Chelsea ( Ashleigh Brewer)

[Perdita]

Former Neighbours star Ashleigh Brewer has confirmed that she's joining the cast of Home and Away in an exclusive chat with Digital Spy.

The actress, best known to Aussie soap fans for her role as Erinsborough's Kate Ramsay, has just started work in Summer Bay playing new girl Chelsea.

As Home and Away films several months in advance, it'll take a while for us to see Chelsea on our screens – but Ashleigh caught up with Digital Spy this week for her only UK media chat about the exciting new part, sharing some early teasers.

How does it feel to have joined the cast of Home and Away?

"I'm so excited about it. The character in particular is great and the storyline is fantastic. I'm very excited to dive into a show that is so long-standing and one that I know very well.

"I was in LA when the role came up, so the audition side came to me by email and I recorded a tape that I sent through. I was later asked to do another tape, so I did that and then we signed off. It all happened really fast."

What can you tell us about the character you're playing?

"I'm not allowed to give too much away just yet, but we know that her name is Chelsea and she's a police officer. She's come to the Bay to give one of our favourites a real shock…"

Is Chelsea a nice or nasty character?

"I would say she is an extremely nice person with a strong head on her shoulders, but she'll be causing a little bit of trouble through circumstances out of her control."


Ashleigh Brewer
© NETWORK SEVEN

Are you looking forward to spending the next few months working on Palm Beach, where Home and Away is filmed?

"I'm so excited. I really love it. I was there the other day for the first time and I realised that I'd be able to spend a lot of time working on the beach, which would be a dream.

"But then I also realised that I'm going to have to be on that beach in the middle of winter here, so that's the downside! (Laughs.) But it definitely will look beautiful!"

Good point – in the UK, we're sometimes tricked into thinking that it's always summer in Summer Bay!

"No, you think that because Home and Away always makes it look like it's summer! (Laughs.) It'll be very cold!"

Have the cast given you a warm welcome on set?

"Oh my God, yes. They're all incredible – from cast and crew to the production side of things. Everyone has just been wonderful. It's been a dream to walk into."

You're around in the show for a few months, so are you excited to get your teeth into a long-term story?

"Yeah, definitely. It is long-term, but at the same time, in terms of a soap contract it's very short. Six months for me is perfect, because you go into the show very clear over what the arc will be. To me this is the perfect amount of time."


Georgia and Mark try to save Kate
© CHANNEL 5

How do you look back on your time as Kate Ramsay in Neighbours?

"So fondly. Since then, I've had four years in LA and I doubt that would have come up without the platform of Neighbours. I started there when I was 17 and I adored my time there.

"I look back on it as one of the best experiences of my life in terms of growth. I'm so grateful for Neighbours."

We've heard that it was your choice for Kate to be killed off – is that right?

"Yeah, at the time I really just wanted to shut that door and close the Neighbours chapter. I'm still so glad that I did. Kate was an incredible character. They wrote her so well and they gave her such wonderful and very rich storylines, for pretty much the duration of my time on the show.

"I thought that Kate's dramatic exit was the cherry on top for the amazing storylines that I'd had over the years."

Are you still in touch with anyone from that time?

"Yeah, I'm still friends with a lot of people. Valentina Novakovic [who played Tash Williams] is one of my closest and dearest friends, and the same with Margot Robbie. They're two of my best friends still, so the show gave me a lot more than positive work prospects – it also gave me two fantastic friends."

On Home and Away, you'll also be running into Orpheus Pledger, who you worked with before when he played Noah Parkin on Neighbours...

"I haven't seen him yet actually, but I did hear that he's around! It'll be very interesting to say hi to him and see how he's been going for the past few years."



After Neighbours, you did a four-year stint on US soap The Bold and the Beautiful. How do you look back on that?

"The same way as Neighbours – I'm very grateful for these shows. They bring you in, they look after you and you learn very fast. I learned a lot about the US market by working on that show. I was able to find my feet in LA with an incredible supportive job, which is so rare. So I'm very thankful for that show also."

How do US soaps compare with Aussie ones?

"They're extremely different. They work so fast and the majority of the time they're strictly shot in the studio. The shooting schedule moves very fast and the bulk of work is extremely high. Working in studio allows you to move at a very fast pace and they've definitely mastered how to get the best out of every day."

You're sporting a new look at the moment – was that your choice, or for this new role?

"I did it for myself. I just decided after Bold to go blonde and give it a shot, because it's something I've always wanted to do. I've always been under contract, so as soon as I wasn't, I just made the change and I'm happy with it."

What are your plans for the future after this stint in Home and Away?

"My home and my life is in LA, so I'm definitely going back there. I've never spent time in Sydney before, so at the moment I'm really enjoying getting to know New South Wales. I'm living in Bondi, which is really cool. It's a 'bucket list' thing for me, so I'm really glad that I can come here and work on top of it.

"But in terms of the future, it's definitely to get back to LA. My house is there, my boyfriend is there, my dog is there, my whole life is there.

"In terms of long-term acting work, I've always just made a promise to myself that I'll continue to work as an actress for as long as possible. So far, so good and hopefully I can keep carrying on."

After a few years in LA, do you feel as though you've built up a good network of contacts over there which will serve you well in the future?

"Absolutely. Living in the US gives you that chance to connect with people and understand that relationships are so important. I have a secure, solid and trustworthy web over there, so I'm really excited to get back over there to see what happens."

Digital Spy