Home and Away Spoilers – Bella Nixon says goodbye to Summer Bay
This week on Home and Away in Australia, Bella’s loved ones gather to bid her farewell as she heads to New York…
Last week saw Bella’s (Courtney Miller) former photographer mentor Emmett Ellison (J.R. Reyne) make a surprise return to Summer Bay. Bella had been interned with Emmett last year and the two had put on a joint photography exhibition in the city, before Emmett was offered an amazing job opportunity in New York.
Emmett promised he’d always have Bella’s back if she ever needed his help with anything, and it’s clear that he’d kept to his word as he went on to offer Bella a job as his assistant on a 3 month project back in the states.
Having just landed his own dream job as Summer Bay’s newest paid lifeguard, Bella’s boyfriend Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) was less than impressed to see Emmett back on the scene, a reminder of the short-lived modelling career that almost destroyed his relationship with Bella for good.
Bella had to remind him that agent Sienna (Rose Riley) had been the villain of the piece, not Emmett.
Nik was devasted to learn of Emmett’s offer, feeling that once Bella had a taste of the New York lifestyle, there’s no way she’d want to return to Summer Bay.
Bella eventually conceded that perhaps their relationship wouldn’t survive the distance… with that in mind, he should come with her!
John (Shane Withington) was disappointed to learn that Nik was considering quitting, after all the work he’d put in to helping him secure his dream job, but told Nik that he had to put his own needs first—he should do whatever makes him happy.
But after a shift out on patrol, Nik realised that he was already living his best life, and told John that he wouldn’t be going anywhere… the only issue now was telling Bella of his decision!
However Bella takes the news, it doesn’t have an effect on her decision to take Emmett up on his offer, with a promo released by Seven for this week’s episodes showing Bella’s loved ones, including Nik, gather in Salt for a farewell party.
As she makes a speech, Bella states that “The best thing about family is they have to put up with you, even at your worst!“.
The observation is not lost on everyone who’s seen Bella through some tough times over the past few years, and the promo then goes on to show Bella embracing Dean (Patrick O’Connor) as she tells him she’ll miss him.
Even Nikau seems in good spirits as everyone swaps stories and raises a glass to Bella, but with the New York trip putting some 16,000km between the couple, it’s a bittersweet goodbye – will they make long distance work, or is this the end?
As Bella heads off on her adventures, we take a look back at some of her major storylines over the past 3½ years on the show…
Bella was part of the story tapestry long before she ever appeared on-screen, her half-brother Colby Thorne (Tim Franklin) having arrived in Summer Bay as the new Senior Constable with Yabbie Creek police in the opening week of the 2018 season.
It was later established that former River Boy Colby’s main reason for joining the police force was to track down Bella, who along with their mother Michelle, had been removed from their home in Mangrove River by Bella’s abusive father Ross Nixon (Justin Rosniak) six years earlier.
Colby eventually learned from Dean’s mother Karen (Georgia Adamson) that Ross had visited her, a year after their disappearance, and revealed that he’d killed Michelle.
Towards the end of 2018, with the help of his fiancée Chelsea’s (Ashleigh Brewer) father, Colby eventually found himself in possession of Ross’s address, and he and Dean mounted a rescue mission. They were shocked to be confronted by Bella aiming a crossbow at them, Ross having brainwashed her into believing that Colby would hurt her if he ever tracked them down.
With Bella having text Ross to warn him of Colby’s arrival, Dean and Colby had no choice but to bundle Bella into the car and take her from the property against her will.
Hiding out in an old River Boy hangout for a few days, Bella was reintroduced to another face from her childhood, Willow (Sarah Roberts), whilst Colby tried to convince Bella that Ross was the enemy. In the end, Bella’s illusions about her father were shattered when Colby played a recording of Ross confessing that he had killed Colby’s father, Andrew.
A subsequent police search near their old property uncovered Michelle’s body, Bella having believed that her mother had left them as she didn’t love them anymore. Bella covered for Colby by stating that they had reconnected on social media, and she eventually moved to Summer Bay to live with him in the pier apartment.
Soon making friends with local teens Raffy (Olivia Deeble) and Ryder (Lukas Radovich), Bella looked forward to a stable family life with Colby and Chelsea.
Ross had other ideas though. Shortly before Colby and Chelsea’s wedding, Ross paid a secret visit to the bay to try and talk Bella into going back with him, which she refused to do.
Bella was delighted to attend the wedding a few days later, but it soon turned into terror when she, Chelsea and Willow were kidnapped by Ross the following day.
