Star of the Australian serial opera Home and Away Courtney Miller has briefly returned to Summer Bay as Bella Nixon but has shared her reasons for leaving the show in the first place.
Star of the Australian soap opera Home and Away Courtney Miller has made a cameo appearance as Bella Nixon.
After four years, the 27-year-old actress left her role as Bella, who bid farewell to Summer Bay after receiving a job offer in New York.
However, Courtney has since made a comeback to the Bay as part of a unique plotline and played the character again on Tuesday’s episode (April 18).
When Bella unexpectedly showed up at Dean Thompson’s (Paddy O’Connor) and Ziggy Astoni’s (Sophie Dillman) door to say she had finished her exhibition and wanted to see baby Izzy before departing again, they were taken aback.
Fans were most eager to see Bella and Nikau Parata (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) reunite, but things between the former pair started out awkwardly.
Courtney clarified her reasons for leaving the Bella role in an interview with Stuff, confirming that it was her choice to do so.
“I chose to go on my own. I had undoubtedly completed my acting contract. In actuality, I remained for an additional three months. I went happy, but not without crying a lot,” she said to the newspaper.
The Australian actor left the soap and relocated to Melbourne to pursue acting studies.
Although some people regarded the decision as “crazy,” Courtney acknowledged it to be the “best decision” she could have made.
It was an ego reset, she said, and it was the toughest task she had ever faced. To show myself that I was in it for the long haul and not just for a sudden burst of popularity, I decided to enrol in the acting class.
“When I first arrived, I panicked a little because I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there or that I’d made the wrong option, but by week two, I realised that I had made the right choice. It was the most firmly rooted experience of my life. It was amazing, the soap opera star continued.
Ironically, Courtney’s first job after graduating from acting school was back at Home and Away, where she made a brief appearance for a plotline that will conclude the following week.
“I had a lot of luck getting called back. Because there was still a storyline there that needed to be finished, it worked out perfectly. The experience was the nicest I’ve ever had, remarked Courtney.
