Ah, Alf Stewart. A living breathing Aussie icon, father and grandfather to fictional characters a-plenty and our country’s oldest of mates.
Yep, the king of the bait shop never fails to leave us entertained as he ponders the deplorable decisions made by some of Home and Away‘s questionable characters, chiming in with golden one-liners and, of course, rocking a straw hat like he’s the Brad Pitt of Aussie bush #fashun.
What a lad.
(Channel Seven)Yup, this Aussie treasure is arguably the country’s greatest claim to fame.
Seriously, the guy single-handedly brought the phrase “stone the flamin’ crows” and “strewth” into our common vocab.
He also managed to melt our hearts with his downright adorable speeches of hope after numerous Summer Bay catastrophes.
At the same time, we learnt to love the endearing way he could give his younger bay-siders a good kick up the backside (in a verbal sense, of course) to steer them into the right direction.
But one must remember (albeit begrudgingly) that our Alf is human after all – and like many of us, he’s indulged in a few relationships over the years.
It’s weird, and almost as uncomfortable as hearing about your mum and dad’s ex-boyfriends and girlfriends. But the grandad of Aussie television has engaged in some questionable romantic situations in his time.
And now, as he prepares to marry his ultimate and OG love, Martha (thank goodness there’s no cringiness here), we thought it might be a good time to take a look back at who else the iconic Summer Bay bloke has dated in the past.
Let’s go back to Alf’s hair-clad days, shall we?
(Channel Seven)Ailsa Stewart
Ailsa was on the scene from day dot. A sweet-natured local store owner, she was good friends with many of Summer Bay’s locals back when Home and Away first aired in 1988.
She quickly caught the eye of our Alf, and they became engaged reasonably quick-smart.
In a weird yet sneakingly soap-esque turn of events, it’s revealed the lovely Ailsa is in fact a murderer. Casual.
But there’s a catch, the man she killed was abusive, so most of the Bay’s locals side with her.
After she marries Alf, a series of twists and turns dominate her narrative – from taking in damaged and vulnerable children, to a deadly car accident that leaves her in a coma.
While she recovered from the coma, she did later have a heart attack and died as a result in 2003.
Aisla and Alf were married for years on the show.
(Channel Seven)Viv Standish
Viv, also known as ‘The Guv’ first appeared in Home and Away in 2003, where she was serving time in prison.
But before you get ahead of yourself, she didn’t actually date Alf on the show, rather, it was later revealed when she enlisted the help of Morag (the convenient lawyer-sister to Alf) that she was in fact Alf’s first girlfriend.
A slightly alarming blast from the past for poor Alf, we’re guessing.
What later ensued was utterly soap-worthy.
Their love story emerged – Alf was protestant and Viv was Catholic, but despite their families disapproval, they were engaged when they were 18.
Then, Viv ran away and was later imprisoned.
Fast forward back to her run-in with Alf on the show, she revealed one of the biggest bombshells of the time, she’d had Alf’s baby – a son by the name of Owen Dalby.
Viv died soon after revealing the explosive feat – but Owen’s son Ric Dalby became a regular show fixture, and he was a sweetheart to boot. All’s well that ends well.
Ex-girlfriend Viv was a whirlwind of revelations for Alf.
(Channel Seven)Bridget Simmons
Let’s just say Bridget Simmons wasn’t Alf’s best choice.
Arriving in the Bay in 2008, the lost and somewhat erratic soul of Bridget first came into Alf’s narrative as she took on shifts at the Surf Club.
A romance developed between the two, much to the utter surprise of fans.
But Bridget wasn’t to be trusted. She told Martha, the granddaughter of Alf that she was a cancer survivor, and the two formed a close bond.
But that quickly went south when it was revealed she was actually a con artist, and was tricking people for money claiming it was for health reasons.
Her lies were eventually exposed, and a heartbroken Alf was unable to forgive her.
Good riddance, we say…
Bridget Simmons, played by Joy Smithers, caused more harm than good during her stint on the show.
(Getty)Martha Stewart
Martha was Alf’s first wife, and possibly his greatest love story to date.
They were married before the show’s narrative begins in 1969.
We hear snippets of their backstory after the fact, but the general gist is that the pair had a baby, called Ruth and Martha later supposedly drowned at sea in 1985 – three years before the show’s story starts.
Let’s now fast-forward to the last few years – Roo, now a grown adult and regular on the show decides to search for her mother, who incidentally shows up in Summer Bay not long after.
Yep, she was back from the dead- classic.
But realistic or not, it was rather sweet to see Alf and his former love reignite their romance so many years later.
Admittedly, it took Alf a while – he was upset that Martha had hidden herself away from her daughter and husband all these years.
But ever the wise Yoda, the Summer Bay stalwart has let sleeping dogs lie, and it looks like the pair are about to tie the knot in a heartwarming ceremony.
Who would have guessed our Alf would get a happily ever after?
It would be a stretch to hope the two won’t encounter some kind of drama in the future (this is Summer Bay we’re talking about…) but that said, let’s just hope it doesn’t involve a fake drowning or malicious con.
Cute! Alf and Martha were game-on back in the day – and they’re backing it up now.
(Channel Seven)
