Home and Away returns to Australia on 31st January

Home and Away will return to Australian screens on Monday 31st January, it has been confirmed today.

A new promo currently airing on Seven confirms the show’s return date as being Monday 31st January, which is 9 1/2 weeks after the show began its annual break.

The show takes a summer break in Australia each year, as Seven devotes much of its early evening schedule to Big Bash League cricket. 

It also takes a break each Christmas in the UK – but British viewers don’t have to wait so long for the show to return, as it’s back on Channel 5 on Monday 3rd January at 2pm, and on 5STAR at 6pm. From Tuesday 4th January, the afternoon airing returns to its usual 1:15pm timeslot.

There is plenty of action in store when the show returns to Aussie shores at the end of the month.

The show ended 2021 with Mia (Anna Samson) frantically driving out of Summer Bay with newcomer Matthew’s (James Sweeny) body in the back of her car, after Chloe (Sam Barrett) hit him over the head with a rock. Unfortunately for Mia, her nervousness caught the attention of Cash (Nicholas Cartwright), who pulled her over.

She sped off in panic, and the resulting police chase is expected to be how the new season begins.

A recent promo shows that Cash and a number of other officers eventually catch up with her, and Cash quickly discovers the body in the back of the car. From the police station, Mia begs Ari to help her out – will he manage to find a way to avoid her or Chloe being sent to prison?

Ryder (Lukas Radovich) is also in trouble when the show returns. He and Theo (Matt Evans) had been carrying out yet another challenge – this time, Ryder was to spend five hours buried underground, live streaming the ordeal to their thousands of followers.

Unfortunately, Theo tripped and fell, knocking himself unconscious, meaning there is nobody to dig Ryder up when we head back to Summer Bay.

Will someone find the pair in time?

Thankfully, it seems both boys survive. Courtney Miller (Bella) posted a snippet of a script to Instagram late last year, which shows her character, along with Ryder and Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo), taking part in a game of poker. Matt Evans (Theo) has also been spotted filming in recent months, suggesting that Theo will remain in the Bay for many months to come.

Just how the boys manage to escape their predicament remains to be seen.

However, sadly, it seems that while Ryder will survive his ordeal underground, he may not be sticking around in Summer Bay for too much longer.

In late November, we wrote that actor Lukas Radovich may be leaving Home and Away, after photos on Instagram appeared to show him filming a goodbye scene.

Georgie Parker (Roo) posted a photo on her Instagram story showing Ryder in Summer Bay House, with the living room decorated with balloons, compass decorations hanging from the archway, and, whilst it’s facing away from the camera, a large banner can be seen to say ‘Bon Voyage’.

Georgie posted an additional photo shortly after – clearly taken whilst filming the same scene as above – showing her in a touching embrace with her on-screen nephew. Is it time to say goodbye to Ryder?

Ryder’s potential departure isn’t the only goodbye coming our way in 2022. Jasmine (Sam Frost) and Cash were one of the hottest couples to emerge in the latter half of last year, but it seems that they won’t be set for happily ever after.

We recently wrote that Sam Frost would be taking a break from Home and Away in early 2022 due to a medical procedure. However, in mid-December it was confirmed that Sam would be leaving the show completely, with Jasmine set to be written out.

She filmed her final scenes on the last production day of the year, and her character is expected to depart in June 2022.

It is understood that a number of rewrites had to be made after her departure decision, and paparazzi photos from Palm Beach show her character looking happy as she films alongside Nicholas Cartwright (Cash), Jacqui Purvis (Felicity) and Kirsty Marillier, who plays newcomer Rose, suggesting that Jazzie may be leaving on good terms with her boyfriend and his sister.

Rose is one of two new characters currently confirmed to be joining Home and Away early in the new year. She will be joined by Xander, played by Chris Hemsworth’s cousin Luke Van Os, who has been described as “a mysterious individual who arrives in the Bay searching for answers”.

It’s also been hinted that he’s a relative of a Summer Bay favourite. Paparazzi photos from Palm Beach have shown the characters of Xander and Rose in a number of scenes with Jasmine, Cash and Felicity, leading us to believe that Xander will be related to either Jasmine or the Newman siblings.

Continuing on the theme of newcomers, Logan (Harley Bonner) is set for a blast from the past in the new year, when a mystery blonde arrives in town searching for him.

“Hey stranger,” she says in the promo for 2022, as she walks up behind Logan near the beach.

He looks startled as he turned around, before saying “it is you!”

While we know nothing of this new arrival, it looks like she’s set to get in trouble with the law, with another clip showing her sprinting across the grass with Cash following close behind.

Just who is she, and how does she know Logan?

She isn’t the only woman battling for Logan’s attention in the new year. Although he’s currently happily loved up with Mackenzie (Emily Weir), paparazzi photos taken earlier last year saw him locking lips with somebody else!

The mystery woman is Neve Spicer, played by Melissa Bonne. We know nothing of her identity, whether she’s someone from Logan’s past or a newcomer in the beachside town, but we’re not expecting Mac to be best pleased when the newcomer starts kissing her boyfriend.

As Emily Weir and Harley Bonner were spotted filming kissing scenes just days before Harley was spotted filming similarly intimate scenes with the mystery newcomer, all signs certainly point to him being involved with both women at the same time. Poor Mac!

We’re also set for a big return at some point in the new year, as Salvatore Coco reprises his role as Dimitri Poulos.

The eldest of the Poulos siblings, Dimitri was last seen on the show back in 2005, when he attended Leah’s wedding to Dan Baker (Tim Campbell).

Although there’s been little mention of Dimitri since that time, the recent introduction of his son Theo (Matt Evans) has brought his name back into the minds of viewers.

In October, Salvatore posted a photo on Instagram confirming that he was filming something new, but, when pressed by his followers as to exactly what it was, he remained tight lipped. However, the location in the photo was familiar to fans of Home and Away, who recognised the distinctive surroundings of Sydney’s Palm Beach.

Shortly after, a fan posted a photo from the beach showing Salvatore on set alongside Lynne McGranger (Irene) and Harley Bonner (Logan), confirming his return.

With Dimitri seemingly having washed his hands of Theo, we’re intrigued to see what events will bring him back to the bay after nearly 17 years, and whether father and son will reconcile.

Dependent on Seven’s scheduling of the show, we expect these scenes to air around April 2022.

Finally, is there another goodbye in store? Back in October, the cast filmed a scene in the Paratas’ garden, which appeared to show a wake.

A short clip posted on Instagram showed James Stewart (Justin), Sam Frost (Jasmine), Shane Withington (John) and Nicholas Cartwright (Cash), all dressed in black, as a number of extras stood around sporting similarly dark and sombre clothing.

The fact it was filmed in the Parata garden narrows down the potential departees quite significantly. As Anna Sampson (Mia), Kawakawa Fox-Reo (Nikau), Ethan Browne (Tane) and Courtney Miller (Bella) have all been spotted filming in recent months, fans are becoming increasingly convinced that we may be saying goodbye to Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) at some point in 2022.

For even more on what’s coming up in 2022, read our full 2022 Spoilers article, as we dissect everything we know.

You can expect:

• Battles to survive
• New arrivals
• A death?
• The shock kiss

Plus lots more! Read more…

Home and Away returns to Aussie screens at 7pm on Monday 31st January 2022.