Stephen, 44, who this week returns to the hit Aussie soap as Daryl ‘Brax’ Braxton after ten years away last appeared on the show in 2016.
The actor filmed his special comeback storyline alongside his on-screen wife Bonnie Sveen, 37, last October across some of Western Australia’s most spectacular locations, including Elizabeth Quay in central Perth, Bullara Station near Exmouth, and in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area – featuring the idyllic coastal town of Coral Bay, and the dramatic landscapes of Charles Knife Canyon, Yardie Creek, Turquoise Bay and Shot Hole Canyon in Cape Range National Park.
The landmark episodes were made in partnership with Tourism Western Australia.
Speaking about his dramatic return Stephen said: “It had been ten years since we left and I think that’s what spurred on the discussion about bringing Brax and Ricky back. And to see what these two characters had been up to.
“They got in touch with my agent and said would Steve be interested? And I absolutely was. I really wanted to come back and revisit the character, and then of course if Bonnie was on the same page then great.
“I don’t think one of us would have come back without the other. I’m so terrible at keeping in touch with anyone. But, we just picked up from there we we left off.
“We were laughing within the first five minutes of seeing each other. I knew that would be the case because that was sort of the relationship we always had. It was always good fun and she also cares a lot about making whatever we do really good too.”
Viewers will see Brax and Ricky enjoying their new life away from Summer Bay running a cattle station in the outback, something that Stephen has real life experience of.
He said: “It’s pretty amazing. I’ve spent a lot of time in those sort of remote parts of Australia, and it’s what separates us from the rest of the world.
“Our beaches are extraordinary, and our cities, but if you want to see something that couldn’t be anywhere, well that’s the Australian outback. You could not be anywhere else. It is completely unique. The first year after I finished school, I went and worked on a big sheep and cattle station out in the middle of nowhere.
“It was eight hours inland, it was so flat. You could actually see the curvature of the earth. There’s nothing there, and it was it was a quarter of a million acres of this place, I worked there straight from school.
“I lived there for about a year and chased sheep and cattle around. So I had done it before, but that was 24 years ago. But I wanted to make sure that there were a few things in place, like there had to be a motorbike, and I’m not wearing a helmet, I’m just wearing an Akubra.
“And it had to be a proper dirt bike, not a four wheeler, because when I was out there working, that’s what it was.”
During his five-year stint on Home and Away from 2011 until 2016 Stephen’s character Brax became one of the most popular in the soap’s history. So much so that Brax became one of the most popular boys names in Australia.
Stephen said: “I mean, I’m bit biased, but I do feel like it was one of the best characters that the show has ever had. And it was what I was interested in too, the stars just aligned perfectly for me for that role because there are lots of things, it was the perfect for me at the time and I had a lot that I could bring to it.
“I was very serious about making it as good as I could. And because I ran with it, they kept throwing good stuff and it was just brilliant. So many blokes recognised themselves in Brax too which was brilliant.
“It got a lot of blokes watching too! A lot of fellas used to dread when their wives or girlfriends would want to put on Home and Away, but all of a sudden more blokes were watching.
“I remember driving through Sydney, I’d stopped to grab a coffee on my way to work and this garbage truck pulled up. It was huge, this bloke jumps off the back, he was a big fella, and he goes, Brax! He said, once upon a time there wouldn’t be a bloke on TV who is like him and he couldn’t believe there was one on Home and Away, which was music to my ears.”
And on Brax becoming one of the most popular boys names in the 2010s he added: “All those little Brax’s are out there now!”
Home and Away fans will be able to watch Stephen’s return as Brax on Friday on 5 Star and the Channel 5 streaming app.
