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Home and Away's Sophie Dillman reveals her worst Christmas 'fail'
Fan-favourite Home and Away star Sophie Dillman has just shared the worst Christmas she’s ever had. She says that most of her Christmases have been incredible, but admits there was one particular meal that was ‘a bit of a fail’.
She opened up to Yahoo Lifestyle about what went horribly wrong, her upcoming Christmas plans and the one holiday act that sends her into a 'panic'.
“There was one year that mum decided to go a bit crazy with what she wanted to cook,” she tells us. “Instead of having a turkey, she had pieces of turkey that I think were meant to be crispy, but she didn’t open the packet.”
Sophie laughs when remembering the meal, and adds that the turkey pieces were “very soggy”. Her family are huge Christmas lovers, and aside from this meal have been ‘lucky’ with their celebrations.
“I would say Mum would consider that a bit of a bad Christmas fail. But we still all ate it, it’s still, you know — turkey’s turkey,” she recalls.
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Sophie and her partner Patrick O’Connor play popular onscreen couple Ziggy Astoni and Dean Thompson on the soap. It’s hard for actors to get a large chunk of time off during the year, as the show usually films at least five days a week for 46 weeks.
Fans are usually disappointed that the soap goes off air for a few weeks over the holiday period, but for the cast and crew it’s a much-needed rest.
Home and Away’s golden couple are from Queensland and they first met at drama school in the state almost ten years ago. Every year when filming shuts down, the pair hit the road for a fun drive with their dog Winnie.
“Every year we drive up to Queensland to see our family and friends. Winnie jumps in the middle of the Mazda and we road trip and listen to podcasts and all that sort of stuff. It’s actually a really fun drive,” she says.
“We spend our time going between Brisbane and Noosa, our family is sort of spread out between those two [places],” she adds, before saying that it’s an “excellent time of year”.
The star also shares that Winnie goes ‘bananas’ when he hears their car pull up, because he can’t wait to go out and explore.
“He knows when we’re pulling up to go somewhere because I’m slowing down and sort of parking and he goes bananas! He’s like, ‘Get me out of here! I’m ready to go, I’m ready to party!’,” she exclaims.
Sophie’s ‘panic’ over Christmas shopping
The star loves to give people gifts, but she tells us there’s just one problem — she forgets to start her shopping until it’s almost too late.
“Honestly, I’ve done no Christmas shopping. I want to say I like it, I do, but I seem to be the type of person that does everything at the last minute,” she says sheepishly. “I will get it done, I always get it done.
“But I don’t do it until there needs to be a panic you know,” she laughs.
Sophie isn’t exaggerating about how close she toes the line, and says she’s often scrambling around Christmas Eve. “I feel like, ‘I’ve got so much time. I don’t have to think about it right now’. But then you’re two days out, you have to think about it right now,” she admits.
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There’s also a bit of pressure to get meaningful gifts, because her family are ‘excellent’ at buying presents. When pushed to answer what her worst Christmas present is, she takes a beat before realising she’s loved every gift she’s received.
“I don’t have a bad Christmas present. Isn’t that lucky?” she reveals, before explaining her parents are ‘very good’ when it comes to gifts.
“My mum is an excellent present chooser, my dad is also very good. My sister always puts a lot of thought into everything.”
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