When Home And Away‘s Sarah Roberts fell in love with her co-star James Stewart she was starting a life with not just him, but his daughter, Scout, who he shares from a previous relationship with actress Jessica Marais.
Almost overnight, Sarah became a step-mum.
It’s a role the actress has revealed, although wasn’t always planned, is one she cherishes greatly.
“Covid for me I got to spend a lot of solid time with Jimmy and Scout, which was great for us as a family unit,” Sarah told Nova podcast How To…Life. “We really grew together.”
James, Sarah and Scout became even closer thanks to lockdown restrictions.
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From the very beginning of her romance with James, eight-year-old Scout was Sarah’s number one priority.
“We didn’t want Scout having some girl whizzing in and out of her life.
“I wanted to be a stable adult in her life and we didn’t want to bring that up or make it public unless it was going to be a safe environment for Scout.
“That always came first to us and work came second to that.”
It was important to Sarah to become a stable part of Scout’s life.
(Instagram)The 35-year-old admits, however, when she imagined what her future would hold, the idea of becoming a step-mother didn’t quite jump to mind.
“My life now is nothing like I thought it would be. Never in a million years did I think I would be a step mum. I think step mums get a really bad wrap.”
“Cinderella – the step mum is awful! I want to rebrand that. It’s challenging but it’s so rewarding at times too.”
She then added: “Scout and I are both really lucky to have each other in our lives. She’s teaching me so much and I feel like I’m teaching her a lot. I know eventually one day our time will come and we are able to give her a brother or a sister.”
Scout has grown up before our eyes.
(Instagram)Sarah has been open and honest about her struggles to fall pregnant, recently revealing she’d suffered two miscarriages in the past 18 months. But, her candour didn’t come without hesitation.
“I was nervous people were going to judge me. Or think that I thought really highly of myself. I was going through all this pain and I needed to tell everyone. I just wanted other women and couples to feel like they weren’t alone. When I experienced miscarriage there were times when I felt really alone.”
The heartbreaking losses haven’t stopped the couple from trying, however, as Sarah revealed: “We want to start a family and we really want a baby [but] I want to enjoy our time leading up to that and not be one of those crazy lady’s (I am not saying that I am not at times) that ‘I just need a baby!’.”
