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Ask most people in their mid-twenties if they have a horrible flatmate story and they’d likely get out a list detailing pinched belongings or inconsiderate roomies.
This isn’t the case for Home And Away’s Matt Evans and Jacqui Purvis.
With the pair nothing but laughs and smiles as they speak to TV WEEK from the living room of their home by the beach in Sydney’s east, it’s surprising to learn that their happy living arrangement came about more by good fortune than design.
”I was couch surfing after relocating from Melbourne [in 2020] and had all my stuff still in my car while working on Home And Away,” Jacqui, who plays Felicity, says.
”A few weeks after I started, Matt had his first day on set. He was doing a wardrobe and make-up session just to try to get a feel for the place while it was our last day shooting.”
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Jacqui and Matt look like flatmates who get along just fine!
(IMAGE: TV Week)After chatting to Matt (who Jacqui likes to call “Merv”) at the cast Christmas party that night and following up with a get-to-know-you over a cafe breakfast a few weeks later, Jacqui had locked in the Summer Bay newcomer to share a place with her in Sydney’s south-east.
Since then, they’ve relocated to the relaxed coastal suburb of Coogee, where their apartment resembles a typical twenty-somethings’ share house, containing bursts of retro art and several well-kept house plants (which Jacqui declares she looks after).
”He kills them all – it’s probably my biggest peeve,” she says with a laugh.
Fortunately, her grievances don’t extend past Matt’s lack of a green thumb and the occasional need to bottle up his feelings.
WATCH NOW: Matt Evans jams on his guitar. Article continues after video.
The pair say they’ve never had a bad experience of sharing, with Matt crediting their carefree nature as the key to surviving almost two years under the same roof.
”We’ve never actually discussed our living situation or house rules,” Matt, who plays Theo, says.
”We clean up after ourselves and we don’t even have to talk about it.
”If there’s ever a problem, we either get it all out in the open or we just pretend like it never happened.”
And, though working and living together could pose a separate set of challenges for the young stars, it’s the opposite.
”When we come home and just don’t want to talk, we understand that sometimes there needs to be no talking,” Jacqui explains.
”Be we do still vent and debrief [and] it’s really nice to have someone who ‘gets’ it and knows the feelings behind it.
”And, of course, sometimes we’ll run through our lines [together].”
What’s for breakfast? Lots of laughs!
(IMAGE: TV WEEK)Matt also admits Jacqui is one of the biggest fans of his music – something that’s taken a back seat since his 2020 appearance on The Voice Australia.
”Jacqui has taught me to be more of a hustler, and really encourages me to try to make things happen with my music rather than sit back and wait,” he explains.
”In turn, I think I help her to not take life too seriously.”
But, as Jacqui notes, there’s only one real secret to maintaining a steady household: ”We started as housemates and we’re just so lucky that friendship came afterwards,” she says.
