Home and Away reveal "massive cliffhanger" for beloved characters

 "The stakes are high."

Home and Away stars Tristan Gorey and Emily Weir have teased the future of their characters Levi Fowler and Mackenzie Booth, stating that an upcoming cliffhanger could leave Levi's life hanging in the balance.

It's been quite a year for Mackenzie and Levi – after enduring two miscarriages in their fertility journey, Levi's life was put at risk when he fell down a cliffside in episodes that aired in the UK this week.

Speaking exclusively to Inside Soap, Tristan and Emily hinted at more to come for the couple – and Em revealed who she'd love to see play Mackenzie's mum, should the character ever be introduced.

There is a massive cliffhanger on the horizon for a few of our beloved characters, Levi included," Tristan teased. "The stakes are high, it could be the end of the road for Levi, but I guess you will have to tune in."

I’m always saying to the bosses, 'Can we meet Mac’s mum?'" Emily added. "My dream casting would be Tina Arena, can we make that happen? That would be wild!"

Emily and Tristan are nominated for multiple Inside Soap Awards this year, including Best Actor and Actress, Best Storyline and Best Showstopper for their portrayal of Mackenzie and Levi's fertility journey.

It’s special that our story has meant so much to a lot of people," said Tristan. "I had someone pull me up in public and say, 'I went through IVF, and the stories you guys are doing right now are just so relatable'. She was able to see her husband in Levi when he was going through it."

"There’s still so much internalised shame around fertility, even though it’s such a common story, and the response we’ve had has been really beautiful," Emily chimed in. "It’s so fulfilling when you tell a story and someone out there feels less alone because of it."

EastEnders announces Lee and Nancy returns ahead of huge Linda exit story

 "Your jaws will drop when you see the first cliffhanger."

EastEnders has officially announced the return of Nancy and Lee Carter to Albert Square as family matriarch Linda's exit draws near.

Maddy Hill and Danny Hatchard last appeared in a 'what if' episode back in 2024, although they were last in Walford full-time in 2022 and 2020, respectively. But now, they're already on set filming for scenes set to air later this year.

The soap is keeping tight-lipped about how and why they're returning, but executive producer Ben Wadey has tased that after everything that has happened with the family in the last few years, it isn't going to be the smoothest of reunions.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have Maddy and Danny back in Walford, bringing two much-loved pieces of the Carter family back together. And whilst Linda is delighted to have her children all together again, she's got a lot to catch up on," Wadey said in the announcement.

Meanwhile, Hill shared: "I am SO excited to be returning to 'Enders for a short stint and stepping back into Nancy's shoes (or basketball shorts!). I've missed her! I'm especially looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and acting alongside my incredible on-screen family."

Hatchard added: "I'm absolutely over the moon to be returning to EastEnders as Lee Carter. Albert Square has always felt like a home away from home, so I'm proper buzzing to be back grafting with the 'Enders family."

I'm quite close to Kellie; she's such a phenomenal actor. And Linda Carter is one of the all-time great EastEnders characters, so losing her is such a big moment for the show, and we wanted to make sure we see Linda at her best in her final few months.

"So we'll be welcoming Lee and Nancy back into the fold for a period – in a story that I guarantee your jaws will drop when you see the first cliffhanger."

EastEnders confirms sixth Hawkins family member – here's when they join the soap

 Nicola's family is expanding even more.

EastEnders has confirmed that a sixth member of the Hawkins clan will be coming to Albert Square, with the BBC One soap's executive producer Ben Wadey explaining that they aren't following their family down to Walford just yet.

This week saw Nicola Mitchell's sisters Gemma and Jodie, as well as mum Rose, appear for the first time, and we know that Gemma's husband Ned and son Ryder are being introduced at the end of this month.

Not for a little bit, she's got her own storyline currently off screen, but in time, it'll very much be on screen.

"As we were constructing this family, there [are] stories about what gets passed down through the generations, and it means that we have established the character and done quite a lot of work actually already on what that will look like.

“I don't even think [the new cast members] know all the details of this yet, but there'll be an exciting, probably post-Christmas arrival for us."

Wadey recently explained the reason he wanted to expand Nicola's family: "I was just fascinated by this woman and the stories that we've told with her – this woman who lies so easily, who is responsible for the death of her son's girlfriend, who so happily sent her husband to prison to protect herself.

