her exams separately, he realised how far out of the loop he was. He organised a party at the caravan park to celebrate the end of HSC trials and invited Bella along. Alf and Roo agreed if there was no alcohol but his friends Blake Golan and Tyler expected it, so he got some from Salt. He failed to stop Bella drinking heavily so sent Alf and Roo to shut down the party while he sneaked her into his room. He intended to sober her up but she quickly fell asleep in his bed. He spent the night in a chair watching over her but still had to convince Colby and Dean he had behaved honourably.
Colby asked him for help in getting Bella back to school and Bella admitted to him she had been assaulted by a man she met on the internet. His overtures to Raffy continued to be rejected but eventually they spoke and cleared the air. They then worked together to get Bella to return to school, although Ryder kept what had happened to her secret from Raffy. Roo tagged along on a driving lesson to pester him about uni, distracting him so much he didn’t realise he was out of petrol, and he agreed to do a hospitality course at TAFE. He was disappointed when Raffy left for Victoria for a new medical trial. He started taking surfing lessons with Dean and obsessing over a second hand car he saw for sale. Alf ended up buying it for him, saying Justin would fix it up and he could have it once exams were finished.
Blake told him of a plan to cheat at exams by swapping papers, wanting Ryder to be the Modern History expert. When Blake’s initial attempt at the plan resulted in friends Josh and Tyler being caught, he came up with a plan to drug the exam supervisor so they wouldn’t notice. Ryder refused to take part but Blake intended to go ahead with someone else. Ryder knocked the drugged water bottle out of Maggie’s hand before she could drink it and was sent out of the exam. Maggie told him he would be barred from his last exam and fail his HSC if he didn’t give a proper explanation. He was left torn on learning Blake’s father had hit him for messing up the exam but, after taking advice from John, told Maggie the truth. Although Blake accepted he’d done the right thing, he was left with very mixed feelings as Blake was arrested.
He tried to get Ziggy to work on his car while Justin was away, then comforted a lonely Marilyn, calling John for her. He spent time with Jade Lennox, who was staying at the caravan park, when they both had a surf lesson with Dean and helped her get a job at Salt. They began going out clubbing together and shared a kiss after a shift at Salt. Despite this, he backed off when she suggested going to her van. After a picnic on the beach however, he was happy to make plans to meet her there but was confused to turn up and find the van empty. After learning Roo had spoken to her, he ignored Roo’s warning that Jade had been rude to her and spent the night with Jade, losing his virginity. He clashed with Roo afterwards, with her chiding him for staying out all night, but they called an uneasy truce.
Ryder saw Jade steal $50 from Salt: He replaced the money himself and then tried to question her about it. They spent the night together but when he tried to question her again next morning, she threw him out of her van. Martha suggested he find her side of the story and Jade told him she’d been sending money home to her mother and sister: Ryder arranged to cover her rent in order to give her some breathing room. However, he realised Jade was still stealing and insisted she had to come clean to Mackenzie. When she didn’t, he told Mackenzie himself, resulting in Jade being arrested. Jade told him she forgave him and they slept together, but she recorded the session and then uploaded it to the internet, claiming Ryder had done it without her consent. Ryder gave Colby his phone to try and clear his name, only for it to turn out the video had been uploaded to his account from it after he left Jade alone with it. The news he had done well at the HSC failed to improve his mood: Against advice, he twice confronted Jade and ran away when Colby approached him. He was charged and left dispirited when Bella refused to believe he was innocent and he was sacked from Salt.
Ryder tried to keep what was happening from Alf and Martha when they returned to town. Jade provoked him on the beach and filmed his response, then acted the victim in front of town newcomer Nikau Parata. Ryder tried to warn Nikau off Jade but only received a punch in response and admitted what was going on to Alf. Alf convinced him to get a lawyer and also asked him to be best man when he remarried Martha. Shortly after the service, Nikau gave him Jade’s phone which contained videos of several other guys. He gave the phone to Colby and convinced Nikau to make a statement backing him up, resulting in the charges being dropped. Mackenzie reinstated him and he had further good news when Justin and Ben delivered his completed car.
Mackenzie asked him to cover for the fact she was on a blind date, although he immediately caved when Dean questioned him. He then had to summon Dean and Colby for help when the blind date, Jason, threatened her. Bella confided in him about taking an overdose and he insisted she had to see a counsellor. He soon found himself a third wheel around Bella and Nikau. After initially encouraging them, he began to worry that Nikau might upset Bella if he didn’t know her history, especially when he found out Bella was skipping counselling sessions. Against Roo’s advice, he told Nikau about Bella being groomed. Bella was upset when she found out, telling Ryder it was up to her whether she told him or not. When Nikau revealed Bella had told him she liked him, Ryder managed to get the pair together. However, he had cause to doubt it had been a good idea when he found Bella had self-harmed after trying to sleep with Nikau, blaming him for not taking care of her. John stepped in and took Ryder to clean up the flat while Bella was in hospital. Ryder managed to speak to Bella before she was sent to an equine therapy centre and John convinced him and Nikau to make up.
