Home and Away's Kawakawa Fox-Reo promises more stories on Māori culture

 "I'm super proud and honoured to get the opportunity to do that on a show like this."

Home and Away's Nikau Parata has been on a spiritual journey in recent months, leaning into his Māori heritage. Earlier this year, Nikau's uncle Tane (Ethan Browne) took him to a peaceful riverside location to learn how to use the Taiaha, a traditional weapon in Māori culture, hoping it would offer spiritual guidance as Nikau came to terms with his other uncle Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) falsely admitting to murder.

Since then, an emotional haka was performed by Nikau, Tane and other family members at Ari's funeral, something the soap has been widely praised for.

Speaking exclusively to , Kawakawa Fox-Reo reflected on the support from fans as his character Nikau brings Māori culture to greater prominence in the show.

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"I got lots of messages on social media that were really supportive which was lovely," he shared. "I haven't seen anything negative, the feedback has been really positive."

Fox-Reo continued by stating his pride at being able to bring these storylines to a wider audience and offer insights to a culture that many may not know, promising that more "snippets" are due to air.

"There's some stuff coming up that shows the cultural side of the family a bit more. I feel there's a bit of it on there now, it's a nice little insight into what our culture has to offer. It's such a huge thing too and I think the things that are shown on the show are nice little snippets of a very big world that's very rich.

"I'm happy to promote [the Māori culture] whenever I can, for sure. I'm super proud and honoured to get the opportunity to do that on a show like this. And I want people back home to feel proud, so any opportunity I do have I will take with both hands."

Meanwhile, Nikau is also developing in his professional life as he's impressed people with his rescue efforts as a volunteer lifeguard, meaning his boss makes a plea to the local council to take him on full time in a paid position.

Commenting on what this means for his character going forward, Fox-Reo reflected on what it's like to film the rescue scenes at sea: "It took a few takes. Shooting out on the water is a little bit of a challenge for the crew, but it was an awesome experience. I was pleased about Nikau getting the full-time position, for sure. It's very noble work."

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.15pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5. In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7plus. Selected classic episodes are available via Amazon Prime Video in the UK.