Longstanding 'Neighbours' character to enter same-sex relationship

She’s not appeared regularly on Ramsay Street for five years, but Neighbours bosses have revealed that when Steph Scully (Carla Bonner) returns to Erinsborough on a full-time basis later this year, she will be accompanied by a female love interest.

The popular character will return to Aussie screens in a few weeks time, and will quickly be followed by a woman named Belinda, who she has been dating during her time away from the street, DigitalSpy reports.

Carla Bonner, who originally portrayed Steph for 11 years between 1999 and 2010, said of the new storyline: “I thought it was a really smart move on the part of the writers and producer. There has always been a little speculation that Steph and Libby had a little thing going. Because of Steph’s nature, I really don’t think people will be surprised, they just won’t be expecting it.

“The way that it has been written, it’s very sensitive and certainly not smutty. I’m very happy with how it plays out. If it contributes to normalising same-sex relationships in some way, that’s great.”

A repentant Steph reportedly arrives back in Ramsay looking to make amends for her past wrongs (she stole a baby, so fair enough), but her reunion with Belinda is strained after her new love interest disagrees with her approach.

Bonner added: “She doesn’t want Belinda to mess with her head. She knows what she has to do – it feels right for her and it’s part of her recovery.

“While Belinda has Steph’s best interests at heart, she tries to dictate to her how she should do things and that doesn’t feel right for Steph. She needs Belinda to accept how she wants to do things but because Belinda can’t, there are major issues.”

Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 in the UK, and weekdays at 6.30pm on Eleven in Australia.

Longstanding ‘Neighbours’ character to enter same-sex relationship

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