Ada Nicodemou is set to walk down the aisle as Leah Patterson on Home and Away when her character marries Justin (James Stewart) in a glamorous wedding at the Bay.
For Ada, who has starred in the soap since 2000 (yup, over 24 years), a wedding is no strange feat, given Leah has been married three times before — however, the marriages have all ended in disaster.
Back in September 2023, James told Chattr that Leah’s nickname had become the “Black Widow”.
“Justin sat her down and said, ‘Right. Three husbands died and two [of those] husbands bailed. What’s going on here?'” he joked. “When we were filming in Taree and Leah asked Justin ‘Will You Marry Me’, I wanted to say, ‘But all your husbands die!'”
In celebration of the fictional April 9 nuptials and in the hopes Justin becomes the happily ever after she is looking for, join us as we take a look back at Leah’s past weddings and marriages.
Leah and Vinnie Patterson (2001)
Arguably the most iconic of Leah’s marriages up until now, Leah married Vinnie played by Ryan Kwanten in March 2001.
The wedding combined Leah’s Greek heritage with Vinnie’s Scottish heritage and coincidentally was the first marriage of any kind, Ada had partaken in. The couple — who were a fan fave at the time — also welcomed son VJ, who will be making an appearance during the 2024 wedding.
Unfortunately, Vinnie and Leah were cruelly ripped apart when Vinnie was jailed for fraud. To add to their woes, in the 2002 season finale, Leah was told that Vinnie had been killed in a prison fire, only to actually be alive and living in witness protection.
When Vinnie finally reemerged — disguised as a giant teddy bear at VJ’s birthday party — Leah had already moved on with Dan Baker (Tim Campbell), so Vinnie left a note saying he would always love them.
Leah and Dan Baker (2005)
In July 2005, Leah married Dan and while they made it down their aisle, Dan’s fate was sealed.
While she’s had her moments with Justin over the past few months, she also had a bit of a “will they, won’t they” with Dan, when wedding nerves got the better of her.
Finally, after saying “I do”, Dan then moved to America for work with Leah set to join him, however, Dan was killed in an abseiling accident and she was left widowed.
Leah and Zac Macguire (2014)
After becoming briefly engaged to Reverend Elijah Johnson (Jay Laga’aia) in 2010 and other smaller love affairs, Leah eventually found love with school teacher Zac, played by Charlie Clausen.
Despite their best efforts to keep the budding romance under wraps, the couple became the talk of the town when a swift snap of their classroom kiss started making rounds. Zac, swept up in the romance of it all, made a grand gesture with a beachside proposal that Leah declined amidst an audience of onlookers.
Even though she had declined, a more intimate proposal at home was met with a resounding ‘yes’ from Leah, but their happily-ever-after was not to be.
The marriage crumbled beneath the weight of betrayal when Zac’s past caught up with him, leading to heartache for Leah and a subsequent divorce after his affair with a former lover came to light.
Eventually, Zac bid adieu to Summer Bay, setting off for new horizons in Vietnam.
Want to CHATTR with us? Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more entertainment news.