A new Home and Away promo has confirmed that sparks will fly for Mackenzie Booth and new doctor Levi Fowler in the new year.
The ad for Home and Away features the cast at a dinner party near to the beach and was posted as a story on the show’s Instagram account this morning.
Shots of Rose (Kirsty Marillier) and Mali (Kyle Shilling) playfully flirting are intercut with scenes of Theo (Matt Evans) walking topless from the sea with a surfboard under his arm. Flick (Jacqui Purvis) and her estranged husband Tane (Ethan Browne) exchange awkward looks as she passes him two ice coolers.
Along with seeing Dana (Ally Harris) and Xander (Luke Van Os) getting along well, we also see them setting up the festoon lights, which is a hint of things to come since the two are expected to start dating again in 2024.
The major reveal of the teaser occurs when we see Tristan Gorey’s character Levi, a new character, approach Mackenzie from behind, put a jacket across her shoulders, and then take a seat next to her.
“How are you feeling?” asks Levi.
“Ah, better now,” Mackenzie replies with a sigh, before putting her hand on top of Levi’s.
These scenes are all just for the promo – they won’t be seen on screen as part of “actual” Home and Away.
However, we then get to see real footage from upcoming episodes, as the doctor and patient are shown in the living room of the Farmhouse, where Mac lives with Tane and Mali.
Levi leans in for a kiss, before the pair lock lips.
Finally, returning to the beachside dinner, the promo shows Levi eating a watermelon out of Mackenzie’s hand.
The news of a Mac and Levi relationship has been rumoured for a while, and was recently all but confirmed when footage from the CelebTime Home and Away Tour saw the pair looking close during filming at Sydney’s Palm Beach.
The scene in question saw actors Emily Weir and Tristan Gorey with their arms around each other, smiling, before being approached by Jacqui Purvis, who plays Felicity.
Mackenzie, who recently had a heart attack in Salt, is taken aback by the unexpected development that occurs during a dispute with Salt’s co-owner Felicity.
After being taken to the hospital in a state of alarm, Mac’s test results—which did not match the typical profile of a heart attack—confused Bree (Juliet Godwin). Dr. Levi, a cardiothoracic surgeon, was therefore consulted regarding her case.
The charismatic new doctor discovered that Mac had in fact suffered from SCAD (sudden coronary artery dissection), a rare and little-understood condition, and next year will see Xander hold a fundraising event to raise awareness.
Seeing how worried Mackenzie was, Levi made regular visits to her hospital room to check she was okay, and even spent the evening with her, making her watch his favourite gameshow.
Now, he looks set to fall for his patient.
Mackenzie has been incredibly unlucky in love since she moved to Summer Bay back in 2019.
She had a brief relationship with policeman Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin), and the two remained friends after their breakup, but things really went downhill from there.
She began dating Ari Parata (Rob Kipa-Williams), but their relationship ended when Ari’s ex and the love of his life Mia Anderson (Anna Samson) arrived in Summer Bay.
Ari was eventually diagnosed with a very rare cancer named pseudomyxoma peritonei, and died in March 2022.
January 2023 saw the revelation that Mackenzie had been engaged to a man named Gabe (Akos Armont) before she moved to the bay.Gabe came back to the bay hoping to reunite with her, after admitting that he only ended their engagement after being paid off by Mackenzie and Dean’s (Patrick O’Connor) father, Rick Booth (Mark Lee).
Even though the two did finally get back together, Gabe soon found out that his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which he had been fighting in secret during his time apart from Mackenzie, had reappeared.
Mackenzie experienced heartbreak once more when he passed away in June of this year.
Will Mackenzie finally get some good luck with her new love interest?
Also not yet known is whether Levi will be able to repair his relationship with his sister, Eden (Stephanie Panazzo), from whom he’s been estranged since their parents’ separation.
He chose to stay with their father after the breakup, despite the fact it was the dad’s infidelity which led to the breakdown of their marriage, and Eden has never forgiven him.
Next year will also see romance for Xander and Dana, as well as more drama for Eden as Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) launches a desperate search to find her, after she was bundled into the back of a car in the 2023 finale.
Actor Mahesh Jadu, who was born in Perth, is thought to be the character that Levi’s coworker Bree is locking lips with in photos. It appears that Bree is also about to discover love.
Leah (Ada Nicodemou), who was last seen leaving the bay in the last week of the show to go to a mental health clinic where she would be supported through her current health concerns and have the time to recoup without interruptions, is conspicuously absent from the new commercial.
In the final weeks of the 2023 season, Leah had begun to have nightmares of her and Justin’s warehouse ordeal and Justin’s subsequent time in hospital, and struggled to sleep.
Leah eventually started to become paranoid, and after overhearing Justin on the phone at the garage, believed that he was a member of the Vita Nova cult and was out to get her.The promo sees Theo approach Justin, who looks sad, and reassures him: “She’ll be back, you’ve got a wedding to plan!”
It ends with the remaining characters posing for a photo together, before Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) raises a toast “to the bay.”
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Home and Away returns to Australian screens on 7 and 7+ on Monday 8th January 2024, and is expected to return to Channel 5 in the UK on Monday 1st January.
