Home and Away has seen many romances bloom in Summer Bay, so it’s no wonder the actors have found love on set as well, so who are all the couples?
Home and Away is known for its steamy relationships and tense triangles of love, but several stars have even permitted the drama to burst out of the air.
In recent years, not only have Sophie Dillman and Patrick O’Connor, who play Ziggy and Dean on the show, found love on the soap, several previous stars have also dated on set, some with a permanent path, while some have crashed and burned.
From the doomed engagement of Dannii Minogue to Julian McMahon to the 20-year marriage of Debra Lawrance and Dennis Coard, Home and Away has seen plenty of romances bloom on set.
Daily Star takes a look at all the amazing couples brought together by the Summer Bay drama and who had a happier ending.
James Stewart and Sarah Roberts
As their characters Justin and Willow started dating on set, James Stewart and Sophie Roberts were taken together.
Back in 2017, Willow first appeared in Summer Bay and it didn’t take her long to target Justin, although their relationship was short-lived.
The chemistry between Sarah and James was evident, while Willow ended up rekindling her friendship with her former Dean Thompson.
In 2017, she and James started dating, declared their engagement the next year and tied the knot in 2019 in Ireland.
When they first began dating, Sarah said: “There’s real chemistry, so it’s easy – I don’t even have to act!”
“We became friends and things just evolved. He’s very funny, charming, kind and generous – plus he’s handsome! So all of those things attracted me to him.”We have been friends and things have just evolved. He is very funny, charming, kind and generous, plus he is stunning! So I was attracted to him by all those things.
This married pair appears to have saved all the drama in front of the camera.
James Stewart and Isabella Giovinazzo
This isn’t the first time, though, that actor James has found love on Home and Away’s set.
He just started dating his awesome co-star Isabella Giovinazzo, who played Phoebe Nicholson in the film, shortly before James got together with Sarah.
Since she divorced from her husband Charlie Ford, who she had just married the year before, the two began dating, allegedly heating up their relationship at the end of 2016.
It didn’t take long for things to fizzle out, however, and the next year, James soon moved on to his now-wife.
Awkwardly, despite their breakup, their characters were already playing love interests on the show, and Phoebe and Justin also got engaged.
In the summer of 2017, though, Phoebe made a fast departure, with Sarah showing up in November on set.
Dennis Coard and Debra Lawrance
By far the most famous pair to have come out of Home and Away are Debra and Dennis.
The pair met back in 1990, when Dennis joined the soap as Debra’s character, the second husband of Pippa King, Michael Ross.
In 1992, Debra and Dennis wed, sharing daughter Grace and son William with each other.
“In 2011, she told: “Home And Away brought my life to me.
“If I didn’t have a steady job, I don’t think I would have had children. I met Dennis, we have two great children and he’s a brilliant father.”
She added: “I met Dennis when my ovaries were shouting ‘Hello!’ at exactly the time.”
“I was supposed to smell his testosterone. I flirted with him, and there was chemistry, and then I was mean to him for the next six weeks. I suppose I’ve been testing him.
Isabel Lucas and Chris Hemsworth
Viewers know that Chris Hemsworth, a Hollywood actor who plays Thor in the hit Marvel movies, first found success as Kim Hyde in Home and Away.
It wasn’t long until he had a relationship with Isabel Lucas, who played Tasha Andrew, his on-screen love interest.
The couple reportedly dated from 2005 until 2008 for three years before finally going their separate ways.
The two appear to have been good friends, and not only does Isabel live in Byron Bay very closely with Chris and his wife Elsa Pataky, she is also close friends with her younger brother Liam.
Since Liam split from his wife Miley in 2019, after she gave him a shoulder to cry on, reports quickly started to circulate that he and Isabel had become closer.
At the moment, a source said, “Liam is absolutely the married type, it’s just a shame he fell in love with Miley, who was definitely not,” our source adds.
