Home and Away introduces Mackenzie’s ex-fiancé Gabe
Home and Away has introduced Mackenzie Booth’s ex-boyfriend and former fiancé, Gabe Miller, as we learn more about Mac’s life before Summer Bay.
Tonight’s (Monday 16th January) Australian episode of Home and Away brought with it a big surprise, as we learned that Mackenzie (Emily Weir) was engaged to be married before she came to Summer Bay in search of her long-lost half-brother Dean (Patrick O’Connor).
At the end of last Thursday’s episode, Mackenzie headed up to Salt to find a man standing at the bar. The sight of him stopped her in her tracks; she clearly recognised him and wasn’t happy to see him in her restaurant.
In tonight’s episode, Mackenzie rushed downstairs, where she called Dean and asked him to get to the Surf Club right away. He was confused – it was late and he was about to head to bed – but she told him she needed his help. Now!
Inside Salt, the mystery man was sitting at the bar, oblivious to the fact Mac has already spotted him.
He asked Stacey (Maleeka Gasbarri) if she knew the woman who runs the place, asking her if she works nights.
Stacey didn’t divulge anything, telling him to ask the staff, but he responded that he’s already tried that, and that they weren’t being very helpful.
When Dean turned up at the surf club, he found his sister hiding behind the board shop desk. Without giving any explanation, she told Dean that there was a guy upstairs who she needed him to kick out.
Dean was reluctant when Mackenzie refused to tell him what the guy’s done, but she resorted to some emotional blackmail by telling him she’d just built him a beautiful nursery and she needed him to return the favour.
When Dean finally agreed, Mackenzie ran.
Dean headed up to Salt and made a beeline for the bar, where he had no problem asking the guy to leave – without asking questions or finishing his drink.
The mystery man didn’t seem surprised, and, mistaking Dean for her boyfriend, told him that he assumed that Mackenzie had spotted him and sent him to throw him out.
Dean was in no mood for questions as he once again insisted that he leaves.
The man was happy to do as Dean said without too much of a fuss, but did ask if he’d pass on a message. “Depends what it is,” Dean responded, and was surprised when the man simply asked him to tell Mackenzie that he wanted a chance to talk.
When Dean returned to the farmhouse, Mackenzie had been waiting in the new nursery, visibly shaken.
After pretending for a short while that the man was just trouble and that’s why she needed Dean to remove him, she finally confessed the truth.
“His name is Gabe and he was the guy I was gonna marry.”
She was in no mood to give any further explanation. “Yeah, I don’t wanna talk about it, okay?” she told her brother, who’d been stunned into silence, before heading to bed.
The following day, Mackenzie had already headed to Salt before Dean woke up. When he turned up in search of her, she eventually entertained him a couple of questions.
It all happened years ago, before Mackenzie turned up in Summer Bay in search of Dean.
She and Gabe were just two months away from an actual wedding. As for why he’s suddenly turned up in Summer Bay now, she doesn’t know and doesn’t care.
However, a few hours later, she found Gabe waiting for her in Salt.
When he asked for just one conversation, she told him she had nothing to say to him, and he once again found himself being ordered to leave.
“Wasn’t being kicked out last night enough of a hint for you?”
However, rather than leave the building, Gabe sat himself downstairs in the surf club. When Dean stumbled across him soon after, he told him he must either be brave or stupid.
When Mac headed downstairs minutes later, she was equally surprised to find Gabe still there, and threatened to call the police.
“You are the last person I want to talk to,” she told him, getting increasingly irate with his presence. “And you know why.”
He asked again for just one conversation, telling her the biggest mistake of his life is what happened between them, and that he just wanted a chance to explain why he did what he did.
Mackenzie gave him one conversation, and they headed to the beach, where we learn that Gabe walked out on his fiancée without an explanation, only leaving a note!
“I had the dress,” Mackenzie reminded him. “We were two months away from our wedding. And you didn’t even have the guts to say it to my face. You left a note! Who does that to someone they’re supposed to love?”
Gabe’s explanation took Mac by surprise, as it transpired that her father – ruthless businessman Rick Booth – sent Gabe packing.
“Your dad. He offered me $50,000 to stay away from you and I took it,” he explained. “If I could go back and change things… I should have never taken that money.”
However, what shocks Mackenzie the most isn’t that Rick offered Gabe the money to leave, but that he took it.
“But you did take it, and then you left,” she reminded him, unable to believe what she was hearing. “So if you are looking for forgiveness her, you are not going to find it from me.
“Go home, Gabe. And stay away from me. I mean it.”
While that was how tonight’s episode ended, it’s certainly not the last we’ll see of Gabe.
In tomorrow’s episode, their beach conversation continues as Gabe chases after Mackenzie, and it’s on Remi (Adam Rowland) to intervene when things get heated.
Mackenzie has a big dilemma as she battles with the idea of giving Gabe another chance.
She finds a note left for her at Salt, along with a cheque for $50,000 – “If you think this is just about money, here is every cent your father gave me.”
In an upcoming conversation, Gabe tells her that he knows he hurt her, but that he’ll never forgive himself until he knows that she’s forgiven him.
“I need you to know that I still love you, Mackenzie.”
Dean is full of useful advice, as usual. “Either forgive the guy for taking Rick’s money, or you don’t.”
While Gabe’s actions sound pretty unforgivable, it seems Mackenzie may be prepared to forgive him. In Wednesday’s episode, the synopsis hints that “Mackenzie gives love a second chance,” suggesting that the pair give things another try.
Could this be the start of happily ever after for Mackenzie, or is she setting herself up for heartbreak once again?
Here’s the full spoilers for this week’s Home and Away episodes in Australia:
Monday 16th January (Episode 7950)
Mac is haunted by past love. Xander’s romantic gesture backfires. Cash uncovers a horrifying truth.
Tuesday 17th January (Episode 7951)
Cash follows a lead. Bree keeps Remi in the dark. Will Mackenzie give Gabe a second chance?
Wednesday 18th January (Episode 7952)
Mackenzie gives love a second chance. Bree struggles to trust her feelings. Cash’s crusade goes rogue.
Thursday 19th January (Episode 7953)
The parents-to-be get a false alarm. Cash abandons Felicity. Is Mali ready to fill Dean’s shoes?