Home and Away's most popular character for 2024 revealed

From weddings and love triangles to kidnappings and shock deaths, Home and Away had some wild storylines in 2024. The show also introduced plenty of new characters this year, including Abigail Fowler (Hailey Pinto), Valerie Beaumont (Courtney Clarke), Rory Templeton (Joshua Orpin) and Stevie Marlow (Catherine Văn-Davies).

With the soap opera currently on a break, popular blog Back to the Bay recently asked fans to vote for who they think is the most popular Home and Away character for 2024. Readers were given one month to submit a list of their top five favourite characters of all time, and the results were finally published this week.

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For the second year in a row, Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) was voted as the most popular character on the long-running series. Alf, best known for his plaid shirts, straw hats and iconic catchphrases such as “flamin’” and “strewth”, was one of the show’s 18 original characters.

Alf is the only remaining original cast member still on the show, and actor Ray Meagher holds a Guinness World Record for being the longest-serving actor in an Australian series.

Top 10 favourite characters revealed

Coming in at second place was Tane Parata (Ethan Browne), who joined the series in 2020 and found himself at the centre of some of the biggest storylines this year.

Cash Newman (Nicholas Cartwright) was voted third, followed by Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis) who was dramatically killed off in August. The fifth most popular character is Marilyn Chambers (Emily Symons), even though she didn’t have any notable storylines this year.

Rounding out the top 10 are John Palmer (Shane Withington), Mackenzie Booth (Emily Weir), Eden Fowler (Stephanie Panozzo), Dana Matheson (Ally Harris) and Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger).

Leah Patterson (Ada Nicodemou) was also ranked at 15, while her on-screen (and real-life) beau Justin Morgan (James Stewart) came in at 14.

When does Home and Away return in 2025?

Home and Away is set to return on Monday, January 13 and pick up right where it left off, with Justin discovering Cash at the scene of what appears to be a violent crime. Cash had woken up next to Tim, who may or may not be alive, with blood on his hands.

Cash had originally gone to find his ex Eden, who was at a secluded resort with Tim and the rest of the band Lyrik, to warn her that Tim's ex-client Nerida was on the rampage and out for revenge.

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It was also announced in October that fan favourites Sophie Dillman and Patrick O'Connor will be reprising their roles as Ziggy Astoni and Dean Thompson in 2025.

Channel Seven revealed that the couple will be filming in the Whitsunday region of North Queensland for a “top-secret” storyline that will play out sometime next year. 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.

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