Here’s looking at you, Sophie Dillman and Patrick O’Connor! – The performers on Home And Away have a history of falling in love offscreen. Sarah Roberts and James Stewart experienced the same thing.
When Sarah joined the cast as the fiery, leather-clad Willow in 2017, James was already a regular on the iconic Australian soap, playing bad boy Justin.
There was no denying there was electricity between these two from the time Sarah walked onto the screen, much to James’ character’s amazement (more on that later).
Sarah has previously stated that she and James have such a close relationship that their love scenes together seemed absolutely natural.
“It’s simple because there’s actual chemistry — I don’t even have to act!” she added.
Sarah claims that knowing their love is genuine off-screen has aided her on set.
“It’s difficult not to chuckle at times — [James] is quite amusing. Having those tiny secrets, though, adds to the work we perform. It’s entertaining.”
The pair married in July 2019 in a spectacular wedding attended by just their closest relatives and friends, following a whirlwind relationship.
They had two weddings: the ceremonial signing of the paperwork at a casual gathering in Sydney’s Coogee, and their lavish ceremonies in an Irish castle.
Sarah shared this sweet snapshot of a bouquet of flowers given to her by James, as well as a polaroid from their first wedding anniversary, containing a photo of herself, James, and Scout, the daughter he has with his previous wife Jessica Marais.
The wedding, according to James, was a “new beginning” for the pair, allowing them to make their own memories for the rest of their lives.
James previously stated, “It seems like a foundation was formed to go and achieve something spectacular.”
“Who knows what will happen in the following six, twelve, eighteen, or twenty-four months? But whatever it is, it will be well-supported and much more straightforward.”
Let’s take a look back at Sarah and James’ amazing love storey in honour of those fantastic foundations.
Continue scrolling to see photos of their romance.
By posting a couple of poolside photographs on Instagram, James and Sarah demonstrated some healthy Instagram PDA.
“… love ya baby x,” gushed the Home and Away actor, who was the first to share the photos.
“Beautiful,” Georgie Parker, ever a supportive co-star, said.
Sarah then responded by posting one of the selfies on her Instagram account and saying, “hello, husby. I adore you as well.”
Georgie expressed her admiration for her deceleration with the comment, “❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
For her 37th birthday, James took his beloved wife on a helicopter adventure, and they couldn’t be more in love high in the sky.
Sarah posted a photo of herself in James’ arms with pancakes from inside the helicopter, captioning it, “I’m completely spoiled. Thank you so much, @jamesstewart. Husby, I adore you ❤️.”
Ada Nicodemou, a Home and Away actress, left a congratulatory message in the Instagram posts’ comment section. “Happy birthday gorgeous, I hope you had a lovely day, ❤️” she wrote.
The Bachelor-style date went off without a hitch!
James posted a photo of himself and Sarah during the party he threw for her on Instagram, along with a besotted message.
He wrote, “Thank you for the food, wine, hip hop, and whiskey at Sarah’s party, @bigpoppas syd… What a fantastic evening! 🥃🎤”
Sarah ecstatically responded with a heartfelt remark about how much she adored James’ birthday surprises.
“BEST. EVERRRRR It is great to be back on the DF with my baby. xxx I retract my statement; you’re now EXCELLENT at surprising people!! 😉, “She was gushing.
Sarah thanked her friends, family, and fans for their expressions of support in a second post, sharing a few photos from her big birthday dinner, which included sweet snaps with her hubby.
She wrote beside the photos, “What a celebration! 🥳 Thank you for all of my sneaky husby’s love and attention! You made me feel like a true princess! All of my lovely friends and family… Your presence and gifts, texts, videos, surprises, dance moves, calls, and outpouring of love have left my heart bursting and my cheeks sore from smiling. What a wonder it is that we exist at all! ❤️🎈🥳💃🏽🥂🥃🍝🎁🎊🎉🎈💞❤️🕺🏽.”
In the background of this photo, James is completely enthralled by Sarah. His besotted expression tugs at the heartstrings.
He looks at her in such a way!
Sarah shared a hilarious post of their engagement photos doctored to make them look old to commemorate three years since James proposed to her. Her brother, of course, was the mastermind behind the alteration.
“3 years ago today Jimmy asked me to be his wifey,” she began her caption softly. “To celebrate,” she said, “he’d be glad his jokes are famous, and I’m still happily married.” She swiftly switched her focus to her brother’s antics, adding, “To celebrate, here’s what my bro had to say about it… he’d be happy his jokes are famous, and I’m still happily married.”
On WhatsApp, the brother and sister antics continued! What a special occasion for this lovely lady!
Willow (Sarah Roberts) made an immediate impact on Justin and Jimmy Stewart when she first on onscreen in Home And Away!
Let’s just say Sarah and James’ first encounter together was a little less than romantic. Justin got a solid thud from Willow!
Sarah shared a video of her and James’ first session together on Instagram (which you can watch in the player above). Sarah laughed as she captioned the retro footage: “Never underestimate the power of a nice hair flip, some leathers, and a gut punch. It could possibly help you find a husband!”
Sarah previously discussed the pivotal sequence in an interview with TV WEEK in 2018, in which she discussed how James helped her get through her early days on set.
“I’m an anxious person,” she explained, “and I shot around eight sequences that day, so it was full-on.” “But [that day], Jimmy took me under his wing. He taught me a great deal.”
Sarah also discussed how their on-screen relationship translated into real life.
“We became friends, and things progressed naturally. He’s nice, polite, and giving, and he’s also rather attractive! So it was all of those things that drew me to him “Sarah said.
James proposed to his lady love Sarah just a year after she joined the set of Home And Away. “She said yes!!” exclaims the narrator. This charming snapshot of Sarah standing with her stunning engagement ring was captioned by James.
These two only had eyes for each other on and offscreen.
“Oh, baby!” exclaims the speaker. Sarah described this adorable picture of herself and James having fun at the races.
The couple is on a couple’s vacation in New York City.