Demanding Colby meet him in remote bushland, Ross told him at gunpoint to choose between Bella and Chelsea. As Bella lunged to prevent Ross shooting Colby, Willow was hit by a stray bullet and Ross made his getaway.
Colby later returned claiming he and Dean had lost Ross, but unbeknownst to Bella, Colby had actually killed Ross and buried him.
Colby couldn’t keep the truth from Chelsea, who broke off their marriage after a few days, devastating Bella who couldn’t understand why she’d left them.
After such a sheltered existence, Bella struggled to adapt to life at Summer Bay High. She was soon assigned a support tutor, Simone Bedford (Emily Eskell), but found herself torn when Simone’s affair with married Brody Morgan (Jackson Heywood) was revealed.
Bella had come to trust Simone, but Raffy blamed Simone for breaking up her half-brother’s marriage and so objected to Bella spending time with her. In an attempt to gain favour with Raffy, Bella sprayed grafitti on Simone’s office door.
During this time, Colby had confessed to Bella about his killing of Ross. Although she struggled with the revelation, when she learned that Colby was planning to hand himself in to the police, Bella begged him not to as it would leave her with no family at all.
With Dean considered as part of their extended family, Bella objected to his friendship with Ziggy Astoni (Sophie Dillman) as he spent more and more time with her. Not wishing the two of them to be alone on an outback rally they were taking part in, Bella stowed away in the boot of their car.
However her plan to have Dean and Ziggy be forced to take her home was thwarted on their arrival, when they instead called Colby to pick her up. Bella initially refused to go, and even threatened to walk into the local police station and tell them that Colby was a murderer, before Colby’s threat to leave her in the middle of nowhere caused her to give in. Colby made it clear that Bella couldn’t use her knowledge of Ross’s death as leverage to get her own way.
When Dean and Ziggy confirmed they were now an item on their return to Summer Bay, Bella caused a scene in the surf club which only ended when she cracked Colby over the head with a pool ball. Bella was horrified at what she’d done, and hid out under the pier overnight.
Realising that living together wasn’t working for them at the moment, and hoping some space would enable them to work on their relationship, Colby took Irene up on her offer to have Bella move in with her, much to Bella’s displeasure.
After some tense standoffs with Irene over her refusal to pull her weight, which ended with Bella smashing up half of Irene’s crockery, the two eventually bonded over some cupcake making, as Bella recalled the cakes she had made as a child with her mother.
Bella realised that staying with Irene was the best thing for her, and rediscovered an old passion when she threw herself into a photography assignment at school.
As Bella struggled with her English work, Roo (Georgie Parker) coached her and suggested an online student forum. Bella befriended a member named Tommy, and as the conversations became increasingly more about Bella’s life, Raffy warned Bella about the dangers of sharing too much information online.
Tommy soon confessed that he wasn’t a teen, claiming to actually be a 25 year old teacher, but Bella was convinced to keep talking to him as he promised to help her.
Bella soon realised her mistake when, after arranging to meet Tommy at an exhibition, he unexpectedly turned up at the house. Bella locked herself in the bathroom as his presence became increasingly uncomfortable, but was grabbed by him when she finally emerged. Tommy attempted to rape Bella, but was stopped when Irene returned home and hit him over the head with a vase.
When Tommy tried to claim it was all a misunderstanding that they should keep as a secret, his words triggered traumatic memories from Irene’s childhood, and she bludgeoned him with a champagne bottle. The two dumped an unconscious Tommy outside the hospital, but as the case of the mysterious John Doe reached the local press, Irene decided to admit everything to the police with Bella’s support.
Despite struggling to come to terms with the situation, Bella eventually agreed to testify at Irene’s trial, but was shaken when she unexpectedly came face-to-face with Tommy in the courtroom.
The trial was adjourned when Colby caused a scene, but Bella was able to stand up to Tommy the following day and admit what he’d done to her.
Irene was found guilty and served with a good behaviour bond, but Tommy got his own comeuppance when a woman from Irene’s support group, Teresa Masterson (Simone McAullay) later murdered him.
Having returned to living with Colby at this point, Bella was furious to learn that his girlfriend Mackenzie (Emily Weir) had split up with him, and doused her restaurant in petrol with the intention of burning it down. She was caught out by Dean and Willow, but remained angry at Mac as she and Colby began to reconcile. Determined to keep Colby’s attention away from Mac, Bella started faking being ill.
When her deception was uncovered, Bella fought back by taking an overdose of stolen medication from the hospital, which in a classic case of ‘Cry Wolf’ nearly ended in tragedy.
