Their age difference isn’t stopping them.
When fans spot Ada Nicodemou and Lynne McGranger together outside of Home And Away, usually one thing happens.
“People freak out,” Ada, 45, laughs to Woman’s Day. “Wherever we are, people are like, ‘Argh, it’s Irene and Leah!’ and cause such a scene.”
Fans may, however, be excused for going completely insane when they learn that two of Summer Bay’s most well-liked and enduring characters are best friends in real life. But they are, in fact! Lynne, 69, says, “We’re incredibly fortunate to know each other. After being on the programme for so long, “we know how to have a good time and we share so much common ground, but we never take anything, or ourselves, too seriously.”
Such beautiful best friends.
BAY BESTIES
Their camaraderie is evident as they recite inside jokes and favourite stories from their time spent working together, as well as suggest books for their book club to read and movies they should see together.
Ada, who notes that Lynne is only a few years younger than her mother, says, “It’s a strange friendship, yet we are quite similar.
“We both enjoy eating, exercising, and reading. If we hadn’t met on Home And Away, I believe we would still be close friends.”
Since there were “so many comings and goings” at the time, Lynne admits she didn’t fully take Ada in when she first started working on the Seven drama in 1999, but Ada recalls it vividly.
She chuckles, “I was frightened because I believed I was going to call everyone by the names of their characters. I had grown up being a fan of hers, so it was only natural that I felt frightened.
The anxieties would soon pass, though, and a strong bond would emerge a few years later when on a press tour to the UK.
Ada recalls, “I had never travelled abroad by myself before. And since there was a problem with mine, we had to share a room. Lynne chuckles, “It was the size of a pencil box.
So, Ada says, “I moved into her room, and from there we just started eating dinners, and that’s when we really established up a bond.
After more than 20 years and almost 50 years combined on the programme, the self-described “Summer Bay besties” are still constantly close by. Ada remarks, “It’s actually odd that we never get tired of each other.
“We work with each other in the diner [on the show], we share a dressing room, we’ll go for a walk at lunchtime, and then on the weekends we’ll have dinners. I’m surprised we don’t get annoyed with each other. I mean if I was giving Lynne the sh*ts she’d tell me, and I’d do the same, because we’re both quite blunt,” she laughs.
Lynne agrees, “Neither of us have any real subtlety.”
CLOSE CONFIDANTES
Ada and Lynne spend so much time together that Ada’s son Johnas even refers to their on-screen love as “Aunty Lynne,” and Ada will be a key player in Lynne’s daughter’s future nuptials.
According to Lynne, “We are family, and there probably aren’t too many relationships like that on set,” and they both know when to step in when the other is having a difficult time filming an emotionally intense moment.
“No one else is reading the room and they’re all laughing but I think we can suss whether one or the other is needing a bit of time and space,” she adds.
It’s not just on set that they know when to comfort one another either.
If things went tragically wrong, Lynne says, “I suppose I’d call Ada before I’d call my friends my own age.” Simply put, “there’s that healthy distinction.”
Ada acknowledges that it would be “weird” if one departed Home And Away before the other when the subject is brought up. “We have grown highly dependent on one another. It’s been so strange without Lynne these past few weeks while she’s been away.
Realizing how silly it sounds, she laughs, “I don’t know who’s going to go first.” Possibly at the same moment Lynne makes an idea. Together to the very end.
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