Film Johns's first foray into entertainment began in 1999 when he adopted the persona of
Reg Reagan in a low-budget film,
In Search of the Holy Grail, which was made for
The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival in
Newcastle. The film also starred fellow Knights players
Andrew Johns as Bruno,
Matthew Gidley, Trent Watson,
Danny Buderus and
Robbie O'Davis. The
Nine Network showed excerpts of the film on
The Footy Show. The Reg Reagan character was developed further in an article in
the Sydney Morning Herald in 2000 where Johns described the character as a late 1970s Australian (or
ocker) who smoked only
Winfield Reds and drank
KB beer. Fans of Johns's new side Cronulla started wearing copies of the T-shirt worn by Reagan, with the slogan "Bring Back the Biff", to games. Johns appeared in
Footy Legends where he appeared as himself. The film was directed by
Khoa Do, and released on 3 August 2006. In 2007
The Final Winter presented Johns in his first feature film acting role where he starred as 'Jack', the 1980s coach of the
Newtown Jets.
Television In 2002, Johns became a regular on
The Footy Show with Reagan and a new character, Trent, a gay flight attendant from
San Francisco. After his retirement as a player, Johns signed deals with the Nine Network and
Sony Music Entertainment. He appeared on
The Footy Show and as a commentator on Nine's broadcasts of rugby league matches. He has recorded a DVD titled "All of Me", released in June 2004, featuring skits by Reg Reagan and Trent the flight attendant. In 2004, as Reg Reagan, Johns recorded a song called "Am I Ever Gonna See the Biff Again?" sung to the tune of
The Angels' 1976 hit "Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?". The song is a humorous lamentation of the decline of onfield violence in professional rugby league. Johns was indefinitely stood down from his position on the Nine Network in May 2009 after the airing of the Four Corners program. He was subsequently replaced by
Phil Gould. He was asked by Channel 9 to make a comeback to commentary later in the season but Johns declined. Towards the end of 2009, Johns turned down a $600,000-a-year contract with Channel 9 in favour of starting up his own production company alongside
John Singleton. After one season, the show was discontinued. In 2012, Johns joined
Fox Sports (Australia) as part of their rugby league coverage. He is the host of his own show "
Sunday Night with Matty Johns".
Author In 2004, Johns released Reg Reagan's 'This Is My Life' through
Pan Macmillan.
Radio In March 2011 Johns joined
Triple M Sydney's breakfast show
The Grill Team introducing a number of character impersonations including "Bruce", the effeminate producer for Triple M's sister station
2Day FM's breakfast team
Kyle and Jackie O; the crude coal-mining magnate (and owner of the Newcastle Knights)
Nathan Tinkler; and the rugby league greats Andrew Johns,
Brad Fittler and
Darren Lockyer as the "Future Immortals Gone Nuts". His last day in the Grill Team was on 7 December 2018. Johns currently work on SEN radio's "Morning Glory with Matty Johns" program. In June 2023, his brother Andrew Johns quit the show after a public falling out over comments Matthew Johns made about Queensland ahead of the
2023 State of Origin series. ==Personal life==