Wild and mysterious newcomer Jacqui Purvis dances her way on to Home and Away

Dancing on the bar a la Coyote Ugly was the perfect introduction to Home and Away for the latest hot newcomer to the iconic soap.

Piouetting and plie-ing through her early years, Jacqui Purvis never imagined her dance skills would propel her to Summer Bay.

But she loved every minute of re-creating the iconic Coyote Ugly dancing-on-the-bar scene as Home and Away’s new wild child Felicity Newman.

Although the 25-year-old admits she did have to rewatch the movie, which was released in 2000 when she was just four-years-old.

Purvis has been amused by the promos which say trouble comes to town this week on Home and Away.

Piper Perabo dances on the bar in the memorable scene from the 2000 romcom Coyote Ugly. Picture: Supplied

“If they want to say she’s trouble, I’m up for it,” she said, with a laugh. “She’s a joy to play. She’s fun, she’s outspoken and absolutely has no filter.”

Purvis confessed she struggled to with her own filter when she was younger.

“Felicity is next level – I’ve learnt to tone it down in my real life,” she said.

“Felicity has not learnt from her mistakes.”

Jacqui Purvis is loving playing no-filter Felicity Newman on Home and Away. Picture: Channel 7

Purvis, who spent a short time on Neighbours as Melissa Lohan two years ago, confessed she’d had a few fangirl moments since she started on set six months ago.

“Definitely when I saw Jimmy Stewart (Justin Morgan), he’s incredible and just watching him is like a masterclass,” Purvis said.

“It’s so good acting alongside all of the legends. They’re not just legends of the industry but also of their craft. If I’m lucky enough to have a scene with them sometimes I’m just entranced watching them and forget that I need to act too.”

Felicity, the sister of handsome new cop Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) certainly makes an impression on Tane Parata (Ethan Browne), who recently had his heartbroken by Ziggy (Sophie Dillman).

“We work so well together – the chemistry is just so good,” Purvis shared. “He’s such a dream to work with. That’s been a huge highlight.”

Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis) and brother Cash (newish to the Bay Nicholas Cartwright) Picture: Channel 7

The chemistry between Felicity Newman (Jacqui Purvis) and Tane Parata (Ethan Browne) is sizzling. Picture: Channel 7

While Felicity is certainly set to cause trouble in the Bay, what’s not troubling for the iconic soap is the ratings which have been surging in recent weeks.

The momentum has continued despite the two week mid-season break for the Tokyo Olympics with another huge week last week, averaging 1.14 million nationally, (693,000 in metro markets).

That was the highest weekly average since June 2018 nationally and the highest in metro markets since April 2019.

The first three episodes last week all averaged over 700,000 metro and have been the three highest rating episodes of 2021.

Home and Away, Monday-Thursday, 7pm, Seven

Originally published as Wild and mysterious newcomer Jacqui Purvis dances her way on to Home and Away