Marilyn Chambers

[Perdita]

TEEN Nicole Franklin gives birth to a baby boy before handing him over to Marilyn Chambers just days later.

The gorgeous babe discovered she was pregnant with Penn Graham’s child soon after his death.

While she has struggled to get her head around becoming a mum, Marilyn has been on hand and given her all the support she’s needed.

So when she has a healthy baby boy she has no problem handing over her new-born. But sadly little George struggles with being apart from his real mum.

A show insider said: “Nicole tries her best to stay away but George needs her. And although she’s finally got everything she’s ever wanted, Marilyn gets obsessed with Nicole having the power to take him back.”

Catch the storyline on Channel 5 this summer.

Daily Star Sunday

[Perdita]

Emily Symons has admitted that returning to Home and Away was an "easy" decision to make.

The actress reprised her role as Marilyn Chambers on the soap last year following a period living and working in the UK. Prior to her return, her last appearance in Summer Bay had been in 2001.

"I'd already decided to return to Australia when the offer to reprise the role of Marilyn came about. I love the character so it was an easy decision to return," Symons told the Daily Star Sunday.

"It was only afterwards that I started to feel a little apprehensive about it all. But as soon as I got into the wardrobe and put a pair of Marilyn's heels on, it felt like no time had passed. Everyone made me feel so welcome on set and it's been great ever since."

Next week, viewers in the UK will see Marilyn go AWOL with baby George after his real mother Nicole (Tessa James) decides that she wants him back.

"Marilyn has been through a terrible time lately - the kidnapping is a reaction to Nicole asking for baby George back," Symons added.

"Although I can't reveal exactly what happens with the storyline, it doesn't end too well for Marilyn and her boyfriend Sid."

Symons played the role of Louise Appleton on Emmerdale between 2001 and 2008.

[alan45]

Home and Away star Emily Symons has revealed that something bad is about to happen in the soap.

The Australian actress, who plays Marilyn Chambers in the series, said that her character will play an integral part in the end-of-season cliffhanger when she does a dramatic tarot reading for Irene Roberts.

Symons told TV Week: "Every time she does a reading, some bad cards come up - and she's not very good at hiding how shocked she is.

"Something is about to happen, but we don't know to whom or what. [The bad thing is] not necessarily going to happen to Irene - but, of course, Irene thinks that. Also, the cards have dual meaning. The death card doesn't necessarily mean death.

"Marilyn sees three cards she's concerned about. I can't tell you which three they are, but it's the name on the cards and the sequence she's slightly alarmed about. And she hasn't seen this sequence before, so she's a little freaked out about what she thinks it means."

Although Symons does admit that Marilyn's tarot readings are usually "a bit too honest" for her friends, she insists that the character does have psychic abilities, saying: "Marilyn's very good at translating the meaning and picking something from a person's life and saying, 'This is what this means'."

[Perdita]

Home and Away stalwarts Alf Stewart and Marilyn Chambers will suffer health scares in upcoming episodes.

Veteran character Alf's return to Summer Bay is marred when he learns of Roo's relationship with Harvey and housemate Romeo's split from Indi, leading to a shock collapse.

Ray Meagher, who plays Alf, teased to TV Week: "Of all the available people in the Bay, Harvey (Marcus Graham), who's a bit of a shifty character, is the last person Alf would want Roo (Georgie Parker) to finish up with - and if there wasn't an eligible man in the Bay, he'd advise her to look further afield.

"He's also very disappointed to find Romeo and Indi (Samara Weaving) have split. Even though it's been a difficult time for Ruby (Rebecca Breeds), it's not a good enough reason to break up a marriage.

"His own personal barometer is telling him that something's amiss, but he won't address that. He just pulls his boots on and gets on with it - until it knocks him on the backside."

Meagher added that Alf's health scare is "very serious" and could spell long-term problems.

Meanwhile, Marilyn (Emily Symons) is attacked and mugged of her handbag and mobile phone while strolling along the beach on Summer Bay. However, she manages to stumble to Irene's Diner.

[Perdita]

Home and Away star Emily Symons has admitted that she is pleased to finally be sharing scenes with the Braxton family.

Episodes airing on Channel 5 this week see the actress's character Marilyn Chambers growing closer to the villainous Danny Braxton (Andy McPhee), who was recently released from jail.

