‘It was so awkward’: Juliet Godwin proposed to her boyfriend in the square but he refused
It doesn’t get much more awkward than bumping into your ex in public. But for Dr. Bree Cameron (Juliet Godwin), the situation is even more cringe-inducing. Bree and Remi (Adam Rowland) recently broke up after Remi refused to stop riding his motorbike, despite an accident almost costing him his life.
Remi quickly got back in the dating game, picking up with actor Stevie Marlow (Catherine Van-Davies, The Twelve), who is filming her latest movie in the Bay.
While Bree was quietly heartbroken by Remi’s new romance, she’s decided it’s time to move on too. When she meets handsome stranger Nelson Giles (Mahesh Jadu, The Witcher) on the beach, there’s a definite spark and she accepts his invitation for a date.
But in a place like Summer Bay, it’s almost impossible to avoid the people you don’t want to see, which is how Bree and Nelson find themselves on an especially squeamish double date with Remi and Stevie. There’s also a lot of links between the couples. Bree isn’t aware that Nelson is the director of Stevie’s new movie and Stevie and Nelson are oblivious to the former relationship between their two dates. You almost need an evidence board to keep up with the connections in this awkward love-square.
“It’s highly awkward,” agrees Godwin, who says that thankfully, she’s never been in a situation quite so painful herself.
“I really just looked at the given circumstances and thought to myself, ‘if this happened to me, it would be so weird, and really quite a challenging situation to navigate’.
“When Remi sat next to her (Bree) and Stevie across from her and there was Nelson, I think she was completely floored.”
Despite how uncomfortable it would be in real life, Godwin says the scene was, “So much fun to film. I’m sure that probably has happened in real life. When you’re dating, there’s always going to be awkward encounters.”
Adding to the discomfort is the fact that Bree still loves Remi.
“I must say I was really proud of the way in which Bree does deal with it. She really does hold her own and stays strong. She feels unbelievably uncomfortable. But she holds her ground and she doesn’t let it overwhelm her too much. It’s more afterwards, I think, she finds it a little bit overwhelming and a bit bizarre.”
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Bree has had some tough times since arriving in Summer Bay. In 2023, she accidentally killed her abusive husband Jacob while trying to escape from him. And more recently, she put everything on hold to help Remi with his recovery, only for their relationship to disintegrate when he refused to stop riding his motorbike. But is it really over, or is there a way back for the couple?
“I think it’s hard to say. I think it was the right decision at the right time. Bree didn’t break up with Remi because she fell out of love with him. She broke up with him because she’s a doctor. Not only does she know the risks of a motorbike, she deals with it every day − those risks, but she had to watch him almost die.
“And so it wasn’t a matter of, ‘I’m walking away because I don’t love you’, it’s a matter of, ‘I’m walking away, because I don’t know if I can live a life constantly being afraid of whether you’re going to come home to me at night or not’.”
Godwin believes her character is “justified in her point-of-view”, by making Remi choose between his bike or Bree.
“And a lot of people can argue that Remi is justified because it’s his joy and it’s his life and he gets to choose. And yes he does get to choose, but Bree also gets to choose as to whether she wants to live with that fear or not. And I think what was so interesting about their breakup was the complexity of each point of view.”
When she’s not busy saving lives at Northern Districts Hospital, Bree can often be seen toting her surfboard. And just like her character, Godwin loves to surf too. Her schedule means she doesn’t get out in the surf as much as she’d like, but she does get to pop out for the odd swim during work hours.
“For some of the scenes I get to go for a swim beforehand. How lucky is that?
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself − even now being on the show for two years − when I’m at Palm Beach. We are so lucky that we get to work there.”