He passed his driving test and was immediately roped in to taking Nikau to visit his uncle Tane in the city. He admitted to Tane that the Pararas had had a hard time settling into the Bay and had to field awkward questions from Ari. After missing calls from Quinn all day, he was shocked to meet Evan Slater, his father, who had got his address from her. Ryder decided he wanted nothing to do with him but on seeing him at the bus stop, took him for a coffee and a chat. However, he was frustrated when, instead of leaving, Evan promptly decided to stay in town and rent a caravan. This feeling increased when Evan began hanging around Salt, making small talk while refusing to tell Ryder anything about himself, and Ryder even called in sick to avoid him. However, he began to soften when Evan talked to him about living with regret.
When Alf returned, Ryder quickly arranged a lunch with Alf, Martha, Roo and Evan and was pleased when Alf and Evan got on. However, Roo then told him that Evan was dying from mesothelioma. Ryder told her and Alf not to let Evan knew he knew, then decided to arrange for Evan to do a gig at Salt so he could see him in his element, claiming it was for a TAFE project. He confided in Bella on her return and was moved to hear Evan singing a song he’d written when Ryder was born. Ryder admitted the truth to Evan and found the gig had left him in such a bad state that he had to go to hospital to get his lungs drained. Evan admitted he was end stage but Ryder refused to let him leave town, insisting he stay at the house. He tried to get Evan to teach him guitar but Evan was reluctant to let Ryder see him at his worst. Ryder initially refused to listen to Evan wanting to leave town but was eventually forced to accept it on condition Roo went with him.
He returned to work and convinced Alf to leave him alone to attend Martha’s art exhibition, then witnessed Amber punching Colby and, despite Colby asking him to keep it quiet, quickly blurted it out to Bella. Nikau asked his help in organising a date for Bella and he set them up with a picnic and boat trip. When Bella told him she’d hated it, he tried to claim he’d told Nikau she would, only for Bella, who knew the truth, to push him off the pier. He then returned home to the news Evan had died. He was reluctant to attend the funeral since he was worried none of Evan’s friends knew about him but eventually agreed to accompany Alf and Roo. After his return, he and Nikau tried to keep Bella’s spirits up after her father’s body was discovered.
He was stunned to see Owen Davidson, who was the exact double of Evan, in the surf club and convinced him to come home with him. He recalled Evan saying he was adopted and wondered if Owen could be his brother, which was proved correct when Owen tracked down his birth certificate. Ryder tried to tell Owen about Evan and lent him his guitar before showing him around town. He was bemused but supportive when Roo and Owen started dating. He tried to talk to Owen when he gave Roo the cold shoulder and learned it was his birthday and therefore Evan’s, joining Alf, Roo and Marilyn in putting on a special lunch for him. When Bella and Nikau broke up, Ryder worked with Jasmine to get them to sort it out by locking them in the gym together. He was upset at the prospect of them both going to New Zealand but encouraged them. He attended their farewell party and ended up calling the police against everyone’s wishes when a group of drug dealers turned up and started brawling with the Paratas.
He discovered John trying to sign himself up to Tinder and helped him design a profile for Silver Dreams, a dating app for the over-45s, instead. He also made a profile for Marilyn. He was upset when Owen left town after breaking up with Roo and struggled not to blame her. He was offered a hospitality internship but was reluctant to go when Colby had just gone to jail and Bella, who had stayed in town after Colby’s arrest, might need his support. However, Bella and Nikau convinced him to accept.
On returning to town and work at Salt, he had an awkward first meeting with Chloe Anderson when he refused to serve her without ID, then learned she was an old friend of Nikau’s. He noticed Kieran trying to order a vodka in Salt and informed Roo. He clashed with Chloe again when Mackenzie gave her a job at Salt and she beat him in a cocktail-making contest. The job of training her on her first day fell to him, only for her to refuse to follow instructions and walk out. He reluctantly agreed to keep her company so Bella and Nikau could spend time together, also pleading Bella’s case to Nikau after the two girls argued. He had another cocktail competition with Chloe and blamed her when Marilyn got drunk and had a fall, although he was amused when she bought Marilyn a meat platter as an apology. He and Chloe separately gatecrashed Bella and Nikau’s alone time and spent the evening arguing. They agreed to make an effort to get along only for they, Bella and Nikau to be kidnapped by the drug dealers the Paratas had tangled with the previous year. He and Chloe bonded during the experience, with him helping her get to safety after Ari and Tane turned up and a fight broke out.
