‘Are you aware that we belong together? Forever and ever, you and I…’
You’ll be whisked back to a time when you raced home from school, turned on the television, and joined your mates in Summer Bay as soon as you hear the first bars of that beloved theme tune.
The characters of Home And Away, from Angel and Shane to Marilyn and Fisher, were a part of our upbringing, and the Australian soap is still going strong today.
But we’d like to know where some of our favourite celebrities from the past are right now. Are they still ordering milkshakes that they’ll never finish at the Surf Club? Is it possible that they’re on the hamburger phone in The Diner?
Have they gone to the enigmatic Yabbie Creek for a while? Or, even worse, did they wind up in “juvie”?
Here’s everything you need to know about the stars of the ’90s and early ’00s soap operas…
Angel Parrish (Melissa George) and Shane Parrish (Dieter Brummer)
Shane and Angel were one of the most popular couples on Home and Away.
Dieter Brummer, however, told Women’s Day magazine in November 2019 that he didn’t get along with Melissa George in real life.
He is supposed to have commented: “On the show, we were love interests, but our chemistry was far from real! Mel had a lot of ambition from the beginning. She probably aspired to be the next Kylie Minogue.”
Melissa George is still working as an actress now.
She was most recently seen in Apple TV’s The Mosquito Coast, where she played Margot opposite Justin Theroux.
According to The Mirror in 2021, she became a multi-millionaire after creating Hemming My Way, a device that allows users to modify hems without sewing.
But she claimed she was left bankrupt after her 2016 divorce from Jean David Blanc, telling Stella magazine at the time, “I was left with nothing.”
Melissa and her two sons, Raphael, six, and Solal, four, currently reside in Paris.
Dieter Brummer died in July 2021, at the age of 45.
Police responding to a welfare complaint discovered him dead at a property in Sydney, and the cops said his death would not be viewed as suspicious.
“We lost our attractive, talented, humorous, complicated, and adored Dieter,” his family stated in a statement.
“He has left a huge hole in our lives, and our world will never be the same without him.”
“All of you who knew him, loved him, or worked with him throughout the years are in our thoughts.”
Kim Hyde (Chris Hemsworth) and Leah Patterson (Ada Nicodemou)
Kim, played by Chris Hemsworth, first appeared on television as the son of Summer Bay’s most reviled Principal (Barry), who was known for his proclivity for issuing dress codes and detentions (all fairly standard Principal behaviour but we hated him with a passion).
Chris is, of course, actor Liam Hemsworth’s older brother.
He is well recognised for his role as Thor in the Marvel movies, in which he is currently 38 years old.
He and his wife Elsa Pataky, as well as their daughter and twin sons, live in Byron Bay, Australia.
And Leah Patterson’s narrative included the deaths of her spouses, several love interests, surrogacy, anxiety, and being a victim of racism.
Ada Nicodemou is an Australian actress who has been in a variety of TV episodes and films, most notably as Dojour in The Matrix. She has also competed in Dancing on Ice Australia.
Chrys Xipolitas, her ex-husband, and she had a child together. Tragically, their second child died in the womb.
Adam Rigby, a businessman, is the man she is now dating.
Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) and Scott Irwin (Heath Ledger)
Sally was one of the most well-known characters from the TV show Home and Away.
Her modest annoyance was usually a source of amusement for us.
Sally was the youngest of Pippa and Tom Fletcher’s foster children, and her storylines were initially somewhat low-key.
Sally’s proclivity for attracting calamity, on the other hand, was well on its way by the time she was in her mid-teens.
She was kidnapped, married to Flynn, went through surrogacy, and then there was the Flynn/Sally/Jesse/Leah plot, so she made up for lost time.
Kate Ritchie is still an actress, as well as a radio host and a children’s book author, today.
She is married and the mother of one child.
What about Scott Irwin, for example? It’s hard to think that Hollywood mega-star Heath Legder began his career on the Australian soap opera Home and Away, but it’s true.
His character was a real bad boy who took advantage of Sally, his sweetheart.
He attempted to enlist Sally’s assistance in obtaining keys to Fisher’s office (tut tut), but she “dobbed him in.”
Scott proceeded to taunt her after that, tripping her in the school corridor and nicknamed her “Fisher’s Pet.”
Scott was eventually expelled from school.
Heath Ledger had a tremendously successful acting career in real life, starring in numerous award-winning films such as Brokeback Mountain and The Joker.
Unfortunately, during the filming of The Joker, Ledger died after an accidental narcotics overdose.
He earned an Academy Award for his performance in the picture after his death, and he left behind a small daughter, Matilda.
