Summer Bay hunk Kawakawa Fox-Reo: ‘I was self conscious about how skinny I was’
He has set tongues wagging in the Summer Bay scene but Home And Away’s newest star Kawakawa Fox-Reo has revealed a dark secret, which will have fans shocked.
Confidential
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He is the hot new guy in Summer Bay, yet Kawakawa Fox-Reo admits he too has insecurities about his body.
The 22-year-old was introduced to Home And Away audiences earlier this month as new character Nikau Parata.
“I have always been a skinny kid,” Fox-Reo told Confidential. “I’ve always had quite a fast metabolism.”
Fox-Reo is a relative unknown to acting as he joins the cast of the long-running soap.
His character is the youngest member of the Parata family, alongside other new faces Rob Kipa-Williams and Ethan Browne, who play his uncles.
Given that it is ‘always summer in Summer Bay’, actors are required to show off their bodies wearing swimsuits year round.
And that has been the case for Fox-Reo, who began shooting more than six months ago but is only now on screen.
“When I first started I was a bit nervous and self conscious to be honest,” he said of shooting in just his boardshorts.
“But I have learnt over time just to get over myself and do my job.”
He continued: “I’ve learnt to love myself a little bit more in the process of that too. Right now it is not a big deal at all, whereas it used to be something that I was scared about. I was self conscious about how skinny I was, worried about what people would say. When you love yourself enough though, who cares what anybody else thinks.
Fox-Reo moved to Australia from New Zealand for the job. His previous on camera experience include a guest role on TV series Wellington Paranormal and short film The Super Galactic Space Cadets.
“I had quite a long honeymoon stage and then towards October, November, December I found it really difficult,” he said of the move. “I was getting really homesick and found myself getting easily upset and wasn’t sure why. I went back home over Christmas and New Year and got super grounded again and super solid in who I am so coming back this year I am refreshed. It has taken a long time to find my feet but I feel like now I am making friends and creating new relationships.”