There’s only one role more important to our Home And Away favourites than the one they play on screen and that is the one they fulfill at home as mums.
Many of the Summer Bay stars who play the part of mothers on the show are drawing from real-life experience.
And, you can bet they’re ever the doting parents.
Whether it’s Penny McNamee singing duets with her adorable youngsters or Sarah Roberts opening up about taking on the role of step-mum to James’ daughter Scout, the mums of Home And Away are some of the most dedicated around.
Scroll on to meet the stars and the apple-of-their-eyes, below, both current and retro faves.
Sarah Roberts
When Sarah Roberts fell in love with her co-star James Stewart she was starting a life with not just him, but his daughter, Scout, who he shares from a previous relationship with actress Jessica Marais.
Almost overnight, Sarah became a step-mum.
It’s a role the actress has revealed, although wasn’t always planned, is one she cherishes greatly.
“Covid for me I got to spend a lot of solid time with Jimmy and Scout, which was great for us as a family unit,” Sarah told Nova podcast How To…Life. “We really grew together.”
She then added: “Scout and I are both really lucky to have each other in our lives. She’s teaching me so much and I feel like I’m teaching her a lot. I know eventually one day our time will come and we are able to give her a brother or a sister.”
Penny McNamee
You have to hand it to Penny, she’s seemingly balanced motherhood with a hugely successful acting career like a certified pro.
A favourite of Home and Away fans, the 38-year-old boasts 201,000 Instagram followers who are regularly treated to sneak peaks of her family life with son Jack, daughter Neve and partner Matt Tooker.
Penny opened up last year about welcoming baby Neve and balancing motherhood with the show.
“I don’t think I felt ready [to return to filming],” she told TV WEEK. “But I felt like I could manage it. I really enjoyed my six months’ maternity leave and would have probably happily done it for another six.
“But having a fantastic job – and knowing how hard the producer and the writers worked to keep Tori Morgan on screen – played on my mind. I really didn’t want to let them down and I also didn’t want to lose the opportunity I’d been given.”
Melissa George
Since leaving her role as Angel Parish – whom she played from 1993 to 1996 – Melissa’s career has gone from strength to strength.
While becoming an international star, she’s also become a mum five-year-old Solal and six-year-old Raphaël.
She shares custody of them with her former husband, French entrepreneur Jean David Blanc, and is unable to leave the country with them without his consent due to a court restriction.
As a result, Melissa says, all her career decisions revolve around her children – and if it doesn’t work for them, she would rather stay with them at home.
Ada Nicodemou
Ada shares an unbreakable bond with her only child, Johnas, eight, whom she shares with ex-husband Chrys Xipolitas.
The 43-year-old frequently posts gushing tributes about the youngster on social media, as well as plenty of candid photos from delightful mother-son moments.
No matter what, Johnas is Ada’s number one priority.
“When he comes home from school, he just wants to spend time with me but I’ve got two loads of washing to do, I’ve got to get dinner ready, I might have a script to read or answer some emails and you’ve got to put everything aside for a second and say ‘Of course’,” she told Now To Love.
Lynne McGranger
On the screen, Irene hasn’t always been the greatest mother to her own children after battling her own personal demons with alcohol. But her real-life counterpart Lynne couldn’t be farther from that.
Lynne is the proud mother to a daughter called Clancy McWaters, whom she shares with her partner Paul.
Clancy not only looks just like her famous mum, but the 29-year-old has also inherited her creative streak and loves singing, dancing and acting.
“She is a triple threat, she sings, dances and acts, at the moment she seems to be leaning toward more singing and dancing,” Lynne told Sydney Confidential in 2015.
“We were surprised when Clancy announced at the age of 15 or 16 that she wanted to study drama. But we are very happy for her and support all the way.”
In fact, Clancy sometimes pops up in Home And Away as an extra.
Bec Hewitt
Since leaving Summer Bay Bec has devoted her focus to her three kids – Mia, 15, Cruz, 12, and Ava, 10, whom she shares with husband Lleyton Hewitt.
