Fan favourites make surprise return to Home and Away: 'Good to be home'

Home and Away fans, rejoice! The Channel Seven show has announced fan favourites Sophie Dillman and Patrick O'Connor will be reprising their roles as Ziggy Astoni and Dean Thompson in 2025, for a brand new storyline being filmed later this month.

The show announced the two will be filming in the Whitsunday Region of North Queensland for a "top-secret" storyline that will play out sometime in 2025. The show often films 5-6 months in advance, so we could nearly estimate we'll see Ziggy and Dean back on our TVs around March or April.

Sophie Dillman and Patrick O'Connor on their return to Home and Away

After the news of their return was announced, Sophie said it feels "good to be home!" while Patrick added, "I can't wait for the action, and for fans to see this storyline play out." The pair who play the lovebirds, are also together in real life.

Ziggy and Dean left Summer Bay in 2023 after welcoming their first child together, Izzy, deciding to say goodbye to the place they met and fell in love to relocate to Queensland to be closer to Dean's son Jai.

More will be revealed about Ziggy and Dean's mysterious storyline in the new year.

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Fans react to surprise Home and Away news: 'We needed this'

Naturally fans were delighted to see the star couple return, even if it is briefly.

"Omg please tell me they are also staying for a while. I love these two, they have been missed," one person said. "Made my day! The best H&A couple!" another enthused.

"YAYYYYYYYYYY @homeandaway we needed this after losing Felicity," one fan pointed out. "I’m actually going to cry! 😭 I can not wait until the new year!" another emotional one wrote.

"Love seeing Sophie and Patrick's personal journey while they have been away from The Bay, but this news makes me very happy," another fan commented.

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Some fans who stopped watching have even been convinced to jump back on board. "No way, maybe I need to start watching again, stopped after they left," one person said. "I shall watch it again if they do," another agreed.

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