With three of Summer Bay's most loved characters leaving, it's been a bittersweet time on the Home and Away set. But while everyone will sorely miss Kate Ritchie, Rhys Wakefield and Sharni Vinson, the trio are thrilled to be moving on to exciting new projects.

Kate, 29, has signed up to present breakfast radio with Merrick and Rosso on Nova, Sharni is giving LA a crack, and Rhys is revving up his film career. The handsome 19-year-old scored a big break when he was cast alongside Toni Collette and supermodel Gemma Ward in the new Aussie flick The Black Balloon.

In the film, Rhys plays a young man forced to come to terms with his brother's autism.

'Toni played my mother in the film and was just incredible,' he says. 'She was really down-to-earth. In the end I almost started to believe she was my mother! She also flew back and forth to LA for award shows, so all these Hollywood gowns would be flown to our set for her to inspect. Then I'd see her sitting behind Jack Nicholson at the Golden Globes. Days later she'd be back on set with us.'

Rhys was also the envy of every red-blooded male when he got to kiss Gemma Ward, who plays his love interest.

'I was even more nervous meeting Gemma than Toni,' he laughs. 'But she didn't live up to that stereotype of models being stupid. She was extremely intelligent, but she was like 19 going on 35. Kisses on screen never feel like a real kiss, but it is boast-worthy to be able to say you've pashed a supermodel!'

With filming now complete, Rhys is keen to test the waters in LA - as is Sharni, who has the bonus of having boyfriend A.J. Buckley based there.

Sharni and the CSI: NY star have been in a long-distance relationship for the past five months and have made great efforts to see each other.

'Since we met, A.J.'s visited me in Sydney three times. We've done really well - we haven't gone more than a month without seeing each other. I was planning to move to LA anyway, but it's great now that he's there as well.'

As an only child who is very close to her family, Sharni, 24, says she'll be a blubbering mess at the airport when the time comes to say goodbye.

'I can't picture being dropped off at the airport saying goodbye to Mum, my grandparents and best friends,' she says. 'Whenever I think about it I get really upset. But it's always been my dream to go to the States.'

While the characters played by Kate, Rhys and Sharni will still be seen on screen next year, they have now shot their final scenes. Sharni sums up how much the trio will miss their second family in Summer Bay.

'I've learnt a million things and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. It's been incredible and I know I'll miss it a lot.'

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