Home and Away Spoilers – Will Ziggy and Dean leave everything behind?
Next week on Home and Away in the UK, as Ziggy suggests a move to Queensland, can Dean really leave Mackenzie when she needs him the most?
Dean (Patrick O’Connor) and Ziggy (Sophie Dillman) received a shock blow in recent episodes, when they learnt that Dean’s son Jai (River Jarvis) is soon going to be moving to the far north of Queensland.
The 8-year-old isn’t isn’t planning on going it alone of course—Jai’s mum Amber (Maddy Jevic) has received a job offer up there that was too good to refuse, the only caveat being that she would have to start the very next week.
Dean was devastated to say the least, particularly given that Jai now has a newborn sibling in the form of half-sister Isabella, as he realised that there was nothing that he could do to stop Amber moving away.
Next week, Dean speaks to Jai on the phone, who is clearly upset about the move, stating that he doesn’t want to leave, at which point Dean figures he should pay Jai a visit.
On Dean’s return, he shows Ziggy a heartbreaking picture that Jai drew, with a countdown of the days until he leaves his dad behind.
With Amber and Jai’s planned home a full two days drive away, Dean knows that opportunities to spend time with his son will be few and far between, and even less so for baby Izzy who Dean desperately wants to have in Jai’s life.
It’s then that Ziggy comes up with a radical suggestion… why don’t they move up to Queenland too! There’s plenty of cars and surf available, so neither of them should struggle finding a job. Plus it also has the added bonus of being near to Ziggy’s younger sister, Coco (Anna Cocquerel), who lives in Cairns.
It’s a bonkers idea, but Dean loves it, and the two immediately start making plans!
Ziggy contacts her parents, Ben (Rohan Nichol) and Maggie (Kestie Morassi), in Italy to explain the situation, and they’re only too happy for the lease of the farmhouse to be transferred into Mackenzie’s (Emily Weir) name.
Ben is also happy with Dean’s plans for the board shop… which brings us onto Mali (Kyle Shilling).
Having only just moved to the bay to take up a position at the shop, Mali is gobsmacked when Dean announces that he’s moving to Queensland and that he’d like to gift him the business!
Mali tells him he couldn’t possibly accept, until Dean convinces him that he’d actually be doing him a favour.
There’s a stumbling block however when it comes to the pair telling Mac of their plans. With Mac’s boyfriend Gabe (Akos Armont) having recently learnt he is suffering with terminal cancer, Ziggy quickly bottles out and changes the subject, feeling that now’s not the right time.
When Dean later hears that Amber will have to undergo a week of training, he doesn’t like the idea of Jai having to spend his first week in Queensland with a babysitter, and so decides that they should leave the very next day!
But when Dean heads over to break the news to Mac about his impending departure, he find her in a state about Gabe, and as a result he reluctantly tells Ziggy that they can’t move away just yet.
In the end, Ziggy finds the courage to bring it up with Mac herself, and asks if she can have a word with Dean to convince him that he needs to be there for Jai.
Mac heads home and assures Dean that she’s a big girl now, and is more than capable of looking after herself… it’s time for him to get packing.
A short while later, Dean, Ziggy and baby Izzy are parked up outside the surf club with their car full to the brim, with Irene (Lynne McGranger), Justin (James Stewart), Mac and Gabe there to send them on their way.
As Mac says goodbye to Izzy, Ziggy bids an emotional farewell to both Irene and Justin.
Mac then says a tearful farewell to Dean. The half-siblings may have only known each other for four years, but its clear they have an unbreakable bond as they affirm their love for one another.
With further goodbyes said, the pair are about to get into the car when Mali rushes over from the surf club.
As Dean wonders where he had got to, Mali explains that he couldn’t let them leave without the framed newspaper clipping that was hanging in the board shop, depicting the time when Dean and Ziggy won the Summer Bay Surf Comp together.
Dean knows that the board shop is in good hands as he hugs him goodbye.
And with that, it’s time for the family to head off for their new life in Queensland!
Goodbye Diggy and Izzy!
After filming their final scenes on the show back in October, real-life couple Patrick O’Connor and Sophie Dillman moved to London, with their initial plan being to take some time out and use it as a base for travelling Europe.
“We’re going to travel somewhere new every month,” Sophie told Aussie mag TV Week.
“We definitely want to keep acting,” Paddy stated. “[Home and Away] gave us that confirmation. But we’re also happy to take a break.”
“I think the statistic is that only a certain percentage of actors are living above the poverty line, so getting an acting gig is tough,” Sophie added. “It may not be easy to keep doing it, but we hope we can – that’s the dream.”
Of course we can’t forget the other departing character, five-week-old Isabella Astoni-Thompson.
In the family’s farewell scene, Izzy was played by Koah Oakleigh Blake, whose mum Tiffany took to Instagram after the episode aired in Australia.
Attaching a screencap of Izzy’s final appearance from our departure feature, together with a snap of Koah ‘in costume’, she stated:
“Little late on posting, back in October 2022 Koah played Baby Izzy on Home & Away 🥰 The episode aired last week where Dean & Ziggy leave Summer Bay behind. Little champion slept through the pram scene and chilled & giggled at the actors in the car seat for the farewell scene 🎬 Look, he may not be up for an Oscar just yet, he might need a bit more then a 10 second staring role 😏 💙”
Four-week old Charlie Randall portrayed Izzy in the birth scene, and other stars have included Atticus Arias, Jett & Kade Berry, Joshua Melia, Gabriel Katsikas, Blake Wright, Aria Morasso, Thomas Hayllar, Edie Gardener, Lola Manny, Harry & Alfie Owen, and Presley Tizane Mohenoa.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our Dean and Ziggy departure feature—published when their exit aired in Australia in March—where we take a look back at their time in Summer Bay over the years.
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