Next week on Home and Away in the UK, Leah says goodbye to Summer Bay as she heads back to the mental health clinic for further work, while Valerie gives Theo some newfound confidence – but will it end in disaster?
Leah (Ada Nicodemou) has been through a lot in recent months, after her and Justin’s (James Stewart) ordeal at the hands of Vita Nova left her with night terrors, which culminated in her holding Justin at knifepoint in the diner.
Her continued struggles saw her leave the bay for a 6-week stint in a mental health facility, and when she returned, she was reluctant to restart her relationship with Justin, fearful of relapsing.
Thankfully, she’s managed to put that behind her, and she and Justin have reunited in recent weeks, with Leah finally returning to their house on Healey Road. The pair got more positive news when Justin finished his community service last week, and with multiple roadblocks overcome, Justin is keen to get things firmly back on track.
Next week, as he and Leah share a candlelit dinner to celebrate Justin’s newfound freedom, he asks her if it’s time for the wedding to be back on.
“It feels like things are coming good again, with community service behind me and you back home. So, I wanted to ask, how would you feel about moving forward with the wedding?”
“You mean like set a date?” Leah asks, taken aback.
Leah’s uncertainty is perfectly obvious as she tells him that it’s too much too soon. She thanks him for being patient with her, but it leaves Justin feeling rejected.
The following morning, Leah meets up with Valerie (Courtney Clarke) and explains that when Justin asked her about moving forward with the wedding, her “first instinct was fear”. She admits that she’s scared of hurting him again, but Valerie points out that Justin clearly isn’t scared.
Taking Valerie’s advice on board, Leah summons Justin for a chat.
He immediately apologises for moving too fast the previous evening, but Leah interrupts and explains how he’s got nothing to apologise for – she wants to marry him!
The following morning, as Justin excitedly tracks down their wedding planning spreadsheet, starts discussing dates and expresses his desire to get Theo on board to help with the planning, Leah begins to get overwhelmed.
While assuring him that she does want to marry him, she she suggests that they hold off telling people for just a few more days, and Justin reluctantly agrees.
Yet Justin, as always, can’t bring himself to listen to his fiancée as he struggles to contain his excitement. It’s all he can do not to tell Irene (Lynne McGranger) as they talk to her at the coffee cart.
Later, as an excited Justin bounces up and down in the diner as Leah works her shift, Leah gives in. As she gives him a nod of permission, he excitedly blurts out their news – the wedding is back on!
Irene is elated for them, but shortly after, she pulls Leah to one side and checks that things aren’t moving too fast for her – inadvertently planting more doubt in Leah’s mind.
That afternoon, as Leah is back at the house, believing she’s alone, she receives a call back from the mental health clinic.
After getting put through to her counsellor Dr Brooks, she explains, “there’s a lot that’s been happening, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
Yet Leah has no idea that Justin has arrived home unexpectedly. As he listens in to the conversation from the living room, his face drops.
Busted, Leah explains that she just wanted to check in with her clinician and make sure that she’s not taking things too far.
After an online consultation the following day, Leah tells Justin that her counsellor couldn’t give her any answers, but the fact that Leah was unsure herself meant that the counsellor believed she had more work to do.
“She’s given me the option to go back to the clinic, for a week,” Leah tells him.
Justin is nervous, but tells her that, while he’d prefer her to stay in Summer Bay, she has to do what’s good for her.
“I think I should go, for us as much as myself,” Leah adds. “The sooner the better, I think.”
Justin assures her that the important thing is that she’s healthy and happy, and tells her to go: “Do the work you need to. I’ll be right here ready to marry you when you get back.”
And with that, Leah packs her bags and prepares to depart Summer Bay once again. Before she goes, Justin gives her back the engagement ring, which she’s more than happy to wear.
Will she return ready to marry Justin, or is there much more work to be done?
Also next week, Kirby (Angelina Thomson) has received two new interview requests for Lyrik, one for a print magazine and another for a local radio station.
When she bumps into Theo (Matt Evans) and Valerie at the beach, she tells him that the interviews are a great way to talk Lyrik up while Remi remains out of action, and suggests to Theo that she’ll handle the phone interview alone while they do the print interview together.
Kirby double-checks whether Theo is up for their joint interview, pointing out that it’s been obvious how much he’s been partying lately, but Theo insists he’s fine.
“He’s more than fine,” adds a tetchy Valerie.
When the new couple are alone, Valerie questions why Theo can’t do the interview on his own.
While he initially covers by explaining that Kirby handles all of the band’s publicity and interviews, he soon admits that he failed spectacularly while doing interviews for the band in the past.
Valerie assures him that he’ll never improve if Kirby doesn’t give him the chance, and he needs to back himself. As they bump into Kirby again outside the surf club, a push from Valerie sees Theo tell Kirby that he wants to handle the interview on his own.
Kirby agrees that he can handle the print interview, and assures him that she does trust him, she just didn’t think he was that keen on interviews. Yet from the look on her face, it’s clear she’s still nervous to let him fly solo.
With Justin heading to the city to farewell Leah, it leaves the Morgan house free for Theo and Valerie to have some fun. Later that night, Kirby spots the pair of them outside the surf club, clearly baked.
The next morning, Kirby finds them looking elated on the beach, with Theo having just emerged from the water, surfboard in hand.
Kirby rips into Theo, unable to believe that he’s just headed for a surf after having clearly using drugs the night before.
When it becomes obvious that he’s forgotten that his interview is in just a few hours, she tells him that she’s changed her mind and he’s no longer doing it.
Theo gives a disappointed nod, but Valerie is now even more incandescent over how controlling Kirby is being.
After giving Theo some more words of encouragement, the pair storm around to the Lyrik house, where Theo insists that he’s got this – he’s doing the interview!
As Theo walks out, Valerie tells Kirby that she needs to have a little more faith in him. Kirby then stands up and confronts Valerie, telling her that whatever it is that she’s giving Theo, she needs to stop it.
“Or what?” Valerie responds before walking away, leaving Kirby fuming.
Later on in the day, Kirby catches up with Rose (Kirsty Marrilier) and tells her how stressed she is over Theo’s upcoming interview.
As they chat, Valerie comes around the corner of the surf club, and, spotting Kirby talking to a cop, she fears the worst.
Will Kirby land Theo and Valeire in it over their drug-fueled fun?