He was somewhat bewildered when Chloe kissed him after a meal together but after finally talking, they kissed again, although they pretended to still be arguing with Bella and Nikau. They saw each other in secret for a short while before planning to tell their friends. However, Nikau caught them kissing first. When Ryder learned Ari was about to be discharged from hospital, he dreaded telling him they were together and got Nikau to teach him a speech in Maori to impress him. Nikau actually got him to say he was a bad person who didn’t deserve Chloe and should be punished for lying, but Ari accepted him anyway. On learning Nikau and Bella had gone away without them, Ryder and Chloe decided to gatecrash to pay Nikau back. Ryder was spooked when he heard someone creeping about during the night but when Bella claimed someone had taken photos of them while they were asleep, he quickly realised they were being pranked on recognising the photos were Bella’s style and paid the other couple back by faking an injury.
He was delighted when Mackenzie asked him to be her official second-in-charge, until she told him to sack Chloe. Ryder tried to avoid doing it only for Mackenzie to sack her anyway. Ryder resigned in solidarity and he and Chloe spent the night together for the first time. They enjoyed their new life of leisure, with Ryder refusing to help out at the bait shop, but Nikau’s new modelling career convinced them they needed to do something. Ryder tried to get Mackenzie to give them their jobs backed but she refused to rehire Chloe, although Ryder had some sympathy for her on learning she’d had a miscarriage. With no money for food, he and Chloe were grateful when Bella invited them to one of Nikau’s modelling parties but were ordered by Alf to make a plan for the future. Chloe came up with the idea of a food truck but it had huge start-up costs. However, Ziggy provided them with a vehicle and Alf, Marilyn and Roo loaned them the money to get it going. They set up the food truck (which they dubbed La Cucaracha, not realising it literally meant the cockroach) outside the surf club, but had to relocate to the caravan park when Mackenzie pointed out they had no trade waste permit. They returned once the paperwork was sorted and they and Mackenzie tried to outdo each other with special offers, but he admitted they’d gone too far when Chloe claimed to have seen a rat in Salt, giving Mackenzie the afternoon’s takings to pay for the inspection. When he found a pregnancy test at the Parata house, he thought a hungover Chloe was pregnant until she explained the test was Mia’s, telling him Mia had had a number of miscarriages in the past and she and Ari had lost a son born premature.
He and Chloe had a boost when Nikau asked them to cater a modelling party at his house. He was concerned when Roo let Kieran stay with them. He discovered that Salt was in disarray with Mackenzie missing and was convinced by Dean to keep an eye on it. When a body was found in the sea, he worried it was Mackenzie and chided Chloe for being insensitive. Mackenzie then turned up alive and promptly ordered him out of Salt, before agreeing to let Bella hold a pre-show for her exhibition there on condition Ryder organised it. The morning after the event, the food truck was destroyed by an explosion. With Chloe among the most seriously injured, Ryder blamed Mackenzie but was left to apologise when it turned out to be a faulty gas main. Ryder accepted his job back and was soon on good terms with Mackenzie again.
He supported Bella when Nikau cheated on her, putting him at odds with Chloe for a short time. He had a go at Nikau, telling him he didn’t deserve Bella, and was punched by him, then unsuccessfully tried to make peace between Bella and Chloe but did manage to get Chloe a job at the Diner. He tried to help Kieran when he found him contemplating drinking, calling Roo. On hearing Dean was in hospital, he became obsessed with getting someone to run the board shop, eventually putting a rota together. He joined Chloe for a touch footy class to cheer her up and put Bella forward to help Martha and Roo with their mental health fundraiser.
He and Chloe decided to set up a food delivery service and she convinced him they had permission to use the Diner kitchen after hours to make up the orders, only admitting they didn’t once the orders had started flooding in. When Irene and Leah decided to stay back for a stock take, Ryder had to fake a power cut to get rid of them. Having worked all night and with another delivery due the following day, his attempts to rest were thwarted by having to help Martha and Roo set up an online auction, help Chloe hire a freezer truck and then cover for Mackenzie at Salt, as well as retrieving Bella’s camera from the Paratas’ for her. He and Chloe were caught out by Leah and Justin but managed to complete the order and strike a deal to carry on using the Diner in exchange for a percentage of the profits. He was concerned when Nikau and Bella got back together, fearing they’d just break up again, but eventually wished them well. He had another tiring day helping out at the board shop and offering Bella a friendly ear over her losing her interest in photography, ultimately driving his car into Martha’s easel as he returned home. He was given a night off from the cooking and slept through his alarm, being put out to find Theo Poulos had replaced him helping Chloe with deliveries. Realising he’d taken on too much, he decided to stop helping at the board shop.
