Chris Harrington (Home and Away)
Chris Harrington is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Johnny Ruffo. He first appeared on screen on 1 April 2013 and left the show on 22 September 2016. Chris is the older brother of Spencer Harrington and the son of Ian Harrington, coming from a wealthy family. He is a cheeky, carefree traveler who isn’t keen on academics and often focuses on impressing women. He moves to Summer Bay, lodges with Irene Roberts, and works at the diner, forming a playful, mother‑son dynamic with her.
Ruffo’s Chris started as a guest character but was later made part of the regular cast. The actor, a professional singer, felt the role was written with him in mind and asked for more emotional depth. Chris’s early storylines center on his relationships, including a romance with Indi Walker that runs into trouble because of Indi’s late husband’s illness and the arrival of Chris’s ex‑girlfriend Robyn Sullivan. He later becomes involved with Denny Miller, which leads to a love triangle with Casey Braxton. A later romance with Hannah Wilson also features in his storyline, and his bond with his brother Spencer often tests their family ties.
A key ongoing thread is Chris’s protectiveness of Spencer, who grapples with bipolar disorder. This friendship sometimes clashes with Chris’s honest, blunt approach. He also becomes entangled in various dramatic moments, including a dangerous mushroom‑poisoning incident where he unknowingly uses death cap mushrooms in a risotto, causing Alf Stewart and Leah Patterson‑Baker to fall ill. Chris feels immense guilt as he works to help them and even organizes a liver donor drive for Leah.
In 2014, Johnny Ruffo earned a nomination for Most Popular New Talent at the Logie Awards for his work as Chris. Ruffo announced his departure from Home and Away in April 2016, and Chris’s final scenes aired in September of that year.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:59 (CET).