"But also she's fiercely loyal and protective of her children. We discussed in the story office and with writers, what made her that way?"

Remi and Harper find themselves in danger as the truth about Beau finally comes out, while Dana and Sonny’s relationship hangs by a thread.

Next week on Home and Away in the UK

Beau (Blake Richardson) has spent weeks tightening his grip on both Harper (Jessica Redmayne) and Sonny (Ryan Bown), but his secrets are finally about to catch up with him.

Sonny began using steroids during his recovery after spending three months in a wheelchair following the train crash, with Beau supplying the drugs before pressuring him into dealing. Remi (Adam Rowland) discovered what was happening and repeatedly urged Sonny to come clean to fiancée Dana (Ally Harris), but Sonny refused.

Last week, Remi made a formal statement to Cash (Nicholas Cartwright), naming Beau as a dealer operating through the gym. However, Sonny removed the pills from his locker before the police arrived, leaving them without enough evidence to charge Beau.

Harper, meanwhile, has faced an increasingly frightening side to her boyfriend. After grabbing her wrist when she suggested deleting their location-sharing app, Beau slapped her following Dana and Sonny’s engagement party.

Although Beau blamed his violence on his difficult upbringing and pleaded for another chance, Harper asked Tane (Ethan Browne) to keep their son Archie with him whilst she worked out what to do.

Next week, Tane confronts Sonny about his connection to Beau, but Sonny denies any involvement. When Cash later mentions the gym raid in front of Dana, Sonny also claims to know nothing about the steroids.

Dana knows Sonny previously bought steroids, although he convinced her that he never took them. Confused by his reluctance to help the investigation, she urges him to tell the police what he knows.

Sonny initially agrees, but instead distracts Dana by taking her to the city to choose an engagement ring. He later remains behind as Dana returns to Summer Bay, claiming he wants to spend time with his brother, Dylan (Noah D’Annunzio).

Back in Summer Bay, Dana proudly shows off her new ring and begins planning the wedding. However, an awkward encounter with Remi leaves her wondering why he and Sonny still seem at odds.

When Sonny returns, Dana encourages him to clear the air and ask Remi to be his best man. Sonny approaches Remi with the invitation, but Remi has one condition—he wants to know whether Sonny really stayed in the city to see his brother, or whether he was dealing for Beau.

Sonny’s silence gives Remi his answer, and he refuses to stand beside his best friend until he sorts himself out.

Elsewhere, Harper returns from her getaway with Beau, still bearing a bruise from the slap. Beau tells her to cover it before Dana sees, then apologises again and claims that loving Harper sometimes drives him crazy.

Harper’s concern deepens when she overhears Beau on the phone, arranging for someone to be ‘dealt with’. When she asks about the call, he turns threatening and warns her never to eavesdrop on him again.

Still unaware of Harper’s ordeal, Dana excitedly asks her sister to be her maid of honour. She then inadvertently provides Beau with the information he needs when she mentions that Sonny has gone to Salt to ask Remi to be his best man.

Beau heads to the surf club, where he confronts Remi over speaking to the police. Remi refuses to be intimidated and walks away, unaware that two of Beau’s associates are following him outside.

The following morning, a car screeches to a halt outside the surf club, and a beaten Remi is dumped onto the road with his hands bound and a bag over his head.

Levi (Tristan Gorey) rushes over, but his own injured hand prevents him from properly examining Remi. As Mackenzie (Emily Weir) calls an ambulance, Remi spots Beau loitering nearby.

When Beau arrives at the diner and announces that Remi has been badly beaten, Sonny immediately suspects Beau was responsible, whilst Harper can’t help but think back to the threatening phone call she overheard.

When she later questions Beau, he makes it clear that she should mind her own business, before ordering her to provide him with an alibi should anyone ask about his movements the previous night.

Sonny rushes to the hospital to check on Remi, where Eden (Stephanie Panozzo) angrily confronts him—Remi’s told her everything.

Eden tears into him for ignoring Remi’s attempts to help. She points out that his desperation for another fix could have got his best friend killed and condemns him for becoming a dealer himself.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Dana has arrived midway through the confrontation. As Eden brands Sonny an addict, he turns around and finds his fiancée standing behind him.

A devastated Dana storms towards the lifts, with Sonny chasing after her and begging for an opportunity to explain. She reminds him that Remi tried to warn her and that she repeatedly gave Sonny chances to tell her the truth.