Whilst Mac eventually found Bella in serious pain and realised her ailment was genuine this time, the two were caught up in an armed siege at the hospital which delayed Bella’s treatment further.
Bella’s experience with Tommy led to her slapping best mate Ryder, when he was falsely accused by Jade Lennox (Mia Morrissey) of uploading a sex tape without her consent, but she soon made up with him when the truth was revealed.
Following her overdose, Bella was encouraged to see a counsellor, Patricia (Sharni McDermott), but refused to open up to her when questions were asked about her father, worried that she would say the wrong thing and implicate Colby in his disappearance.
After learning that she would have to repeat Year 11, and was ineligible for distance learning, a chat with newcomer Nikau saw Bella decide to drop out of school and instead enrol on a photography course at TAFE. Colby eventually agreed after seeing how serious she was about it, and Dean offered to cover the fees, but only on the condition that Bella continue with the counselling.
Still terrified of dropping Colby in it, Bella lied about attending her sessions with Patricia. In the meantime, Bella was growing closer to Nik, with no idea how to deal with her newfound feelings.
After overcoming some initial stumbling blocks, Bella and Nik entered into a relationship. However when the two came to sleep together for the first time, the weight of Nik’s body on top of her own caused Bella to have flashbacks to Tommy assaulting her. Bella panicked and locked herself in her room, and when Colby forced his way in, he was devastated to find that she had self-harmed by cutting herself.
Out of other options, it was decided that Bella needed to be admitted for full-time psychiatric care, with Colby and Willow taking her to an equine therapy centre.
Although initially dismissive, Bella bonded with a horse that she named Bullet, but was still upset when Colby and Willow had to leave her there.
When Bella returned to Summer Bay, she told Nik that she wasn’t ready for a relationship, but continued to be a friend to him as Colby embarked on a vendetta against the Parata family. The two eventually got back together, much to Colby’s fury, and agreed to take things slow.
Colby and Bella’s lives were shattered when they learned that Ross’s body had been discovered. As former resident Angelo Rosetta (Luke Jacobz) returned to town to head the investigation, Bella was again worried about making a statement in case she said the wrong thing, which wasn’t helped by Colby’s constant coaching of how she should answer the questions.
With the stress too much, Bella and Nik ran away together to Mount Currawong, with Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams), Tane (Ethan Browne) and Mac in hot pursuit whilst Colby tried his best to cover Bella’s absence with Angelo.
When the three eventually caught up with Bella and Nik, Bella was convinced to return home on hearing an arrest warrant was imminent, and managed to get through Angelo’s interview.
Bella struggled to stand by and watch as Colby began playing dangerous games in order to escape justice, even going so far as to start an affair with Angelo’s wife Taylor (Annabelle Stephenson) in an attempt to get close to the investigation.
Bella was upset to hear that Nik was considering moving to New Zealand to be with mum Gemma (Bree Peters), until he asked her to go with her. After Angelo admitted to Bella that he knew about Colby and Taylor’s affair, she tried to warn Colby who dismissed her claims. Realising that Colby was beyond help, Bella agreed to leave with Nik.
However, as Bella and Nik were about to depart, Colby was finally arrested by Angelo for murdering Ross.
Sticking around for Colby’s sake, who was released on bail, they learned that Angelo’s case had been strengthened by the statement of a mysterious witness whose name was redacted from the case files.
On the day of Colby’s trial, she was devastated to learn that the witness was none other than Willow, who had provided a covert recording of a conversation she’d had with Colby where he’d admitted to killing Ross. With no way out, Colby changed his plea to guilty and he was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
Willow tried her best to convince Bella that she’d had no choice but to betray Colby, given that his actions were going to drag everyone down with him who had helped cover up the murder. But Bella refused to listen, and Willow left town for a while.
Bella and Dean visited Colby in hospital when he was attacked by fellow inmates, which would turn out to be their final meeting. When Bella and Dean were later refused a visit at the prison due to Colby being in solitary confinement, they eventually learned that Colby had killed one of his attackers.
Knowing that as an ex-cop he would struggle to survive, Colby felt he had no option to instate himself as top dog. Colby left a letter for Bella, asking her to not to visit him again, as he faced a second murder charge.
As life was starting to get back to normality, Willow returned to Summer Bay, causing Bella to try and attack her. With some intervention from Ziggy, she eventually found it in her heart to forgive Willow before she left Summer Bay permanently.
