Neighbours Spoilers – Nicolette disappears after Leo bombshell
On next week’s Neighbours in Australia, Nicolette disappears after learning about Chloe and Leo’s night together, leaving David and Aaron frantically searching for their unborn baby’s mother.
Where has she gone?
From Monday 26th July, Neighbours will only air 4 nights per week in Australia, with no episode on Friday. More details here.
In episodes airing this week (from Monday 19th July), Chloe (April Rose Pengilly) struggles after Nicolette’s (Charlotte Chimes) marriage proposal. While she said yes in the heat of the moment, in reality she’s having major doubts, and thinks that things are moving too fast.
When Jane (Annie Jones) organised a surprise engagement party, it all becomes too much. Chloe instead organises to spend the evening working at the vineyard with Leo (Tim Kano), turning to her old friend for emotional support. Unbeknownst to her, Leo’s feelings for the woman he had a brief fling with years ago have well and truly returned, and he jumps on the opportunity to ply Chloe with wine and conversation.
She wakes up the next morning wearing nothing but Leo’s jacket, and very little memory of the night before. She fears the worst, that she slept with Leo in her drunken state, and has no choice but to come clean to Nicolette.
Understandably, Nicolette is devastated when she learns that her fiancée of only a matter of days may have slept with somebody else.
She was already jealous of Leo, knowing his brief but passionate history with Chloe, but was doing her best to keep her emotions under control – now it seems she was right to worry all along.
Worse still, she finds out that David (Takaya Honda) and Aaron (Matt Wilson) knew she was planning to spend the evening with Leo, and is furious that they didn’t tell her. They’re meant to be a family, and now she feels like they’ve betrayed her.
When she gets a stern talking to by Paul (Stefan Dennis), who makes it very clear that she’ll never be part of the family, it’s the final straw. At the end of this week’s episodes, Nicolette disappears, leaving her girlfriend and soon to be co-parents frantic with worry.
As we return to the action next week (from Monday 26th July), in Neighbours‘ first week of 4 episodes, there is still no sign of her.
David always had his suspicions that having a baby with Nicolette was a bad idea. It was Aaron who was initially enthusiastic about the plan, and David somehow got steamrollered into it. The past months have been difficult enough, what with Nicolette’s multiple medical emergencies, her threats to keep the baby for herself, and her slip-up that saw her refer to the baby as her and Chloe’s, but now this is a step too far.
He feels that he was right all along, that they never should have trusted Nic.
Talking to magazine TV Week about her disappearance, Takaya said, “At this point, David can see the finish line for the baby. He knew he couldn’t trust Nicolette – her past actions were all all evidence. Now, his fears have come true.”
As the days go by, the whole of Erinsborough grow increasingly worried for her welfare. They’ve all joined in the search for her, but she’s nowhere to be found.
Chloe is devastated – she may have been having her doubts, but her night with Leo and the resulting aftermath have made her realise she really does love Nicolette. She wants nothing more than for her to come back so they can sort things out.
The disappearance hits David hard. For once, he becomes the irrational one in the relationship, losing his head while Aaron remains relatively calm. He punches Leo this week, blaming him for the disappearance, and next week carries on acting erratically.
Takaya explains to TV Week that he struggles to deal with the emotional stress. “He’s desperate for any information, he’s willing to cross whatever line he has to in order to find Nicolette and his daughter.”
Eventually, it all gets too much for Aaron, as his boyfriend continues to self-destruct. David’s behaviour isn’t helping the search for Nicolette, and it’s not helping their marriage either.
As to whether Nicolette returns, Matt Wilson is doubtful. “Nicolette’s past is far too colourful and the odds are against them,” he explained to TV Week. “She’s forceful but flighty.”
Where has Nicolette gone? Will her disappearance cause a serious rift between David and Aaron, and will they ever have the chance to finally become parents?
While we don’t know what the future holds for Nicolette and the baby, there is speculation amongst fans that she has run away to Canberra, and that Paul will go after her in an attempt to bring her back.
Stefan Dennis and Charlotte Chimes both filmed scenes in the Australian capital either late last year or early this year, and these scenes still haven’t been seen on screen.
While Neighbours is usually filmed 3 months ahead of episodes airing, the Canberra scenes were seemingly filmed well in advance, and it now seems likely that they will finally air as part of Nicolette’s disappearance storyline.
In addition, Zahra Newman, who played Nicolette’s nursing colleague and former friend Audrey Hamilton, told TV Week in February that she too filmed scenes in Canberra. When asked whether she would ever return to the show, Hamilton said, “I shot some very small stuff in Canberra in December, so we’ll have to wait and see”.
This suggests that either Nicolette heads to Canberra in search of her old friend, or Paul tracks her down as part of his search for Nicolette.
However, as Nicolette and Audrey were hardly on the best of terms last time they were both in Erinsborough, why would they cross paths again now? All looks to be explained in the weeks ahead…
Here’s the full Neighbours spoilers for next week in Australia:
Monday 26th July (8672)
David is increasingly overwhelmed by the stress of it all as the search for Nicolette continues.
Seeing Jesse still stirs up too much pain about Josh for Terese, so Harlow accepts she can’t pursue the friendship.
Tuesday 27th July (8673)
Following David’s outburst at Nicolette’s obstetrician, Karl suggests he take a leave of absence.
Mackenzie discovers that Melanie didn’t include some of the big, fancy law firms she worked for in her CV, leaving her and Toadie to wonder what she’s is hiding.
Wednesday 28th July (8674)
Karl reveals to Susan that Melanie once had a very messy affair with her boss, and the news quickly travels to Hendrix and Sheila.
Ned plans his own adventurous day out with Amy, but it quickly falls apart when he’s forced to deal with a work issue.
Thursday 29th July (8675)
Susan digs further into Melanie’s past by meeting up with Dr. Anna Buke, and things aren’t looking great.
Ned calls for a catch-up between himself, Levi and Amy and proposes an option no one saw coming.