Selena Roberts (Tempany Deckhert)
In Home and Away, Selena had a variety of harsh stories.
At school, the protagonist had a miscarriage and was sexually assaulted.
She was stalked and even had a relationship with her high school instructor at one time.
Actress Tempany Deckhert now lives in Los Angeles and continues to act in television and theatre while also teaching writing at UCLA.
Bobby Simpson (Nicolle Dickson)
Bobby from Home and Away was the stereotypical troubled adolescent.
Her stories included a dispute with Roo Stewart, adoption, and her marriage to foster brother Frank Morgan. She was rebellious and a bit of a recluse.
Nicolle Dickson, a former actress, now works as an accountant and bookkeeper, having put acting and Summer Bay far behind.
Vinnie Patterson (Ryan Kwanten)
Vinnie first caught our eye as he sped by aboard Travis Nash’s boat.
He was Vijay’s father and one of Leah’s spouses.
In an off-screen farming accident, he suffered a phoney death followed by an apparent genuine one.
He has continued to act in real life, portraying Jay in Summerland, Jason in True Blood, and eventually Steve in The Oath.
Pippa Ross (Vanessa Downing)
Pippa’s gorgeous property, lovingly known as “the caravan park,” attracted a large number of foster youngsters.
In the 1990s and 2000s, she was the patient mother who cooked delicious meals and whom we all imagined to be our true mother.
When Vanessa Downing, who played the original Pippa, departed the series in 1990, the role was recast and Debra Lawrance, who played the character from 1990 to 1998, took over on short notice.
Downing, on the other hand, will always be the real Pippa.
Jessie (Ben Unwin)
Jessie appears in two episodes of Home and Away. He was involved with both Leah and Selena.
In the end, his character was sentenced to prison after causing Chloe’s death in a vehicle accident.
Ben got his law degree after leaving Home and Away and worked as a senior solicitor in Australia.
He also directed videos for Culture Club and Chumbawamba’s song Tubthumping in the music industry.
Ben Unwin was sadly discovered dead at Byron Bay in 2019 at the bottom of a 300-foot waterfall.
Locals say the waterfall is cursed because it has “claimed countless lives.”
“Police attended Minyon Falls, Whian Whian, reacting to a concern for welfare,” a police statement said at the time.
“A 41-year-old man’s body was discovered. The death isn’t being investigated as a homicide.”
Shannon (Isla Fisher)
How about that for a convoluted backstory?
Shannon was Katherine Walker’s daughter and Elizabeth Reed’s adopted daughter. She was also Michael and Pippa’s foster daughter (but wasn’t everyone?)
Eric Phillips, Alex Bennett, Geoff Thomas, and Lachlan Fraser were all ex-girlfriends of her adopted brother Curtis.
Shannon eventually left the Bay for Paris, and it’s easy to see why. It’s all quite perplexing.
In real life, Isla Fisher went on to star in films like Wedding Crashers, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and The Great Gatsby, among others.
Sasha Baron-Cohen, a comedian, is her husband, and they have three children together.
Marilyn (Emily Symons)
Marilyn is a true icon of Home and Away, and she brought a little glitz and elegance to the Bay.
Even if it was already really sunny, you get what we mean.
She was Summer Bay’s Marilyn Monroe, but she ended up marrying Donald Fisher for some reason.
She moved to the UK after Home and Away, where she played Louise Appleton in our very own Emmerdale for eight years.
Emily Symons was married to Lorenzo Smith, a son of Viscount Hambleden, a descendent of stationery magnate W.H Smith, for two years in real life.
She also dated Emmerdale co-star Matt Healy and was engaged to footballer Matt Le Tissier.
She is the mother of one child.
Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher), Aisla Stewart (Judy Nunn) and Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn)
We’ve missed Flathead (sorry, Donald Fisher) a lot. And we still can’t get over the way he managed to punch well above his weight and marry the lovely Marilyn.
And what about Alf and Aisla, who work nonstop at the Diner? Absolute legends – and they were adults even back THEN, so where are they now?
Norman Coburn, for example, is 84 years old and has continued to play in a variety of roles in theatre throughout his career.
Ray Meagher, who plays Alf in Home and Away, is 77 years old and continues acting in the show. With a 30-year run on the show, he is the longest-serving cast member.
Ailsa’s actress, Judy Nunn, is likewise 77 years old. She’s a fiction novelist who’s also written for the stage, radio, and television.
Intriguingly Wikipedia tells us that “she grew enamoured with Ariana Grande in 2020 and was keen to meet her”. Unfortunately the proposal was refused in early 2021, due to the coronavirus epidemic.
That’s what we’ll leave you with.