In the meantime, Bella was inadvertently caught up in the Parata family troubles when she, Nik, Ryder and Chloe (Sam Barrett) were kidnapped by a gang of drug dealers that Ari and Tane had made enemies of.
Bella learned that she has won a photography competion with a photo she had submitted of Nik. When it led to Nik being offered a modelling job by agent Sienna, he agreed on the condition that Bella could partake in an internship with photographer Emmett.
She felt uncomfortable as Nik was paired up on a number of ‘coupley’ shoots with fellow model Allegra Freeman (Laura McDonald), and was particularly upset when Sienna, who was wanting to shake Bella off Nik, told Nik and Allegra to kiss in front of her.
Bella and Nik decided to stick it out on account of the money, but Sienna and Allegra continued to conspire to come between the couple. Bella was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to exhibit her work alongside Emmett’s in the city.
She was disppointed that Nik was a no show to a pre-exhibition party at Salt, but in fact, Allegra had stolen Bella’s phone and text Nik to tell him the event was delayed. Nik was later invited to Sienna’s apartment, where she manipulated and seduced him after showing photos of Bella and Emmett (innocently) hugging.
Bella broke up with Nik after he admitted to sleeping with Sienna, and his attempts to win her back by turning up uninvited to the exhibition only caused embarrassment for Bella as she ordered him to leave.
Bella’s internship with Emmett came to an unexpected halt, when he was offered a huge job opportunity in New York, but he promised to always be there to help her.
Bella raced to Nik’s hospital bed after learning he’d been in a car accident, but he asked her to leave when he came to. When he still refused to see her after returning home, Bella told him that they were finished for good. Unable to face photography again, she sold all her equipment, only for Nik to be the one to buy it via a mate.
The two eventually reunited, but when Mackenzie pointed out that she was lacking purpose in life after giving up photography, Bella decided to give working at Salt a try.
Her stint as a waitress was disastrous, but Mac felt unable to fire her. When Dean did the honours on Mac’s behalf, Bella broke down, frustrated that she couldn’t even hold on to a job she hated.
She was eventually convinced to give photography another go by Ziggy and set up as a freelancer, talking John (Shane Withington) to take her services on as a photographer for the surf club, where Nik had just begun work as a volunteer lifeguard.
This year has seen Bella leave from the apartment she once shared with Colby and move in with Dean and Ziggy at the farmhouse, whilst also supporting Chloe after she admitted to her that she’d accidentally killed her biological father. When Chloe’s stepfather Ari also died, Mia (Anna Samson) reached out to Bella to ask for her help with Chloe.
Chloe latched on to Bella to the point of obsession, and began to resent Bella spending time with Nik. After several weeks of Chloe manipulating situations to portray herself as a victim, painting Nik as the one who was struggling with his mental health, Bella eventually grew wise to Chloe’s deception and put her foot down.
When Nik came across Chloe’s diary, he was devastated to learn the full scale of her obsession with Bella and how she’d played them both, but Bella recognised that Chloe was in a very dark place at the time. The revelation came at the worst moment, with everything blowing up at Ryder’s leaving party, but Bella was able to flag Ryder down as he left town, and she said an emotional goodbye to her best friend.
With Nik later offered a job as a paid lifeguard at Summer Bay Surf Club, life was getting back on track for the pair, until Emmett showed up with the opportunity of a lifetime…
Discover who else is coming and going!
It’s time for a look at the latest Home and Away spoilers for the coming months, with even more faces set to depart, some new characters, an engagement, and the arrival of a biker gang set to rock the bay.
Here’s the full spoilers for this week’s Home and Away episodes in Australia:
Monday 30th May (Episode 7805)
Has Leah’s meddling ruined Theo’s love life? Logan goes off the rails. Will Xander sacrifice himself for Logan?
Tuesday 31st May (Episode 7806)
Will New York tear Bella and Nikau apart? Xander is caught in Millie’s trap. Logan attempts to clean up his drunken mess.
Wednesday 1st June (Episode 7807)
Bella prepares for the Big Apple. Dean leaves Ziggy in the dark. Can Rose turn Millie around with honesty?
Thursday 2nd June (Episodes 7808-7810)
Panicked Ziggy packs her bags. Dean is done playing nice with Nathan. Cash discovers Felicity’s crimes.
Justin gets sprung in the nude. Cash is forced to arrest Felicity. Will Mackenzie escape the police? Roo itches to get Martha out of hospital.
Roo’s vigour lands her in hospital. Logan and Jasmine clash. Justin puts his foot in his mouth. Can Theo win Chloe back?