Home and Away’s new hot couple turn up the show’s TV ratings

Summer Bay’s hottest new couple have been steaming up the screen with their chemistry — and they aren’t shy, as they reveal more of what’s to come.

With its idyllic beachside location, melodramatic storylines and beloved characters, it’s not hard to understand the enduring appeal of iconic Aussie soap Home And Away.

But as it heads into its 34th season, the stalwart soap has been enjoying unprecedented ratings.

Ethan Browne, who’s starred as Tane Parata for two years, has a theory about the extra eyeballs on the show.

“I’ve figured it out – it’s every time I have to do a topless scene, hey,” the Kiwi actor said. “Ratings just go up.”

Those numbers should continue their upward trajectory as the handsome star and costar Jacqui Purvis as Felicity “Flick” Newman cement their status as one of the Bay’s hottest couples.

The pair have been steaming up the screen with their chemistry, particularly when they recreated that famous dance scene from Coyote Ugly in an episode last year.

“I mean of course it’s so funny – Ethan and I a lot of the time are just laughing at each other going ‘this is such a weird job’,” Purvis laughs. “So it’s just comedic, mixed in with a little bit of awkward but … we get through it. But you know if we have to do three takes, I’ll do three takes. If they insist.”

Actors Ethan Browne and Jacqui Purvis from Home and Away are one of television's hot on-screen couples. Picture: David Swift

Introducing a new romance on Home And Away can be playing with ratings fire. Some fans weren’t immediately on board – wanting previous TV power couple Tane and Ziggy (Sophie Dillman) to have their happy-ever-after.

“I think at the start they didn’t want me anywhere near Tane – but they’ve been a bit more gung-ho in their recent support,” Purvis says. “But you know what? That’s also a bit of fun. Proving everyone wrong by showing that there is this great little connection and working with the chemistry to see if we can sway them. And we did!”

While they appear to be on solid ground heading into 2022, it was a rocky road for the couple.

Their budding romance was subjected to some particularly out-there storylines from a toxic gas poisoning to criminal stalking.

“That’s the good stuff, the juicy stuff you get to play with as an actor,” Purvis shares. “It was so awesome, gritty and intense that I feel like I’ve played almost every emotion already.”

So what can the pair hint at what’s ahead for the new lovers?

“We saw at the end of the season that the pair decided they could make it work and committed to being together,” Purvis says, before cryptically adding.

Actors Ethan Browne and Jacqui Purvis from Home and Away. Picture: David Swift

“But in good old Summer Bay, there has to be some drama – there will be a challenge that could possibly come between them. So it will be interesting to see how the audience react to that. Will they stay together? Will this be something that tears them apart.

“It is going to be very hot, sexy and a lot of fun.”

Browne moved from New Zealand to Australia when he first joined the series, with the hope he’d be able to regularly fly home to see family and friends including 13-year-old daughter Aaylah. The pandemic has made that impossible.

But he is grateful to be part of the Summer Bay family and the opportunity to showcase his Maori culture.

“It finally feels like I’m a part of the family, and not the new person anymore,” Brown confesses. “It took me a long time to feel that way.

“But I just love being able to practise my craft every day. We are shooting multiple scenes and sometime multiple storylines.

“It’s such a training ground for film and I ultimately want to get into movies.”

Purvis feels similarly blessed to be working every day in an industry renowned for its inconsistency.

“I know it sounds kind of corny – but that really is what I enjoy most,” she says.

“It’s such a blessing and also to be working with such an incredible bunch of beautiful people. I’m just living the dream.”.

Home And Away, returns January 31, 7pm, Seven