Home and Away Relations – Keeping it in the Family

 

It’s often been said that working on a show like Home and Away can feel like being part of one big family. But on occasion, there have been real-life relations who have appeared on the show, either together or several years apart.

Here we take a look at just some of those regular cast members who share DNA with others from the show’s history…

Chris Hemsworth & Luke Van Os

We start with an obvious one, which saw a large amount of press coverage last year.

Chris Hemsworth starred as Kim Hyde from 2004-2007, and even found time to put down his hammer and return as an extra in a diner scene in 2015. In 2022, Jasmine Delaney’s half-brother Xander arrived in the bay, played by Luke Van Os who is Chris’s first cousin.

When his casting was announced, Luke revealed that he turned to his cousin for advice before his audition.

“When I was asked for a callback for the chemistry test, I actually zoomed with Chris the night before and we ran [the scene] and kind of just got into a good headspace,” Luke explained.

Rebekah, Dominic & Sebastian Elmaloglou

The Elmaloglou dynasty has spanned several eras of the show. Rebekah first appeared as teen Sophie Simpson back in 1990, who memorably went on to have her recently deceased boyfriend David’s (Guy Pearce) baby in 1992. Sophie departed the following year, but made repeat appearances in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Rebekah’s younger brother Dominic featured in a four-week storyline in 1996 as Guillain-Barré syndrome sufferer Sebastian Harrison, who befriended Stephanie Mboto (Fleur Beaupert). Their short-lived romance was ended when Sebastian’s parents took him overseas for treatment.

The youngest of the siblings to appear on the show was Sebastian, who portrayed regular character Max Sutherland from 2002-2004. Seb went on to work behind-the-scenes on the show in the props department.

It’s perhaps of no surprise that performing arts runs through the family. Their father Gregory played cello in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, whilst their mother Teresa’s cousin is none other than Dame Judi Dench.

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Norman & Nana Coburn

One of the show’s most popular characters, there aren’t many that don’t know of Norman’s character, Donald Fisher, ex-husband of current character Marilyn and headmaster of Summer Bay High (on and off) from 1988 to his departure in 2003. Donald would make further appearances in 2004 and 2005, before his final stint in 2007.

Slightly less well known however is the fact that Norman’s daughter, Nana, has played two different characters on the show.

Nana first appeared as school tormentor Vicki Baxter from 1989-1990. She targeted several of the teens during her time, including Viv Newton and Steven Matheson, as well as accusing teacher Grant Mitchell (Craig McLachlan) of trying to assault her.

After she framed Emma Jackson for stealing exam papers, which got Emma expelled, Vicki finally got her comeuppance when her cousin came forward to admit the truth. Nana’s final scene as Vicki was alongside her father, with Vicki being marched into Fisher’s office for her own expulsion.

Nana appeared again in 1995 as Lisa Matthews, whose sole purpose was to cause more torment for Steven (talk about a missed chance to bring back Vicki). Lisa was a girlfriend of Steven’s old enemy Dodge (Kelly Dingwall), who had returned to Summer Bay to enact revenge on Stevo for having him imprisoned.

Penny & Jessica McNamee, and Teagan Croft

Whilst Penny earned many a fan in her portrayal of Tori Morgan from 2016 to 2021, she was pipped to the post on starring in the show by her sister, Jessica.

Jessica appeared back in 2007 as schoolgirl Lisa Duffy, who dated both Drew Curtis (Bobby Morley) and Lucas Holden (Rhys Wakefield) during her stint on the show. The latter pairing didn’t last long however, when Lisa was killed in a car crash during a drag race between Drew and Lisa’s ex-boyfriend Denni (Joshua Helman).

The family link doesn’t stop there, with Penny and Jessica’s niece, Teagan Croft, also having appeared in the show. Teagan played Bella Loneragan in 2016, the daughter of Dom (Lindsay Farris) who was in a brief relationship with Phoebe Nicholson (Isabella Giovinazzo).

Nicholas Cartwright & Zara Zoe

The most recent entry on this list, siblings Nicholas and Zara are something of a rarity in that they’ve actually appeared together on-screen.

Nearly a year after Nick first appeared as Summer Bay cop Cash Newman, his sister Zara was brought in to play guest character Millie Hudson, the driver of a car that was in an accident with Logan Bennett (Harley Bonner).

When it eventually came to light that it had been Millie who had caused the accident, not Logan as initially suspected, Cash interviewed Millie who pleaded her innocence. Millie would finally confess the following day.

David Jones-Roberts & Daniel Roberts

David appeared as Xavier Austin from 2008-2012, with a return in 2013 following the death of Xavier’s mother Gina (Sonia Todd).

David is the son of former Sons and Daughters star Daniel Roberts, who has portrayed three different guest characters on Home and Away over the years.

He first appeared as Tony O’Rourke, the estranged brother of Ailsa Stewart (Judy Nunn), who came to the bay seeking revenge on her for the killing of their abusive father.

