These actors from Home and Away are roommates in real life!
If you ask the majority of people in their mid-20s if they have a bad flatmate story, they’ll probably cite stolen items or rude roommates.
Matt Evans and Jacqui Purvis from Home And Away are an exception to this rule.
It’s startling to hear that the couple’s contented living situation was more the result of luck than planning when they speak to TV WEEK from the living room of their home near the beach in Sydney’s east.
As Felicity, played by Jacqui, explains, “I was couch surfing after moving from Melbourne [in 2020] and had all my belongings still in my car.”
Matt had his first day on set a few weeks after I began working there. It was our final day of shooting, and he was having a wardrobe and makeup session to attempt to get a feel for the venue.
At the cast Christmas party that evening, Jacqui and Matt (who she likes to refer to as “Merv”) struck up a conversation. A few weeks later, they had a get-to-know-you over a cafe breakfast, and Jacqui had agreed to rent a home in Sydney’s south-east with the Summer Bay newcomer.
Since then, they’ve moved to the laid-back coastal district of Coogee, where their apartment resembles the average share home for twenty-somethings, complete with pops of vintage art and a number of meticulously maintained house plants (which Jacqui declares she looks after).
He kills them all, which is probably my biggest pet peeve, she chuckles.
Fortunately, her complaints are limited to Matt’s lack of gardening skills and his sporadic tendency to bottle up his emotions.
The two claim that they have never had a terrible experience living together, and Matt attributes their easygoing temperament to their ability to last almost two years in the same house.
Theo’s actor Matt claims, “We’ve never really discussed our living condition or home rules.”
We don’t even have to mention cleaning up after ourselves.
If there is ever an issue, we either address it openly or we choose to act as if it never happened.
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And although living and working together could present a unique set of difficulties for the young actors, the reality is quite the contrary.
We realise that there should occasionally be no chatting when we get home and just don’t feel like talking, says Jacqui.
It’s definitely wonderful to have someone who “gets” it and understands the thoughts behind it since “be we do still rant and debrief”
Of course, there are instances when we run our lines together.
In addition, Matt acknowledges that Jacqui is one of his biggest music fans, something that has diminished after his 2020 debut on The Voice Australia.
Jacqui has helped me become a better hustler and has inspired me to work harder than just waiting for things to happen with my music, he says.
In turn, I believe I encourage her to not take herself or life too seriously.
But as Jacqui points out, there is only one genuine trick to running a stable home. We were first housemates, and we’re simply so fortunate that friendship followed,” she says.
