Home And Away will say farewell to Ashleigh Brewer with the joy of a wedding

Seven’s Home And Away loves a wedding and this year’s season finale will see actress Ashleigh Brewer bid farewell on a happy note.

MOST weddings are the beginning of a long and happy love story.

When actor Ashleigh Brewer says ‘I do’ in next week’s season finale of Home And Away, the nuptials will mark the end of her time on the popular Seven soap.

The former Neighbours and Bold And The Beautiful starlet wrapped filming of her six-month stint in Summer Bay last August and is now back in Los Angeles where she has been largely based for the past five years.

Playing young police officer, Chelsea Campbell, who was engaged then estranged from groom-to-be Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin), Brewer jokes her troublesome character leaves the way she arrived in the beachside town.

“She’s been causing a bit of trouble and she plans to do it all the way out,” she tells Hit/TV.

But in a twist on the usual drama that comes along with a wedding in Summer Bay - which over the years has included runaway horse carriages, exploding receptions and tragic deaths - the wedding of Chelsea and Colby has been written just for fun.

“I’m sure I’m not giving anything away here,” Brewer says, “but they wrote it and allowed it to just be joyful. It just brings the audience into a really nice place, rather than ‘oh, there’s a bomb, strapped to the cake!,’” she laughs.

Joy ... Brewer as bride Chelsea Campbell in Seven's Home And Away. Picture: Supplied/Jeremy Greive for Seven

The 27-year-old, who counts this as her fifth walk down the aisle in her short TV career, revelled in her final scenes - with the cast all heading away to a new location to shoot the wedding; a genuine celebration of the close relationships she developed behind-the-scenes.

Her decision to join the show, and return to Australia, back in March, may have been seen as a step back in career terms - but Brewer is grateful for the opportunity to reassess where her work and personal life was heading.

“I needed to get back, to feel my family around me again and see how I felt about Australia, because four or five years is a long time to be away,” she explains.

“I was 21 when I moved to LA and I’ve changed and grown so much. Essentially it was like when you reach that point in a relationship and you’re like, ‘are we going to get married or break up?’ That’s how I feel about LA. I was like, ‘am I going to commit to this town?’”

Her now live-in boyfriend, Zac was supportive of her career “breather” which has helped give her clarity and the determination to chase her Hollywood dream again.

“It really did give me the crystal vision to get my butt back to LA and work towards what I always set out to achieve.”

Vision ... the 27-year-old has used her time on Seven’s soap to reignite her passion for acting. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Working on soap operas has “come easily” to Brewer, who now wants to aim higher.

“They’re jobs I know I’m capable of achieving and I’m not overly challenged by them, so I realised that I want to live a life that I’m super proud of and that puts me in a good space, rather than just showing up and being told that I’m good.”

Her time on Home And Away “was a God’s send,” she adds, with her close friendship with co-star Franklin a bonus.

“I love him, he’s such a darling and such a talent, as well,” she says. “He was like my living, breathing diary where we formed such a cool friendship and I miss him so much. He was a huge reason I found it hard to leave the show. The relationships I felt I developed there were so genuine.”

Close ... Brewer with her former Bold and The Beautiful cast [L-R] Katherine Kelly Lang, Scott Clifton, Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, Pierson Fode and John McCook. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

She was also impressed by the ambition of Home And Away’s producers, arguing “they still work so hard to not just recycle the same old story, which isn’t always the case ... I have worked on shows where it feels like that after a while. It does feel like they’re still pushing the boundaries and wanting to stay relevant with what’s going on in the world. And there are all-girls at the helm [including series producer, Lucy Addario], which is pretty awesome.”

* Home And Away airs 7pm, weeknights on Seven.