Pia Miller on her dramatic exit from Home And Away and how it mirrors her life

HOME and Away star Pia Miller’s time in Summer Bay has had it all, but she admits the drama won’t end for her when she leaves Seven’s popular show.

KIDNAPPED, threatened with murder, almost crushed in a car, shot at, as well as surviving the slings and arrows of several Summer Bay romances, including a shock pregnancy.

It’s little wonder Pia Miller is leaving the show which helped launch her small screen career, having exhausted almost all of the crazy plot points Home And Away can throw at an actor.

Now, as her three-year contract comes to an end and with the 34-year-old poised to exit the series at its season end next week, Miller admits the drama won’t end for her when her character, Senior Constable Katerina Chapman, bids farewell.

Pia Miller as Senior Constable Katerina Chapman in Seven’s Home And Away. Picture: Supplied/Seven

Having charted a personal course full of twists and turns over her time on the soap, Miller tells TV guide, her life during the same period has all but imitated her art.

“I feel like if anyone’s life rivalled Kat’s in terms of dramas and ups and downs, it would be mine. It really has been an incredible, epic journey,” she says.

The mother of two — who uprooted her sons, Isaiah, 14 and Lennox, 11 from their home in Melbourne in order to take up the opportunity on Seven’s Sydney production — is “really proud” of the new life they have all built together.

Miller with co-star George Mason as Martin 'Ash' Ashford in Seven’s Home And Away. Picture: Supplied/Seven

Adding to the family’s happiness last month, Miller announced her engagement to film producer boyfriend, Tyson Mullane, who popped the question during a rural retreat.

“We’ve moved to a whole new state and started a whole new life because of different circumstances,” she says, “and to be really happy and grounded together in that is just wonderful.”

For the former model, those “circumstances” included a painful split from the father of her youngest son, former AFL star, Brad Miller; and leaving behind her own siblings and mother, based in Melbourne.

But the chance to learn on the job in one of Australia’s best acting nurseries was all worth it.

“I look back at that first scene that I shot, when Kat arrived in the caravan park and I was definitely quite green. I just remember how nervous I was and the things I was so self-conscious and worried about are now second nature,” she says.

Miller testifies against corrupt police in the final storyline of her time on the soap. Picture: Supplied/Seven

The show’s intense filming schedule became “a rhythm thing, like a dance. If you first learn the steps of any choreography, you might look a bit clumsy. But if you practise again and again, you find your body moves more freely. And gosh, I hope I’ve learned a lot since then.”

Miller credits her co-stars, including former on screen loves, played by Jeremy Lindsay Taylor and George Mason, for holding her hand through the experience.

“[George] gave me the space to work and find what I needed in scenes. He was so generous. I guess the joy of what we do comes back to the environment in which we do it.”

The mother of two boys has recently confirmed her engagement to film producer boyfriend Tyson Mullane. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Her latest challenge is Nine’s new crime miniseries, Bite Club, playing a detective, opposit Todd Lasance on the trail of a serial killer.

“Working with a new cast and on a whole different project has been really great as well. I feel so grateful to be expanding and learning yet again.”

Often challenged to prove she’s more than a pretty face, Miller says “the older I’ve got I know it’s not something I should apologise for or feel bad about ... it just is. If I had daughters, that’s what I’d be teaching them.”

* Home And Away airs 7pm weeknights on Seven.