‘There’s no way I would have thought I would still be here’: Ada Nicodemou’s Home And Away confession

As she reveals what she really thinks about her enduring role on Home And Away, Ada Nicodemou has revealed new details about her relationship with co-star James Stewart.

In a rare coincidence, Easter Sunday and Greek Easter fall on the same day this year – and Ada Nicodemou is now in “my mum’s bad books” for not realising that when she booked a holiday with her son Johnas, 12, for this weekend.

“I should have checked the date,” she tells Stellar with a laugh. “I’m not extremely religious but I love my culture, and I really love Easter because there’s a whole lot of stuff that we cook.

“And even if you’re not fasting or going to church, I love the ritual.”

Nonetheless, the 47-year-old – who intends to honour her Cypriot heritage by cracking hard-boiled red eggs with Johnas on their break – reasons, “We still get to come home to the feast. There will be so much food, there’s sure to be leftovers.”

‘He likes to make fun of me!’ Ada Nicodemou has opened up about being a mum to a nearly 13-year-old, in a new interview with Stellar. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

Now that Johnas is in his first year of high school and will turn 13 in August, there are new challenges ahead for Nicodemou. “He’s not a little boy anymore,” she says.

“Johnas went from basically no devices to a phone, a laptop and an iPad. And that’s been an interesting [learning curve], giving him that independence.”

The actor says she has put parameters around his social media usage, banning him from scrolling on his phone while in the car so they can catch up instead. Deciphering what he’s talking about on those journeys, though, can be mystifying.

“He likes to make fun of me because I don’t know any of these words [he uses].

“I remember ‘rizz’ [slang for ‘charisma’] was one of them. I still don’t really know what that is … and now I hear it’s in the Oxford Dictionary.”

Having a tweenager in the house has also meant learning to laugh at herself more. “Johnas loves to take the mickey out of me,” she reveals.

“He doesn’t think I’m a cool mum.” In recent years, she has injected more self-deprecating humour into her social media posts – because while she enjoys the pretty pictures and aspirational content, “everyone needs a good laugh.

‘It’s been a really lovely year together!’ Ada on her relationship with Home And Away co-star, James Stewart. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

“When social media first came out, I wasn’t on it. I was like, my life is so boring, what would I put on there? Then you feel like you have to put everything on there until you realise: hang on, I need some boundaries.”

One personal milestone Nicodemou chose to share on Instagram was her one-year anniversary with her TV husband and off-screen boyfriend James Stewart, which they marked with a romantic dinner in Sydney earlier this month.

After being friends for more than 25 years, romance blossomed for the pair after their characters married on screen last autumn.

Both single parents in the public eye, they still try to keep their relationship as private as possible.

“It’s been a really lovely year together,” she says. “I don’t like to post a lot of stuff about us online but, at the same time, I’m really proud of the last year we’ve had, and wanted to share that.”

Nicodemou has now clocked up an impressive quarter century playing Summer Bay’s Leah Patterson.

Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar

“If you had asked me then what I’d be doing in 25 years’ time, there’s no way I would have thought I would still be here on Home And Away,” she admits, adding that she’s grateful for the stability the job has provided for her family.

“There aren’t a lot of people who work constantly, for that amount of time, in the same job. To be doing something that I love for so long is a blessing and an achievement.”

The milestone gave the actor pause for thought about how much has changed since she joined the show as a 22-year-old, who at the time was best known for playing Heartbreak High’s feisty teen Katerina Ioannou.

Ada Nicodemou and James Stewart at the Logies last year. The couple recently celebrated their one year anniversary of dating. Picture: NewsWire/Monique Harmer

“I thought about everything from my fashion to where I am as a person, how my character has changed and what I’ve been through.

“I’ve got so many close friends at Home And Away. We’ve all gone through so many different stages of our lives together.”

One of her closest friends, co-star Lynne McGranger, recently filmed her final scenes after a record 32 years playing Summer Bay’s Irene Roberts.

Confessing she was a “blubbering mess” who had to be consoled by the 72-year-old actor on her way out, Nicodemou admits it will take time to adjust to life on set without her wingwoman.

“I don’t know Home And Away without Lynne,” she says.

“Not seeing her face every day has been weird. But when there’s change, it leaves room for something different. And that’s good as well.”

Home And Away airs at 7pm, Monday to Thursday, on the Seven Network. See the full shoot and read the interview with Ada Nicodemou in Stellar tomorrow – inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).

For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.

Originally published as ‘There’s no way I would have thought I would still be here’: Ada Nicodemou’s Home And Away confession