It’s been claimed that producing a television programme like Home and Away may make you feel like you’re a part of a large family. However, there have occasionally been real-life relatives who have made appearances on the show, either together or over a long period of time.
Here, we examine just a few of the current cast members who had ancestors from earlier in the history of the programme.
Luke Van Os and Chris Hemsworth
We begin with one that should be clear and received a lot of news last year.
From 2004 to 2007, Chris Hemsworth played the role of Kim Hyde. He even made time to put down his hammer and appear as an extra in a diner scene in 2015. Luke Van Os, Chris’s first cousin, who plays Xander, Jasmine Delaney’s half-brother, arrived in the bay in 2022.
Luke said that he asked his cousin for assistance prior to his audition when his casting was announced.
Luke said, “The night before I zoomed with Chris and we ran [the scene] and kind of just got into a good headspace when I was asked for a callback for the chemistry test.
Sebastian, Dominic, and Rebecca Elmaloglou
Several seasons of the show have featured the Elmaloglou dynasty. Rebekah made her acting debut in 1990 as the young Sophie Simpson, who famously had Guy Pearce’s (who had lately passed away) baby in 1992. The following year, Sophie left, but she returned in 2002, 2003, and 2005.
Dominic, Rebekah’s younger brother, played Sebastian Harrison, a Guillain-Barré disease patient who became friends with Stephanie Mboto, in a four-week plotline in 1996. (Fleur Beaupert). When Sebastian’s parents sent him abroad for treatment, their brief romance came to an end.
Sebastian, the youngest of the brothers to make an appearance, played the regular character Max Sutherland from 2002 to 2004. Seb later worked in the show’s props department behind the scenes.
The fact that performing arts run in the family may not come as a surprise. Their mother Teresa’s cousin is none other than Dame Judi Dench, and their father Gregory played cello in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Coburns, Norman and Nana
Few people are unfamiliar with Donald Fisher, played by Norman, who was the ex-husband of Marilyn’s present character and the headmaster of Summer Bay High School from 1988 until his resignation in 2003. Donald Fisher is one of the most well-known characters on the show. Before his final appearance in 2007, Donald will make additional outings in 2004 and 2005.
The fact that Nana, Norman’s daughter, has appeared as two separate characters on the show is a little less commonly known.
From 1989 through 1990, Nana first made an appearance as Vicki Baxter, a bully at school. Viv Newton and Steven Matheson were among the teenagers she singled out during that time, and she also claimed that teacher Grant Mitchell (Craig McLachlan) had attempted to assault her.
Vicki ultimately received her due after she falsely accused Emma Jackson of stealing test papers, resulting in Emma’s expulsion, and her cousin stepped forward to confess. Vicki was led into Fisher’s office for her own expulsion in Nana’s final scene as Vicki beside her father.
In 1995, Nana returned as Lisa Matthews, whose main goal was annoy Steven even more (talk about a missed chance to bring back Vicki). Dodge (Kelly Dingwall), Steven’s former adversary, had a girlfriend named Lisa. Dodge had come back to Summer Bay to exact revenge on Stevo for locking him up.
Teagan Croft, Penny & Jessica McNamee, and
While Penny won a lot of admirers for her depiction of Tori Morgan from 2016 to 2021, her sister, Jessica, won the role of the show’s star.
Jessica made her television debut in 2007 as Lisa Duffy, a young girl who dated both Lucas Holden (Rhys Wakefield) and Drew Curtis (Bobby Morley) while she was a cast member of the show. The latter relationship, however, didn’t continue long because Lisa was murdered in a vehicle accident while competing in a drag race with Drew and Lisa’s ex-boyfriend Denni (Joshua Helman).
Teagan Croft, a niece of Penny and Jessica, also made an appearance in the programme, continuing the familial connection. Teagan portrayed Bella Loneragan in 2016, the little daughter of Dom (Lindsay Farris), who dated Phoebe Nicholson for a brief period of time (Isabella Giovinazzo).
Zara Zoe & Nicholas Cartwright
Nicholas and Zara, the newest addition to this list, are a rare example of siblings who have actually shared a screen time.
After Nick played Summer Bay detective Cash Newman for almost a year, his sister Zara was cast as Millie Hudson, the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident with Logan Bennett (Harley Bonner).
When it was subsequently discovered that Millie, not Logan as had been previously believed, had caused the accident, Cash spoke with Millie who maintained her innocence. The following day, Millie would finally come clean.
Daniel Roberts and David Jones-Roberts
After the passing of Xavier Austin’s mother Gina in 2013, David reprised his role as Xavier Austin (Sonia Todd).
David is the child of Daniel Roberts, a former Sons and Daughters actor who throughout the years has played three distinct guest characters on Home and Away.
He originally showed up as Tony O’Rourke, Ailsa Stewart’s (Judy Nunn) estranged brother, who came to the bay to exact revenge on her for killing their cruel father.