He was abducted by Theo and driven into the city in a car boot, and the reveal that he was being taken to a surprise 21st birthday that Chloe had arranged didn’t make it any better. When Theo refused to leave and Chloe spent most of the evening with him, Ryder got drunk and flirted with their hostess Anne Sherman, ending up being escorted from the club by Tane and facing questions from Ari and Mia the next morning about leaving Chloe behind. He had a birthday lunch with his family and, when Chloe turned up, he brought the event to an abrupt halt when he asked if she’d slept with Theo, then tried to warn Theo to stay away from her. However, he and Chloe broke up anyway, accepting it wasn’t working. Bella then told him that Theo had said he and Chloe slept together but Theo said he just meant they spent all night talking.
Ryder and Chloe had neglected their business after a chemical attack at the surf club left several of their families in hospital, and been left with a list of unfulfilled orders and unpaid bills. Ryder tried to transfer money to their suppliers but accidentally added an extra 0 on the end, using up all their money. Theo proposed a moneymaking scheme, explaining he had posted a video of him and Ryder arguing about the abduction on a monetised online account and suggesting he and Ryder film a series of challenges. Ryder agreed and one of Theo’s suggestions, a chilli challenge, was selected. Ryder just about ate more than Theo but was left throwing up afterwards. He agreed to continue and, on realising Theo had been submitting the same idea multiple times, declared the next one would be a cocktail drinking challenge. However, Theo drank all of the disgusting cocktails Ryder made for him without ill effect and even got round Ryder gluing him to his seat by slipping out of his trousers. Ryder was unhappy to find Theo helping out with the business and looked after Marilyn, who had psychological after-effects from the chemical poisoning, with the rest of the household away, spending a night holding her hand.
Theo convinced him to take part in a firewalking challenge, where they both burned their feet after being interrupted by Cash. Justin declared Ryder the winner and Theo cut short his gloating by revealing he’d kissed Chloe shortly after she and Ryder broke up. Ryder responded by pulling out of the challenges, then argued with Chloe when she cancelled a night’s orders on meeting her dad Matthew. Chloe gave him the money for her half of the debt and offered to buy him out of the business; instead, he signed it over to her for free. He videoed Theo getting a telling off for stealing the surf club buggy and, on learning Alf and Roo needed to buy a dialysis machine for Martha, offered to restart the challenges. Following a suggestion from Mackenzie to appeal to the female audience, he organised for Ziggy and Theo to race to change a tyre. After spotting a coffin brochure, he came up with an idea: Being buried in a coffin for five hours, live streamed, with Theo watching over him. However, the plan began to go wrong when Theo disappeared off to the Diner, leaving him on his own.
After completing the challenge, Ryder began to get worried when Theo didn’t come back. He tried to call Justin and the police but his phone ran out of power. He was eventually found by Roo and Justin and rushed to hospital unconscious. He came round and quickly forgave Theo but was scared of being left alone. When he returned to find Alf blaming Theo and Justin, and Roo and Martha at odds after Martha refused the transplant, he began having panic attacks and tried to heal the rift. However, Alf refused to respond to an apology from Theo or accept the money from the challenge and Ryder was unable to talk him out of having Theo charged over the buggy theft. He encouraged Roo to make things up with Martha and suffered a panic attack when he locked himself in the store room at Salt, having to be rescued by Justin and calling a helpline to discuss his troubles. He offered to accompany Theo to court and ended up moving out to a caravan for a while. He forgave Alf after some pushing from Roo and Theo, but refused to celebrate his graduation when Ari died, feeling they should do something for the family. He and Theo hit on the idea of recording videos of everyone’s recollection of Ari which pleased Chloe but got an angry reaction from Mia.
He was asked to keep an eye on Mackenzie by Logan and soon after had her reject his cocktail ideas and reduce his hours. Dean enlisted him to check out the Salt accounts and he was aghast at how bad things were. He gladly joined Mackenzie and Felicity in organising an illegal poker night to raise money, being so enthused he convinced Mackenzie to hold another one. He reluctantly agreed to spy on the events for Dean and also interrupted Dimitri visiting Theo. He unsuccessfully lobbied to be a dealer and practised by having a poker night with Bella, Nikau and Chloe, explaining he wanted to be a croupier. He asked Quinn for help and she arranged a job for him as a mixologist on a cruise ship, with the potential to train as a croupier. He waited until the day before he left to tell everyone, with Roo organising a rapid farewell. Although it was disrupted by an argument between Nikau and Chloe, he shared last moments with his friends, Alf and Martha, was given an engraved set of bar blades by John, thanked Roo for taking him in and said a final roadside goodbye to Bella before leaving.