Today’s episode of Home and Away has seen Xander Delaney leave Summer Bay, in what is believed to be Luke Van Os’s final appearance on the show.
Yesterday’s episode saw Xander (Luke Van Os) reveal to boss Mackenzie (Emily Weir) that he needed to do an internship as part of the business course he’s been studying for the last few months.
He explained that he needed to take part in the internship to enable him to complete his module and pass the course, so asked Mac if he could take some time off from his job as a barman at Salt.
Xander recently decided to enrol on the course to help fulfil his dream of running his own business one day, and has since been completing it off-screen.
More recently, he’d hoped to buy into Salt when Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) was left half of the business by his late sister Felicity (Jacqui Purvis), but Cash eventually opted to sell Flick’s share of the business back to Mackenzie, giving her full control of the restaurant she set up soon after her arrival in the bay.
On top of asking Mackenzie for six weeks off, Xander also hoped that she could help him find a placement, putting her business connections to good use.
Mac agreed to help out, and Xander later explained to girlfriend Dana (Ally Harris) that if Mac couldn’t find him a placement, he’d fail his module.
Dana saw that as a particularly harsh move by the course coordinator, but Xander believed it gave “a taste of the business world, I guess.”
Mac later confirmed that she had contacted one of her friends and left a message, but hadn’t yet heard back, leaving Xander nervous that he wouldn’t find a placement in time.
In today’s episode, after receiving a text back from her friend, Mac confirmed that she’d managed to organise Xander a placement after all – but, there was a catch…
“A placement has suddenly become available,” Mac told an excited Xander. “The bad news is, it’s in Melbourne for six weeks, and it starts the day after tomorrow!”
Xander checked with Dana that she was okay with him leaving Summer Bay for six whole weeks, but Dana gave her blessing and encouraged him to “just call the guy.”
However, despite Dana’s encouragement, it was clear that she was struggling.
As Rose (Kirsty Marillier) went to help her brother pack, John (Shane Withington) noticed the pained look on Dana’s face.
“You’re going to miss him,” he quipped, pointing out the obvious.
As Xander and Dana said goodbye to each other, Xander reassured his girlfriend that “time’s gonna fly by, you won’t even get a chance to miss me.”
“I already do,” Dana replied, holding back tears, before the pair exchanged “I love yous”.
While Xander may only be planning to leave the bay for six weeks, it’s believed that the character is actually making a permanent exit.
Actor Luke Van Os hasn’t been seen filming at Sydney’s Palm Beach – which doubles as Summer Bay’s external scenes – for a number of months, and his Instagram suggests that he’s currently abroad.
Home and Away also confirmed in a promo last week that one character would be departing. The promo teased that “a loved friend will leave the bay,” with the options being Theo (Matt Evans), Dana, Kirby (Angelina Thomson), Xander, Tane (Ethan Browne) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo).
The remaining actors have all been seen filming in recent months, confirming that Xander would indeed be the one leaving Summer Bay behind.
Xander first arrived on screens in episode 7759, which aired in Australia on 31st March 2022. He and his half-sister Rose arrived in search of their other half-sister Jasmine (Sam Frost), who didn’t yet know they existed.
Jasmine arrived in Summer Bay in late 2017, and we subsequently learnt that after the death of her mother, her father abandoned her and left her to grow up in the care of foster parents.
While Jasmine’s biological father went on to have Xander in what appeared to be a happy marriage with Rose’s mother, Jasmine had no idea, and initially struggled to accept her new siblings.
Jasmine departed Summer Bay only two months after Xander and Rose’s arrival, when Sam Frost left the show for what was initially believed to be a temporary exit, which she then made permanent, prompting rapid rewrites from Home and Away‘s writing team.
Xander and Rose had already settled in Summer Bay by that point, with the siblings taking on posts at Yabbie Creek’s ambulance station and police station respectively. They went on to move in together in the Pier Apartment above the diner.
Xander came to befriend one of his patients, Millie (Zara Zoe), following a car accident which saw her lose her best friend. He supported Millie as the suffered with the guilt, and resuscitated her when she attempted to drown herself in the ocean.
When Millie’s memory of the accident returned, she admitted to Xander that she had been at fault after glancing at her phone. At this point all eyes had been on the other driver, Logan (Harley Bonner) who had been found to be speeding. Xander was forced to stick up for his friend and tell the police the truth about Millie, after she attempted to blackmail Xander into keeping quiet.
The mental toll that Xander’s job took on him would soon be made apparent, when he later attended an accident site which had seen a teenager knocked off their bike and killed by a drunk driver. Rose was shocked when Xander lashed out at the driver whilst on duty, and even more so when Xander later revealed his coping mechanism when losing a patient was to get a tattoo in their honour.