Symons is currently in London for a Home and Away promotional trip and discussed the ongoing story on This Morning today (September 4).

Speaking to show hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, the 43-year-old confessed that she didn't want Marilyn to appear foolish for trusting Danny when filming the episodes.

Symons explained: "I didn't - because actually, she's not dumb. She doesn't mind if people think she's a bit ditzy, because she's actually quite smart - she's switched on but she doesn't care. I think it's very important to have someone who is so confident in her own skin and she doesn't care what anyone else says about her.

"The Danny Braxton thing, I just felt it was very important that she does believe that everyone should have a second chance in life. She just takes him on face value. A lot of these criminals are very charming and that's how they get away with a lot of their crimes."

She continued: "I think it's quite good, because Marilyn doesn't really have anything to do with the Braxtons. I've never done any scenes with the darker side of the Bay, so it's bringing a little bit of comedy into that criminal element. She's a little bit scared of them."

The former Emmerdale star, who returned to Home and Away in early 2010, added that she hopes to stick with Summer Bay for the foreseeable future and has no plans to move back to the UK.

She said: "I'm an aunty now. My brother and his partner had a beautiful baby called Eva. I just love being an aunty, and it does give you a good focus being back in Sydney."

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.15pm and 6pm on Channel 5.

[Pantherboy]

Article appearing in today's (Feb 22) Sydney Sunday Telegraph newspaper:

"Actress Emily Symon’s baby joy at 45


IT WASN’T too long ago her beloved onscreen character Marilyn became a mum and now Home and Away star Emily Symons is about realise her own dream of motherhood.

The 45-year-old actress is now 15-weeks pregnant and will give birth to her first child in August, around her 46th birthday. But the soap star said getting here has been a real battle and said she’d almost given up hope of ever becoming a mum.

“I very much thought it couldn’t happen and I was too old,” Symons said.

“I thought it would be impossible but it isn’t. I’d given up really, I thought I had tried every avenue that was available to us. My *advice is to not give up if you’re feeling a bit* *overwhelmed by the whole *process.”

She said being pregnant hadn’t “really sunk in” yet.

“Obviously at my age, you have to wait a long time *before you can tell anyone, so I’ve known for a while, but I haven’t been able to share,” she said.

Two failed attempts at IVF led her to split with husband Lorenzo Smith in 2005, and in 2012 Symons spoke of the heartbreaking realisation she may never be a mother.

“I spent a lot of my 30s being so anguished about not having a baby,” she said at the time.

“Then you realise life is *really too short.

“When you spend a lot of time on a cancer ward, it makes the baby thing seem *irrelevant. There’s a longing and a biological need to have a baby that I don’t think men have.

“But the flip side is IVF can take over your life. It gets to the point where you’re so desperate to have a baby, everything else falls by the wayside.”

Her partner Paul Jackson has three children — Tommy, Georgia and Grace — from a previous relationship and the couple went through more than one IVF cycle before *Symons fell pregnant.

“It is very difficult when you are doing it because obviously there are only two results and only one of them is good,” she said.

“It is a waiting game and it is very gruelling on your emotions and your relationship. I am so *inspired by what women go through to achieve their dream, to become pregnant and have a family, you’ve got to be prepared to do that stuff to get the baby.”

Symons said she would stay on the set of Home and Away through her pregnancy.

Just how her exciting personal news will impact on her Home and Away character she has played on and off for 26 years remains to be seen.

“I will just stand behind the coffee machine in the diner until it is time to take a break,” Symons said.

[Perdita]

While I am happy for her to have a baby, I am upset that they will have to write her out of Home and Away which will mean upset for John, Jett and whoever else will be involved

[Dazzle]

I'm really delighted for Emily!

While I am happy for her to have a baby, I am upset that they will have to write her out of Home and Away which will mean upset for John, Jett and whoever else will be involved

Hopefully she won't be away for too long and will be written out for a few months without splitting up the family. The Palmers are one of the best things about H&A at the moment and I don't want anything to spoil them.

[lizann]

give her a big coat and handbag delighted for emily

[TaintedLove]

I'm really delighted for Emily!



Hopefully she won't be away for too long and will be written out for a few months without splitting up the family. The Palmers are one of the best things about H&A at the moment and I don't want anything to spoil them.

Agreed wholeheartedly with every word Dazzle.