He then reappeared in 2011–2012 as real estate developer Dennis Harling and then again in 2015 as the gambling addict father of Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor).
Christopher and Katrina Hobbs
Kelly Watson, the resident doctor of Summer Bay, was played by Katrina from 1995 to 1997. Kelly and Travis Nash (Nic Testoni) were briefly engaged, but she broke things up when she accepted a job in the city because she thought he wouldn’t adapt to life there.
Later, Christopher Katrina’s brother played Marc Edwards in 2005, who was suspected of being the Summer Bay stalker before Zoe McCallister, the real stalker, hit him with a crowbar at a murder mystery event!
Madeleine & Shane Withington
In 2006, Shane made his debut as Colin Page, the chopper’s pilot who crashed during a storm while carrying numerous locals. Later, in 2009, he made a comeback to the programme as John Palmer, where he has remained since since.
Madeleine, the daughter of Shane and his co-star on A Country Practice wife Anne Tenney, made her own appearance on the programme in 2015. In one of the episodes, she played Monica Grymson, who met Chris Harrington (Johnny Ruffo) through the dating app Smouldr and went on a date with him.
Sadly, Chris found Monica’s discussions of origami to be uninteresting, and when he tried to tell her as much, she responded by pouring a milkshake over his head.
Morgan Weaving and Samantha
Samara Weaving debuted as Indigo Walker on the show in 2009, spending four weeks there with her brother Dexter (Tom Green/Charles Cottier), mother Jody (Victoria Haralabidou), and father Sid (Robert Mammone). In 2010, the family (excluding Jody) made a regular return, with Indi remaining until 2013.
The show also included Samara’s younger sister Morgan at the time, who played Harvey Ryan’s (Marcus Graham) daughter Lottie in 2012. Lottie would later become Roo Stewart’s (Georgie Parker) stepdaughter for a while.
Due to her chickenpox, Lottie was unable to attend the nuptials and didn’t appear at any point during Harvey and Roo’s brief union.
Shane and Belinda Emmett
Rebecca Fisher, the daughter of Donald and Barbara Fisher, was reintroduced as a regular in 1996, and Belinda was the third actress to play the part.
Megan Connolly filled in for Belinda for 8 weeks in 1998 after she received her breast cancer diagnosis. When Belinda came back, she kept playing Rebecca until her character left with her husband Travis Nash in 1999. Belinda’s disease flared up again in 2001, and she unfortunately lost the battle at the age of 32 in 2006.
Later, in 2011, Belinda’s brother Shane had a three-week guest appearance on the show as Mark Gilmour, Gypsy Nash’s (Kimberley Cooper) wealthy lover who argued with Lily, Lily’s mother.
Clancy McWaters and Lynne McGranger
Since 1993, Lynne has portrayed the character of Irene on the show, and she is proud to be one of the diner women. Few people might be aware, though, that her real-life daughter Clancy has also entered that elite circle.
Clancy has made several cameo appearances as a waitress at the Pier Diner over the past few years, despite not having a name.
Brooke Harman and Demi
Demi Harman’s character Sasha Bezmel was the long-lost child of Summer Bay resident Sid Walker. After her mother passed away, she joined the show in 2011 and stayed for more than three years.
Brooke, Demi’s older sister, had previously played Hope Benedict in a few episodes of the show in 1999. Duncan developed feelings for a girl named Hope, and she persuaded him to attend her bible study group.
It goes without saying that once she turned down his advances, Duncan realised the religion wasn’t for him after all.
Joy & Anna Hruby
In 1999, Anna made her acting debut as Judith Ackroyd, travelling to the bay with her goth son Edward (Stephen James King) to accept the position of principal at Summer Bay High.
The year after Edward received a diagnosis of early-onset Huntington’s illness, he and his girlfriend Peta set out to travel through Europe, and in November 2000, Judith accepted a position in Switzerland.
Joy Hruby, an actor and presenter, has previously played two minor roles in the programme. She made her acting debut in 1996 as Mrs. Penrose, a cranky woman Stephanie (Fleur Beaupert), who was completing a work experience at the hospital, was forced to wheel around. Later, in 1998, Joy made another appearance as Mrs. Riley, a woman who gave Will, Sam, Tom, and Gypsy yard work to do as payback for setting off fireworks.
Kelly and Corey Glaister
By a little over a week, these two siblings missed their chance to make an appearance together!
From 1995 to 1996, older sibling Corey played the part of Angel Parrish’s (Melissa George) young son Dylan until Angel, Dylan, and Shane Jr. moved to England to start a new life with Simon Broadhurst.
Corey’s sister Kelly debuted as Rachel, the daughter of Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) and Kylie Burton (Roslyn Oades), only 8 episodes after Corey’s departure. Prior to Sara Mumcu taking over the part in May 1998, Kelly played Rachel for 20 months.
