Xander says goodbye

Xander (Luke Van Os) first arrived in Summer Bay in May 2022, and in late February 2025, it’s his time to say goodbye.

Recent months have seen him enrol on a business course, as he revealed that he had a newfound ambition to start a business of his very own.

Part of the course requires him to complete an internship, and he explains to Mackenzie (Emily Weir) that he’d neglected to find one, and needs some urgent help sorting a placement.

Mac hits up her business contacts, and soon finds him a 6-week internship in Melbourne – the only problem is, it starts in a matter of days. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, Xander packs his bags and says goodbye to Summer Bay.

Before he goes, he and Dana exchange their first ‘I love yous‘, as he assures her that long distance won’t be a problem – it’ll be over before they know it, and Dana can come and visit him at weekends.

Despite its low-key nature, Xander’s departure is expected to be a permanent exit for his character, as Luke Van Os is believed to have finished filming and is currently travelling abroad.

Shortly after Xander leaves, Dana plans a weekend trip to Melbourne, but Xander is forced to cancel it, leaving Dana fearing that they won’t be able to make the distance work after all.

Cash digs for dirt on Tim

Cash ended his relationship with then-fiancée Eden shortly after laying Felicity to rest, claiming that everyone he loved ended up dead, and that he didn’t want Eden to suffer the same fate.

Yet as soon as he discovers that his former fiancée is dating Tim, he diverts all his energy into digging for dirt on her new boyfriend. He starts spying on the Lyrik share house and even breaks into Tim’s car in search of anything to incriminate him.

Turning to Tim’s social media profiles, Cash spots a photo of Tim and an unknown woman wearing a wedding ring. He thinks he’s struck gold, until a call to the woman in question reveals that she’s Tim’s sister, not some secret wife he’s cheating on with Eden.

After learning that Tim was Abigail’s counsellor, he looks up reviews on his work profile, and comes across a ‘Nerida Mullins’, who has left a review describing Tim as ‘Best Counsellor Ever ❤️❤️❤️’.

Cash gets in touch with Nerida, who claims that she was a former client of Tim’s, but that they began dating, and Tim asked her to keep their relationship a secret from his bosses.

Cash goes to Eden with his newfound knowledge, and while Eden is angry at Cash for getting involved, she fears that he’s telling the truth. When Eden confronts Tim and asks him outright if he’s ever dated a patient, he denies it, but Eden struggles to believe him, considering Cash has never lied to her in the past.

Cash convinces Nerida and Abigail to report Tim to his bosses for his repeated ethical issues, and Tim is suspended. Yet shortly after, Abigail begins to doubt Nerida’s version of events, and when she tries to get more details out of her, Nerida’s story begins to fall apart.

Cash realises that he’s made a massive mistake when Nerida doesn’t deny fabricating her story, as she warns him to “tell your ex to watch her back, I’d hate for her to get in the way.”

Meanwhile, in the Australian Season Finale, Remi splashes the cash as he organises for the newly reformed Lyrik – along with Bree, Justin and Tim – to rehearse at a mansion house on an island resort. Back in Summer Bay, Cash heads to the Lyrik sharehouse to find it’s been trashed, and he realises that Nerida could be dangerous.

He makes his way to Lyrik’s island retreat, where he tries to warn Tim of the danger he and Eden are in. However, by this point Tim is fed up of Cash’s constant interference, and the two end up in a slanging match, which is witnessed by Remi.

The following morning, a groggy Cash awakens to find Tim lying next to him, unconscious and covered in blood. At that moment, Justin comes around the corner to find Cash standing over Tim’s lifeless body.

Aussie viewers are currently on their festive break, and will find out Tim’s fate when the show returns on Monday 13th January 2025. UK viewers will see the scenes in early March.

Kirby’s confidence is in freefall

Kirby (Angelina Thomson) ramps up her efforts to grow Manta Ray Boards by hosting a Gala Day. She and Mali spend weeks planning the big event, with Kirby commissioning a photoshoot for use on their promotional materials.

As the photographer arrives, Kirby is a natural in front of the camera, but Mali struggles to relax.

However, it’s Kirby who faces the biggest shock when the new posters arrive. She realises that her image has been altered, with the agency whitening her skin and making her thinner.

Mali calls the agency, who explain that their changes would better appeal to their target demographic, which leaves Kirby heartbroken.

Mali pulls the event and scraps the posters, but the agency’s words have a profound effect on Kirby, and she begins shying away from photographs, and shouts at one of her surf students as they try to record the session.

The Bait Shop is under threat

After 16 years in a small unit beside the Pier Diner, Alf’s trusty Bait Shop comes under threat when the landlord decides to hike the rent at the end of the current tenancy.

Alf has no luck negotiating with the ruthless realtor, and with low profit margins on fishing tackle, he decides that the time has come to shut up shop.

Roo (Georgie Parker) has returned from her cruise, and she refuses to let her dad enjoy semi-retirement, deciding to fight on his behalf. She writes a heartfelt letter to the Coastal News, bestowing the benefits of Alf and the Bait Shop on the community, hoping that it’ll help convince the landlord to have a change of heart.

In the end, the decision backfires when online trolls pounce on the article, making it clear that it’s time for Alf to move on. He decides to press ahead with closing the business, and begins clearing out the shop, before emailing his clients to let them know.

After a talking to from John and some words of encouragement from Mali, Alf eventually decides that there’s still life in his business, and begins looking for its new home elsewhere in the bay.

After realising how expensive real estate has become, he decides that an old storage shed on the site of the Caravan Park would be the perfect place. Yet Roo believes he deserves better, and starts looking into new sheds. When she realises that they cost some $30,000, she decides against it.

Remi offers to pay for it as a way to say sorry for Bree nearly killing Alf, but Roo turns him down – she’s got a better idea: Justin can build one from scratch instead!

In true Summer Bay style, she decides to keep her decision from Alf… so now she, Leah, Maz and Justin face the task of building Alf a new shed on his caravan park without him realising. Easy!

Harper’s baby is in danger

With Harper and Tane all loved up, Dana is feeling a little left out, especially with Xander out of the picture. So, when Harper’s next scan comes around, she asks Tane if he’d skip it and let Dana attend instead, and he’s more than happy to oblige.

However, when Harper and Dana meet with the sonographer, there’s a shock when she leaves the room to double-check something with the doctor. When Dr Shaw (Mandy Bishop) returns, she brings bad news – there’s some shadowing on the baby’s lung.

She brings in Levi, who explains that the baby has a small cyst on its lung. It’s putting pressure on their organs, which could result in heart failure if they don’t fix the issue.

In the Australian Season Finale, Harper prepared for surgery after Levi explained that the cyst was still growing. However, Levi was hiding his fears about the operation, having never carried it out before – with the fact it was on a friend’s baby adding to his stress levels.

UK viewers will find out whether Harper and her unborn baby survive the operation in early March 2025.

Home and Away returns to UK screens on Monday 6th January. It returns to Australian screens one week later, on Monday 15th January 2025.