Given her parents’ history of addiction and the damage dealers have caused throughout her life, Dana cannot believe that Sonny knowingly kept such a huge secret from her.

When he insists that he isn’t like those other dealers, she questions whether she knows him at all.

Sonny later finds Dana at Flat Beach and admits that he began taking steroids to speed up his recovery.

When she accuses him of putting Remi in hospital, Sonny lets slip that Beau was responsible—before confessing that it was Beau supplied the drugs and pressured him into dealing.

Dana’s horrified that the man behind the operation is her sister’s boyfriend, and has been spending time with Archie.

When Sonny pleads for another chance, insisting that he loves Dana, she argues that repeatedly lying to her isn’t love or respect.

Meanwhile, Beau’s control over Harper continues to tighten when she receives a message from Tane asking her to visit Archie.

Beau reluctantly allows her to go, but orders her to return quickly and checks that the bruise on her face remains hidden.

Tane’s concerned that Harper has barely seen her son, and his suspicions grow further when Beau arrives and cuts their time together short. When Tane later tries to speak to her privately, Harper lashes out rather than reveal what is happening.

At the hospital, Remi tells Cash that he believes Beau arranged the attack as punishment for reporting him. Although he was unable to identify his attackers, Beau was present both before his abduction and after he was dumped outside the surf club.

Sonny eventually goes to the police station and tells Cash everything. He’s charged with possession and supply but granted bail.

With Sonny’s statement providing further evidence against Beau, it prompts Cash to head to the pier apartment, where he asks Beau to return to the station for further questioning.

Once they’ve left, Dana struggles to explain to Harper what’s happened, before revealing that Sonny has been using steroids—and that Beau is the dealer he’s been working for.

Already terrified by Beau’s violence and his apparent involvement in Remi’s attack, Harper now realises the true extent of the danger she’s facing.

Checking Beau’s location on their tracking app, Harper hurriedly begins packing, convinced that fleeing Summer Bay is the only way to keep herself and Archie safe.

After Dana confirms Beau’s dealings and Sonny’s involvement, Tane heads to the apartment, where he finds Harper hurriedly packing. When he notices the bruise on her face, he realises just how much danger she’s in.

Harper explains that she’s been trying to end things with Beau for weeks, but his unpredictable behaviour has left her terrified.

He knows everything about her and Archie, and she fears what might happen if he discovers that she’s planning to leave.

Tane insists that Harper shouldn’t have to run and promises to deal with Beau himself. Despite her pleas for him to stay and look after Archie, Tane storms out determined to confront Beau at the station.

Will Harper manage to escape Beau—or is she about to find herself in even greater danger?

Home and Away is available to stream from 6am weekdays, with double bill episodes airing from 6pm on 5Star.

Home and Away Spoilers – Leah drives new arrival Zane out of town

 Next week on Home and Away in the UK, Leah and Alf’s reluctance to accept new arrival Zane leads to him skipping town. Can Maz find him before he misses his parole check-in?

Zane (Angus McColl) made a surprise arrival in Summer Bay last week, shortly after being released on parole following ten years behind bars.

It transpired that during his sentence, he’d spent just over a year exchanging letters with Marilyn (Emily Symons) through a prison pen pal scheme.

Her support encouraged him to work towards his release, with Marilyn repeatedly assuring Zane that she believed in him and would be there for him.

With his return home having caused issues for his mum in the community, Zane decided he needed a fresh start and so turned to his pen pal.

Marilyn warmly welcomed him, initially believing that he’d simply come to visit. Only later did Zane reveal that he intended to settle in Summer Bay, admitting he had used her address as his residence to satisfy his parole conditions.

Determined not to abandon him, and knowing he could be put back in prison if he was found to have given false information on his paperwork, Marilyn got around the issue by arranging for Zane to stay in one of the caravans.

Alf (Ray Meagher) was immediately concerned when he discovered that the newcomer had served a decade behind bars, but Zane promised to work at earning his trust.

Next week, Zane makes himself useful at the coffee cart whilst searching for a job. Maz proudly tells Leah (Ada Nicodemou) how helpful he’s been, although the question of what sent him down in the first place still hangs over them.

Hoping to learn the truth, Alf invites Zane to dinner at Salt. He intends to speak to him alone, but a protective Marilyn insists on joining them.

