Neighbours Spoilers – Harold helps Mackenzie through her grief
Next week on Neighbours in the UK, as Mackenzie continues to struggle, Grant returns to micro-managing her life. Can Harold’s return help her finally learn to manage her grief?
These scenes air in the UK from Monday 4th July, and in Australia from Thursday 14th July.
Mackenzie (Georgie Stone) and her father Grant (Paul Mercurio) have always had a strained relationship.
Grant rejected Mackenzie when she was a child, after learning from Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) that she dressed as a girl when he was at work. He abandoned her and her mum, and didn’t even get back in touch with Mackenzie after learning that her mum had died.
Years later, Shane eventually tracked Grant down and invited him to Erinsborough, after filling him in on the fact that Mackenzie had now transitioned.
Grant initially struggled to accept his daughter’s transition, telling her he still thought of her as his son and turning down her offer to accompany her to the father-daughter dance. However, he eventually began to soften after realising how much Shane had matured and accepted Mackenzie’s true identity.
With time, Grant eventually began to accept Mackenzie’s identity, even joining his daughter for a selfie with Courtney Act at Lassiters’ Rainbow Bingo event.
When he read out an extract from Mackenzie’s diary at Harold’s, he finally realised the impact his previous behaviour had on Mackenzie.
After some time away, Grant returned to Erinsborough for Mackenzie’s wedding to Hendrix (Ben Turland). He was now fully supportive, but he quickly found himself jealous of Pierce’s (Tim Robards) involvement in the nuptials – everything Grant offered to pay for, billionaire Pierce had already covered.
When a date mixup meant that Hendrix and Mackenzie couldn’t get married at the butterfly house at Melbourne Zoo, Grant secretly called the venue and convinced them to find an alternative location for the wedding, with the venue also offering the couple the chance to take photos in the butterfly enclosure afterwards.
This led to a tense showdown between Grant and Pierce. Thinking that the couple had just got lucky, Pierce remarked that the turn-around with the venue was something that not even he could have pulled off!
Grant couldn’t keep his feelings to himself – he had called the venue in secret to help his daughter, but Pierce’s showy comments meant he revealed all. Unfortunately, while Grant had the best of intentions, his anger at Pierce ended up marring the happy couple’s final night before their wedding.
Thankfully, any bad feelings were put aside as the wedding day arrived, and Grant walked Mackenzie down the aisle, before later joining her for a touching father-daughter dance.
This week, Grant returns to Erinsborough to help his daughter with her grief after Hendrix’s tragic death. Mack is still claiming to be okay, but on the inside, she’s in a world of pain.
Sadie (Emerald Chan) gives her a letter telling her how sorry she is for the part she played in Hendrix’s illness. Mackenzie graciously accepts it, but in private she rips it up and lets her pain out.
Later, she attends a grief group alongside Chloe (April Rose Pengilly) and Toadie (Ryan Moloney), where she gets a glimpse into the hurt others are still carrying over Hendrix, which weighs on her even more. She speaks well, leaving Grant and her friends impressed by her strength, but can she keep hiding her secret pain for much longer?
Next week, she finally stops hiding her pain and shows her grief. It’s a positive, and Mackenzie and Grant come to an understanding – they’ll both be more open with each other going forward.
However, the very same day, Grant goes back on his promise when he keeps a new discovery from his daughter.
Sadie helped Hendrix record a goodbye video in which he explained what should happen if his operation wasn’t a success. The tearjerker hit the Ramsay Street residents hard, but next week Sadie stumbles across some more unexpected videos – it seems Hendrix had even more to say!
However, when Grant learns about the videos, his fears kick in and he decides to keep them from Mackenzie, once again micro-managing her life.
The following day, Wendy explains to him that Mack is an adult and she can make up her own mind as to whether she watches the videos. Unfortunately, Grant stands his guard – he’s not going to show his daughter the videos.
It takes Toadie and Melanie to change his mind, when they explain that they feel exactly the same as Wendy. Finally, he realises that he may have been a bit too overprotective… but, considering he and Mackenzie were already on rocky ground, will this latest bombshell be too much for Mackenzie to bear?
Thankfully, Karl and Susan return from their break next week.
They’re confronted by how closed off Mackenzie is, and when they find out what Grant has done, they try to encourage Mackenzie to make peace with him – yet she has no desire to do so!
Then, the surprise arrival of a beloved friend could make all the difference, as Harold Bishop (Ian Smith) makes a return to Ramsay Street!
He’s been where Mackenzie is, as he lost his beloved wife Madge (Anne Charleston) back in 2001.
As Mackenzie continues to struggle with her grief, she can’t even bring herself to eat.
Harold, identifying with her distress, opens up to her about his own journey through grief. As he counsels her, Mackenzie feels stronger for the first time in a long time.
With Harold’s help, has she finally turned a corner?
While Harold’s experience with grief may be helping Mackenzie, his experience of rushing into marriage means he may be about to fall out with one of his oldest friends…
Read more, as Harold isn’t too happy about Toadie and Mel’s engagement…
Here are the spoilers for next week’s Neighbours in the UK:
8882 – Monday 4th July (UK) / Thursday 14th July (Aus)
Chloe and Kiri make a decision about their future.
At a family dinner, Byron realises Clive’s voice is all too familiar…
Grant begins to micro-manage Mackenzie again. Is he about to ruin things?
8883 – Tuesday 5th July (UK) / Thursday 14th July (Aus)
Mackenzie and Grant’s relationship is in jeopardy.
Byron investigates Clive, while Nicolette does her own detective work on Byron.
Nicolette tells Amy about an unconventional way of dating.
8884 – Wednesday 6th July (UK) / Monday 18th July (Aus)
Karl and Susan can’t convince Mackenzie to clear the air with her dad.
An unexpected arrival could make all the difference to Mackenzie’s grief.
Zara begins to believe Toadie has feelings for Amy too.
Byron and Nicolette hunt the truth about Clive.
8885 – Thursday 7th July (UK) / Monday 18th July (Aus)
Amy avoids Toadie and Melanie as they celebrate their engagement.
Amy isn’t the only one who’s not so excited by the big news…
Paul’s day is made worse by the arrival of a notoriously difficult guest.
8886 – Friday 8th July (UK) / Tuesday 19th July (Aus)
Freya and Aaron deal with more demands from Emma.
Harold refuses to help Zara break Toadie and Melanie up.
Harold opens up to Mackenzie about his own journey through grief.
Also next week, is Clive cheating on Jane?
Next week on Neighbours in the UK, new arrival Byron realises that Clive has a connection to one of his clients, and begins to suspect that he’s cheating on Jane! Surely not?