The news that Jasmine would not be returning to Summer Bay sent Xander into a further spiral, which saw another new tattoo get infected, but things were soon looking up when he met gym worker Stacey Collingwood (Maleeka Gasbarri) and started dating her.
Unfortunately, Stacey didn’t believe in monogamy, and whilst Xander tried to put on a brave face and give an open relationship a go, it ultimately proved too much for him. Stacey assured Xander that she wanted to be with him and attempted to give exclusivity a try, but it wasn’t long before Rose found Stacey in a car with another guy and Xander called it quits.
Tragedy struck when Xander and his colleague Jamie (Hugo Liu) were ambushed on a callout, with a brutal attack leaving Jamie dead and Xander fighting for his life.
Following urgent surgery for a ruptured spleen, Xander suffered post-operative delirium as he came around from the anaesthetic, requiring Bree to sedate him.
Xander took the news of Jamie’s death hard, and after attending the funeral, decided to quit as a paramedic.
Taking on a job as a bartender at Salt, Xander later befriended Jamie’s widow Kate (Ruby Maishman), but it soon became apparent that she was becoming too dependent on him. After the pair slept together, Xander decided that his involvement in her life wasn’t helping her and cut ties.
Xander was angry when he learnt that Rose was searching for her biological father, questioning whether his own dad’s role as her stepfather had not been good enough for her.
Xander eventually came to understand when Rose explained she felt a piece of her was missing, not knowing anything about her mixed-race background, but he remained uncomfortable with keeping it from their mother Yvette.
Xander was soon promoted to Events Manager at Salt, and his paramedic background proved useful when Mackenzie suffered a heart attack in the restaurant. He later went on to organise a fundraiser for SCAD, the condition that Mac suffered from.
After organising a singles night at Salt, Xander found himself put forward as a date for Harper by her sister Dana. It proved particularly awkward when he turned up to collect Harper and found that she knew nothing about it, and whilst the two had an enjoyable evening, they opted to remain friends.
Dana soon came to realise that she had a crush on Xander herself, and after John roped them into a mock wedding for his celebrant training, feelings were brought to the surface with the pair becoming an item.
His relationship with Dana was soon tested when she became suspicious of Irene’s new housemate Bronte (Stefanie Caccamo), who claimed to be suffering from a terminal illness. Dana was the only one who could see through conwoman Bronte’s act, as Irene and her friends rallied to raise funds to send her for experimental treatment in Canada, but Xander dismissed Dana’s claims and ordered her to drop her supposed vendetta.
Dana was proven right when she was later kidnapped by Bronte and held in a shipping container in the middle of the bush. Xander raced to the rescue with John after they began to realise Bronte’s duplicity, but Dana refused to forgive Xander for not backing her and eventually chose to end their relationship.
When Xander had a surfing accident the following week, Dana supported him in the hospital over the next couple of days as he faced temporary paralysis. Thankfully he soon regained sensation in his legs once the initial swelling had subsided.
The two agreed to start over with their relationship, though had another slight wobble when Xander wondered whether Dana had simply felt sorry for him whilst in hospital.
Xander panicked when he heard Dana and Harper talking about pregnancy, believing he was about to become a father, but was relieved to later realise that it was actually Harper that was pregnant.
Xander later helped organise an engagement party for Cash and Eden, but was devastated when boss Flick collapsed from a brain aneurysm and subsequently died.
When Cash took over Flick’s half of Salt, Xander mooted the idea of buying him out, still having some inheritance money and compensation from the ambulance service in his savings, but Cash explained that he wasn’t interesting in selling.
The idea of running his own business suddenly began to grow on Xander however, leading him to sign up to the business course which would eventually pave the way to today’s departure.
Rose is also expected to leave the show next year. Fan of the show Belinda Sinclair witnessed Kirsty Marillier filming what appeared to be her character’s departure scene earlier this month, a video of which she posted to the Home and Away Spoilers & Info Facebook group.
The scene in question saw Rose driving out of the bay as Irene (Lynne McGranger), Kirby and Bree (Juliet Godwin) ran up to her, causing her to come to a stop.
After Rose stepped out of the car, Irene could be heard saying, “There you go, love,” as she handed over a leaving gift.
Rose then hugged the trio one by one, before getting back in the car and continuing her drive out of the bay.
Kirby shouts “Go get ’em, Detective!” prompting cheers from the others. As Rose drives off, they shout, “We love you, drive safe.”
As Rose drives away, Remi (Adam Rowland) walks up behind her farewell party, and gives her one final wave as he shouts, “See ya, Rose.”
With Rose currently working as a Senior Constable in Yabbie Creek Police Station, it appears that a promotion to Detective will see her move to out of the bay to pursue her dreams.
Rose arrived in Summer Bay one episode later than her brother Xander, in episode 7760, which aired on Aussie screens on 4th April 2022.
