Former Home and Away star Christie Hayes has spoken out about one of the show’s most controversial storylines from the ‘00s, saying that the storyline would not “fly” today.
Christie played Kirsty Sutherland for almost a decade, with her character becoming entangled in one of the show’s most questionable romance storylines, after she fell for Summer Bay bad boy Kane Phillips (Sam Atwell). The problem? Kane had sexually assaulted Kirsty’s sister Dani (played by Tammin Sursok), but Kirsty and Kane were later depicted as star-crossed lovers.
With Kane undergoing a dramatic transformational story arc, the fictional couple later got married and had a baby. Still, Christie has now reflected on the storyline, saying it was disappointing in retrospect that it didn’t “cop more flack”.
Home and Away’s Christie Hayes speaks out on controversial Kirsty and Kane romance: ‘Bittersweet’
“It was talked about a lot, and perhaps even disappointingly, did not cop a single ounce of flack,” Christie told Chattr. “And I look at that now and I go, ‘Oh my God, I wish that it had’. I don’t personally wish that upon myself [as an actor] because you’re told to do storylines. But that would never fly these days, and it shouldn’t have.”
Back in the day, Kirsty and Kane’s storyline ended up winning over a legion of fans, something Christie called “bittersweet”.
“The weird thing is, now that I think about it and have thought about it as an adult… was that Kirsty and Kane were so loved and it was one of the most popular storylines on Home and Away,” Christie said.
“And from what I’m told, the TV Week cover of Kirsty and Kane on their wedding days was one of the highest-selling copies of TV Week in history.
“It’s this bittersweet thing, because, you know, you’re so happy that your storyline was well received and whatnot. But taking all of that aside, I think back and look at it and I often wonder, how many people were traumatised by that, and how many people got hurt by something like that, which is happening just as horrendously, statistically now as it did then.”
Christie went on to say there was some guilt attached to the storyline, saying her co-star Sam Atwell had some “choice words” thrown at him back in the days of it playing out on TV.
“There’s a bit of guilt attached to that now too, which makes me sad, because it was such a wonderful time of my life. And also Sam, who plays Kane, is just one of the most beautiful men on the planet, and could not be more opposite than than the character Kane,” Christie said. “Sometimes when we were out and about, [he’d] have people say choice words and call him choice things, because of what his character initially was, before the Kirsten and Kane romance flourished.
“We were in this place where we were creating a love story, but from it was so much pain and horror for people. It was a different time and space with storylines on screen and consideration to the real world just didn’t exist. But having said that, the people that are watching on screen are real people who do live in the real world. And so looking back now as a grown woman and with children of my own, I often think, would I ever want my kids to see that storyline? No, not really.”
Where is Christie Hayes now and would she come back to Home and Away as Kirsty Sutherland?
Christie is still acting and currently hosts The Dan & Christie Breakfast Show on HIT FM. She recently announced she’s expecting a baby with her husband Justin Coombes-Pearce. She has two children from a previous relationship.
And in good news for Home and Away lovers, the star wouldn’t rule out a future stint as Kirsty Sutherland again. She had previously reprised her role in 2008 and 2009 after leaving Summer Bay in 2005.
“I would absolutely go back, if they wanted me to come back for a third time!” she said.
Channel Seven, you know what to do.
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