Beloved Aussie TV stars join Home and Away ahead of surprise project

The soap stars are set to pop up in Summer Bay later this year.

Lachlan Guertin
·Senior Entertainment Reporter
Updated ·3-min read
McLeod’s Daughters cast / Home and Away cast.
Two former McLeod’s Daughters stars are joining the cast of Home and Away. Photos: Channel Nine / Channel Seven

15 years after the season finale of McLeod’s Daughters, the show’s stars Rachael Carpani (Jodi Fountain) and Aaron Jeffery (Alex Ryan) are set to reunite on another popular soap opera. It was announced last month that the pair would be taking on guest roles on Home and Away and arrive in Summer Bay later this year.

Rachael previously appeared on Home and Away as a diner waitress named Miranda in 2001, however, she’ll be returning as a new character named Claudia Salini. The character’s name was revealed on her acting CV, although it doesn’t say if she will be a main cast member or a guest star.

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Meanwhile, Kiwi actor Aaron, best known for his roles in Wentworth and Pieces of Her, recently updated his acting CV to include the role of James ‘Jimmy’ Fowler on Home and Away. Based on the character’s name and Aaron’s age, it’s assumed that he will play the father of Eden, Levi and Abigail Fowler.

McLeod’s Daughters stars Rachael Carpani and Aaron Jeffery.
Rachael Carpani and Aaron Jeffery will arrive in Summer Bay later this year. Photos: Instagram/aaronjefferyofficial /rachcarpani

Rachael and Aaron’s upcoming appearance on Channel Seven has prompted speculation that the network will pick up the long-awaited reboot of McLeod’s Daughters.

While the show originally aired on Channel Nine, co-creator Posie Graeme-Evans revealed in 2017 that reboot plans had fallen through with the network due to “creative differences with a third party”. However, she announced in 2020 that she had begun developing a feature film titled The McLeods of Drovers Run.

“I started writing the story a couple of months ago. TODAY we heard that we’ve got backing from Screen Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government to write the very first stage of the movie,” she posted on social media.

“This is such a vote of confidence in McLeods. And I promise, as we develop the story with the very talented screen writer Emma Jensen that I’ll keep you with us every step of the way. We’re just at the beginning, the very beginning, but we’re on our way. No promises but I have such a good feeling about this. Hope I’m right.”

Two years later it was revealed that the project had been acquired by film studio Dreamchaser, which is co-run by former Nine CEO Hugh Marks, but there haven’t been any updates since then.

A TV insider recently told New Idea that it “just doesn’t seem like a coincidence” that two former McLeod’s Daughters stars are reuniting on Home and Away.

“Hugh’s company securing the McLeod’s film almost guarantees it won’t appear on Nine or their streaming offering Stan,” the source shared. “It’s not hard to imagine Seven purchasing the rights to turn the new project into a mini-series event across weekends or running the film on prime time and then on 7plus.

“They now have two major McLeod’s stars on their payroll and the cross promotion between Home and Away and a new McLeod’s is gold.”

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While Rachael has previously expressed interest in being a part of a McLeod’s Daughters reboot, its unlikely Aaron would return as his character died in the final season.

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