initial praise for ray was based on his looks. a writer for "all about soap" magazine described ray as "hunky", "good-looking" and said that "this mysterious man might have everything going for him." laura morgan of "all about soap" said that ray's inclusion "ticks the hunky-man box very nicely". in a feature about "the boys of soapland who'll be lighting up our screens in the coming months", a writer for "inside soap" said in may 2012, "it's rare to meet a truly good man in soap. they generally come laden with baggage, burdened with dark secrets and—almost always—have the same attitude to monogamy as a cocker spaniel on heat. but ray seems to be cut from a different cloth, and we love him for it."