When Alf begins pressing Zane about his past, Marilyn objects and assures him that he doesn’t have to answer. However, Zane decides that they deserve to know what happened.

Zane has already explained to David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) that growing up with a violent alcoholic father led him to avoid home and turn to theft for money, although he accepted that this was no excuse.

He goes on to tell Alf and Marilyn that he broke into one home, unaware that the family were home.

He panicked when the owner confronted him and swung his baseball bat towards a movement in the corner of his eye, only to find he’d struck the man’s young daughter.

She nearly died and has been left with lasting damage, and Zane admits that he’ll never forgive himself.

The following morning, Zane approaches Marilyn expecting her to end their friendship.

Although his confession was difficult to hear, she insists that he’s served his time and deserves a second chance, before revealing that she’s asked Leah to consider giving him a job.

lf remains unconvinced and advises Leah against employing Zane. When Leah seeks David’s opinion, he agrees that Zane deserves a clean slate but urges her to be careful.

Leah insists that there are neither enough hours nor money to employ Zane, but Marilyn points out how busy the diner and coffee cart are and offers him half her own shifts. 

Despite arguing that she can’t replace an experienced worker with a café novice, Leah eventually agrees to give him a supervised trial.

Meanwhile, Zane tries to clear the air with Alf, offering to help out around the surf club, only to be told that admitting the truth isn’t enough to win his trust.

Mali (Kyle Shilling) witnesses the cold exchange and asks Zane to help him move some surfboards, before sympathising with his struggle to gain acceptance.

When Alf later asks him to monitor Zane at the caravan park, Mali refuses, insisting that he deserves a chance to prove himself.

Zane is thrilled when Marilyn tells him about the trial shift and vows not to let either woman down. Having watched Maz at work, he quickly begins learning the ropes at the coffee cart and confidently takes his first order.

Although Marilyn is supposed to be the one supervising Zane, Leah’s soon on the scene and begins scrutinising his every move. Finding Zane serving a customer and handling money, she orders him to stop and restricts him to clearing tables and restocking the coffee cart.

Maz points out that other trial workers have always been allowed to handle money, but Leah insists that Zane’s lack of experience makes him different.

When Zane later hands over the wrong takeaway order, he immediately apologises, only for Leah to respond sharply. Marilyn urges her to give him a genuine chance, frustrated that she seems to be waiting for him to fail.

Leah’s attitude becomes even clearer when Marilyn gives a hungry Zane a burger that would otherwise go to waste, thanks to a duplicate order going through. Spotting him eating it, Leah instantly assumes that Zane made another mistake.

Marilyn’s quick to point out that Zane had nothing to do with it—the extra burger was only cooked because Leah had neglected to spike the original docket.

Marilyn calls her out for automatically blaming him, and pleads with her to stop treating Zane as though he’s bound to do something wrong.

Forced to acknowledge her own mistake, Leah offers Zane a second trial shift. He gratefully accepts, but then overhears her admitting to Marilyn that she only agreed to the original trial as a favour—and hopes she won’t regret it.

The next morning, Leah’s in the middle of complaining about Zane being an hour late when a sullen Marilyn shows up.

She reveals that Zane’s left a goodbye letter under her door and that his caravan is empty, with the key still in the door.

Marilyn immediately turns on Leah and Alf, declaring that they’ve failed Zane and blaming them for driving him away.

Justin (James Stewart) reads the letter aloud, in which Zane explains that he doesn’t want to cause trouble or come between Marilyn and her friends, so he’s decided to leave Summer Bay.

Marilyn searches around the bay, hoping to find Zane and change his mind. However, neither she, Justin nor Mali can locate him.

When Justin wonders whether leaving his registered address could breach Zane’s parole, Marilyn fears that he could be returned to prison.

Alf finds her in tears on Flat Beach, where she admits that she feels like she’s failed to keep her promise to believe in Zane and be there for him.

Back at the diner, Leah insists that she never wanted Zane to leave, but Marilyn accuses her of wanting him to fail and waiting for him to make a mistake.

Declaring that Leah has got exactly what she wanted, Marilyn quits her job and walks out!

Can Leah repair their friendship—and has Zane really left Summer Bay for good?

Home and Away is available to stream from 6am weekdays, with double bill episodes airing from 6pm on 5Star.