Liam’s parents [Leonie and Craig] would love to see him settle down with someone who is more on the same wavelength as him, a little more mature and socially conscious of an Aussie who enjoys the beach. Isabel crosses a lot of boxes like that.
It appears, though, that nothing emerged from the alleged relationship as Liam still seems to be single, while Isabel has been confirmed to have a new boyfriend that she has yet to call.
Julian McMahon and Dannii Minogue
The doomed marriage of Dannii Minogue and Julian MacMahon was the Only Home and Away romance that did not keep the suspense on-screen.
Since meeting on the soap in 1991 as characters Emily Jackson and Benito Lucini, the pair married in 1994.
It didn’t take long for things to go wrong between the two, though, and Dannii said it didn’t help that her mother-in-law wasn’t her biggest fan.
On No Filter, she told Mia Freedman: “There was no relationship, she wouldn’t speak to me, I wasn’t allowed to be in the house near her, she said she wouldn’t come to the wedding.”
“We just had no idea how to handle it – we were just trying to.”
Dannii claims that Australian Prime Minister Sir William’s wife, Lady Sonia McMahon, did not like her because she was “wasn’t from the same stock as his family”
But the actress pointed out that during her brief marriage, she helped her husband financially, and even put herself in debt.
With Julian attempting to hit the big time in Hollywood and Dannii working full time in London, the couple spent a substantial portion of their marriage apart, and the financial burden quickly took its toll.
“I thought, ‘I’ll support you until you get on your feet. Then we can support each other.’”I thought, ‘Until you get on your feet, I will support you. Then we will support each other.’
“Then the marriage was off… it was a huge struggle emotionally, physically, mentally, financially,” she said.
Dannii and Julian’s union lasted just 18 months, and they never spoke again after they broke up.
But Julian saw Danni’s sister Kylie again when, 20 years later, he collaborated with her on the film Swinging Safari.
“Julian decided to “snog” Kylie in a bold move, saying: “It was an impromptu moment.
[Director] Steph [Elliott] said, “Julian, do what you like!” ‘And I was like,’ Bugger it, I’m going to get up and snog my old sister-in-law.’
In 2010, Dannii and former long-term partner Kris Smith had a son, Ethan.
Meanwhile, in 1999, Julian married former Baywatch actor Brooke Burns, but the pair split in 2001 before tying the knot in 2014 with his long-term partner, Kelly Paniagua.
Rebecca Breeds and Mitchell Luke
In 2009, Rebecca and Luke first met as characters Ruby Beckton and Romeo Smith on the set of Home and Away, who once again played love interests on-camera.
In 2013, they tied the knot and are now happily married and live in New York.
A few years later, Luke opened up about his profession and marriage, and made it clear that he credits his wife with a lot of his success.
He told: “I don’t think I could have done what I’ve done overseas if it weren’t for Bec. I’m a very lucky guy.”
“It’s another aspect of Home And Away that makes it so special.”
“We certainly spent most of our relationship on the show. And when I finally finished, we were engaged, and then we got married, and then we moved overseas.”We spent most of our relationship on the show, for sure. And we were engaged when I finally finished, and then we got married, and then we moved overseas.
Patrick O’Connor and Sophie Dillman
The newest couple to blossom out of the Aussie soap are Sophie and Patrick, with the duo coming together for the first time in 2019.
Most of the most famous celebrities on the soap are their characters, Ziggy Astoni and Dean Thompson, with fans desperate for them to get back together.
At the end of last year, they broke after Dean confessed to Ziggy that he had kept a big secret – he was an accomplice to the murder of Ross Nixon by Colby Thorne.
In real life, though, the pair have even less drama and revealed that they already knew each other before the soap, when they went together to acting school.
Sophie opened up about their relationship and how they would make things work together, telling TV Week: “It’s great working with him – it’s always fun. I can never guess what I’m going to get from him [while filming], which is the best,” she added.
“We can be really straight up. We’ve got a great dialogue, so we can say what we need from each other and it will happen.”
Let’s hope Dean and Ziggy will sort it out…
