Home and Away legend reflects on powerful storyline ahead of show exit

 "It was very important to me."

Home and Away actor Lynne McGranger has reflected on her favourite and most important storyline her character Irene Roberts faced over the years.

McGranger is stepping away from the Australian soap, having been there since 1993, and she's been looking back on her time there.

Speaking to This Morning, the actor was asked about the storyline she'll remember most, and she said: "When Irene was diagnosed with breast cancer, that was very important to me because my best friend Maureen who lives in York, her daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time.

"And Irene's storyline paralleled Nicki's, so it was very important to me that I paid homage to Nicki and I treated her storyline with love and respect, and I know indeed the writers did do that."

She also reflected on what she will miss most about Home and Away once she leaves.

"I will miss all my beautiful friends in the cast, in the crew, in the office, the producers, the writers, the directors, the list goes on and on and on.

"I will miss the fun times, I will miss the laughs. I will miss Irene's life. I will miss coming to work every day, grabbing a coffee from the café downstairs, having a chin-wag in make-up. I will miss so much about this place."

McGranger also reiterated that she wants to leave the soap in order to try her hand at theatre again, and while she won't spoil her exit storyline, she did say that she had a lot of creative input into it in order to give Irene the send-off she deserves.