Well, I heard on the grapevine that Willow Harris is set to leave Summer Bay (we’re behind here in the UK).  Firstly, I am devastated as she is one of my favourite characters.  She is very cool, very funny and very entertaining.  Over the years, she has brought no end of drama to the show, including the latest twist to the Colby Thorne murder trial when she was revealed to be the shock Witness X, betraying one friend to keep another out of prison.

Since her romance last year with the lovely Doctor Alex Neilson, Willow has been somewhat listless and I must admit that I thought the show missed a trick when Willow departed for several weeks after the trial and they didn’t have her go and visit Alex while she was away.  However, I am very excited to hear that she and Alex are essentially going to get their happy ending!  It may be off-screen and it may not involve actress, Zoe Ventoura actually returning to Home and Away but I gather Willow will make a phone call to Alex and then drive off to Queensland to start a new life with her.

Home and Away is not famous for being pro-gay.  In fact, I would say it’s pretty famous for the opposite.  In 2009, they attempted a lesbian storyline with Charlie Buckton and Joey Collins and it was hit with so much homophobia both off-screen and as part of the storyline that after Charlie had a one night stand with a man, Joey left town, never to be mentioned again.  Charlie then jumped on the next male murderer she could find.  She, a police officer, then took up with a male gang leader until she herself was murdered.  But it was all perfectly acceptable because it was all heterosexual.  Better to date criminals than women.  What a lovely message.

It was a real shame because the actress who played Charlie (Esther Anderson) was so positive about the LGBTQ storyline and gay fans of the show, myself included, really got behind it.  When the character of Joey left, it was with a ‘let’s take a break’ idea when actually, they had already decided it was done and dusted.  The whole thing was done to cause controversy and get some ratings up.  It worked but it was a shame to have treated the story in such a way as it did come to mean a lot to people.  But it just got shut down, never to be tried again until #Willex.

Perhaps it’s because I’m British and I just lump the two Aussie soaps together (they might have completely different audiences in Australia), but what I find really odd is that in contrast, Neighbours is completely rainbow coloured.  We’ve had the wedding between Aaron and David (walking down the aisle to Kylie and Jason, if you please).  There’s bisexual Chloe who has had various relationships.  Sky and Lana came back to Erinsborough to get married, after their relationship suffered the Charlie and Joey fate all those years ago.  And we have the most incredible, beautiful transgender girl in the character of Mackenzie, played by activist, Georgie Stone.  Watching her story has been amazing.

As for #Willex, their story was lovely to watch and knowing how positive and enthusiastic both actresses, Zoe Ventoura and Sarah Roberts were from the start was also really brilliant.  Also, after Alex left, Willow has been completely single, not consoling herself with any other romances, male or female, which was a welcome surprise.  Alex has turned out to be the love of her life.  So now she is leaving, it is such a wonderful thing to see that she will depart by moving to Queensland to be in a committed relationship with Alex.  Our girls get a happy ending.  I for one am really am happy and I can’t wait to get to these scenes in the UK, despite it meaning having to say goodbye to Willow.