He later popped up again in 2011/2012 as property developer Dennis Harling, before making another appearance as Nate Cooper’s (Kyle Pryor) gambling addict father Gavin in 2015.

Katrina & Christopher Hobbs

Katrina appeared as Summer Bay’s resident doctor Kelly Watson from 1995-1997. Kelly was briefly engaged to Travis Nash (Nic Testoni), before she took a job in the city and left without him, feeling that he wouldn’t take to life in the big smoke.

Katrina’s brother Christopher later appeared as Marc Edwards in 2005, who came under suspicion of being the Summer Bay stalker.. that is before the real stalker, Zoe McCallister, bumped him off with a crowbar during a murder mystery event!

Shane & Madeleine Withington

Shane first appeared in a guest role as Colin Page, the pilot of the helicopter that came down in a storm, with several residents on board, in 2006. He later returned to the show as John Palmer in 2009, and has remained ever since.

Shane and his A Country Practice co-star wife Anne Tenney share a daughter, Madeleine, who made her own appearance in the show in 2015. Her character, Monica Grymson, appeared in one episode where she went on a date with Chris Harrington (Johnny Ruffo) after matching with him on dating app Smouldr.

Unfortunately Chris found Monica’s talk of origami boring, and his attempt to tell her so ended with her pouring a milkshake over his head.

Samara & Morgan Weaving

Samara Weaving first appeared on the show in a guest capacity as Indigo Walker, who came to the bay alongside dad Sid (Robert Mammone), mum Jody (Victoria Haralabidou) and brother Dexter (Tom Green/Charles Cottier), for four weeks in 2009. The family (sans Jody) returned as regulars in 2010, with Indi sticking around until 2013.

Samara’s younger sister Morgan also appeared on the show during that time, portraying Harvey Ryan’s (Marcus Graham) daughter Lottie in 2012—who would of course go on to be Roo Stewart’s (Georgie Parker) stepdaughter for a time.

Lottie was unable to attend the wedding due to chickenpox, and wasn’t actually seen during Harvey and Roo’s short-lived marriage.

Belinda was the third actress to take on the role of Donald and Barbara’s daughter Rebecca Fisher, when the character was re-introduced as a regular in 1996.

When Belinda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, the role was taken over for 8 weeks by Megan Connolly. Once Belinda had returned, she continued to portray Rebecca until the character’s departure with husband Travis Nash in 1999. Belinda’s cancer returned in 2001, and she tragically lost her fight in 2006 aged 32.

Belinda’s brother Shane later appeared on the show for three weeks in 2011, playing Mark Gilmour, the rich boyfriend of Gypsy Nash (Kimberley Cooper) who clashed with her daughter Lily.

Lynne McGranger & Clancy McWaters

Lynne has played Irene on the show since 1993, and is proud to be one of the diner ladies. However what few viewers may realise is that her real-life daughter Clancy has also joined that prestigious group!

Although not a named character, Clancy has appeared in the background as one of Pier Diner waitresses at various points over the past few years.

Demi & Brooke Harman

Sasha Bezmel, played by Demi Harman, was the long-lost daughter of Summer Bay resident Sid Walker. She arrived in 2011 following the death of her mother and remained on the show for over three years.

Demi’s older sister, Brooke, had previously appeared on the show in a handful of episodes in 1999 as Hope Benedict. Hope was a girl who Duncan took a liking to, with her convincing him to join her bible study group.

Needless to say, once she rejected his advances, Duncan decided that the church wasn’t for him after all…

Anna & Joy Hruby

Anna first appeared as Judith Ackroyd from 1999, arriving in the bay alongside her goth son Edward (Stephen James King) to take on the post of principal of Summer Bay High.

Following Edward’s diagnosis with early-onset Huntington’s disease the following year, he and girlfriend Peta left to travel Europe, with Judith taking up a post in Switzerland in November 2000.

Anna’s mother, actor and presenter Joy Hruby, had previously portrayed two small parts in the show. She first appeared in 1996 as Mrs Penrose, a grumpy lady that Stephanie (Fleur Beaupert) had to wheel about whilst on work experience at the hospital. Joy later appeared as Mrs Riley in 1998, a lady who Will, Sam, Tom and Gypsy were assigned to do some yard work for as punishment for letting off fireworks.

Corey & Kelly Glaister

These two siblings missed the chance to appear together by little over a week!

Elder sibling Corey took over the role of Angel Parrish’s (Melissa George) young son Dylan from 1995 to 1996, until Angel, Dylan and Shane Jr left for a new life in England with Simon Broadhurst (Julian Garner).

Only 8 episodes after his departure, Corey’s sister Kelly made her debut as Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) and Kylie Burton’s (Roslyn Oades) daughter Rachel. Kelly would portray Rachel for 20 months until May 1998, when Sara Mumcu took over the role.