“I just really wanted to make sure they got to figure out what it is that they love, and we want to nurture that,” Bec told TV WEEK of helping her kids follow their dreams.
While Ava’s passion is dance, Cruz has already started to make a name for himself in the world of tennis.
“You have to drag him off the tennis court,” Bec says.
“He’s very committed and he just loves tennis. If he’s not playing tennis he’ll be watching YouTube videos about tennis. So he’s definitely going down that path. As long as he’s enjoying it we’re happy.”
As for Mia, Bec says she’s a “beautiful soul”, who will work in the fashion industry.
“She’s a great illustrator and designer as it is, and she already sews. She has made coats with lining and pockets and all sorts of things.”
Kate Ritchie
Home And Away fans watched Kate Ritchie grow up before their eye as she played iconic character Sally Fletcher.
It’s almost hard to fathom she’s an adult with her own gorgeous daughter, Mae, now.
Mae was born to Kate and her estranged husband Stuart Webb back in August 2014 and shortly after giving birth, Kate confessed to The Australian Women’s Weekly how much she loved motherhood.
“My only fear is that I will become a complete hermit and never leave the house because I adore being with her. I want to spend every minute with her and talk to her,” she said at the time.
In a heartfelt open letter penned in 2018, Kate shared her love for Mae and opened up about how much her life changed when her daughter came into the picture.
“I thought the love of my life was Home and Away… Then I met this perfect being,” Kate wrote.
“It’s been a long road but I am so proud and so happy that I gave myself the chance to realise my greatest life achievements didn’t all have to be thanks to Sally Fletcher.”
Georgie Parker
Summer Bay’s golden girl, Georgie aka Roo Stewart, wanted to get things right before approaching marriage and motherhood, giving birth at 35 to her daughter Holly, now aged 20.
“I wanted to be a mother for a very long time,” the two-time Gold Logie award-winning actress explained to Good Health.
“I just had to wait to meet the right guy! I kept on meeting guys I just didn’t want to be a parent with, then finally I met my husband when I was 33. It was just the way it worked out,” the actress added.
And the “right guy” turned out to be screenwriter, author and actor Steve Worland.
“I knew I didn’t want it with anyone, so when I met my husband I said, ‘Let’s get this train going!’” Georgie admitted to Kidspot.
Emily Symons
Emily, who has played stalwart character Marilyn on the show, admitted she’d “given up” hope of having a child of her own, after years of failed cycles of IVF.
But in 2015, the 51-year-old’s dream of becoming a mother finally came true when she welcomed her son Henry Richard Francis Jackson with her then partner, Paul Jackson.
“I very much thought it couldn’t happen and I was too old,” Symons has said.
“I thought it would be impossible but it isn’t. I’d given up, really, I thought I had tried every avenue that was available to us. My advice is to not give up if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process.”
With a high-risk, difficult pregnancy due to an issue with her placenta and blood pressure as a result of her age, Emily feared that Henry would be delivered prematurely. However, after being put on virtual bed-rest for the last few weeks of her pregnancy, Henry was delivered by caesarean at 38 weeks.
The gorgeous little boy has been centre of Emily’s world since and it’s not hard to see why!
Bonnie Sveen
Life at her home in the far south of Tasmania is very different since she left Home And Away in 2016.
Bonnie is mum to identical twin girls Myrtle May and Emerald Lois with her partner Nathan Gooley, which we can only imagine is quite the handful.
While Bonnie says she “adores” being a mum to her girls, it hasn’t been easy.
“Having a baby is a huge transition for most women,” she admitted to TV WEEK in 2020.
“I’m going to be really frank. The first year was so hard; it was just something you can’t prepare for. Energy-wise and physically, having two was a huge, huge thing for me.”
Thankfully, with the help of her “incredible and very hands-on” partner Nathan, who’s an assistant director, and her family, she’s now seeing the light at the end of the feeding, sleeping and nappy-changing tunnel!
“When the girls turned one, I started to actually feel like myself again,” Bonnie admits.
“I got little moments of freedom and trusted myself more as a parent.”
