It’s been a rocky road to the altar for Summer Bay favourite Leah, but finally her wedding day has arrived.
Leah (Ada Nicodemou) has taken things slowly with Justin (James Stewart) to make sure it’s true love and that, this time, it’s forever. And it takes only a single glance at her husband-to-be for Leah to know it’s all been worth it.
“She loves this man and can’t believe her luck to be there and to be marrying him after everything they’ve been through,” Ada, 46, tells TV WEEK.
“How patient he’s been with her, the beautiful man he is, how they’ve stuck together through a lot… they do really love and support each other and it’s great to see that joy and celebrate their love.”
TV WEEK can exclusively reveal Leah is escorted to the wedding by none other than Summer Bay stalwart Alf (Ray Meagher). And with John (Shane Withington) overcoming any pre-wedding jitters about his abilities as a celebrant, it’s a day filled with surprises for the bride.
Justin has organised everything, and for once, Leah is happy to just let go and enjoy the ride.
“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but Leah is a bit of a control freak,” Ada says with a laugh. “But she decided in the lead-up to the wedding to give over all control to Justin, so she has no idea about anything to do with it.
“She knows what she’s wearing, but no idea where the venue is, who’s coming, about the food – anything!”
That leads to some stress early in the day when Leah learns some much-loved friends and family might not be able to make it. But what she finds when she arrives at the mystery location soon brings tears of joy.
“Alf takes her to the wedding, Justin surprises her with a beautiful song, and there are unexpected guests,” Ada says. “It’s a beautiful, joyous day.”
On screen, that is, with Ada revealing the filming of the wedding in the NSW Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, coincided with two super-hot and fly-filled days.
“It was filmed at this gorgeous winery, every shot is magical,” Ada enthuses. “And my wedding dress by Velani Couture, who have designed some of my Logies’ dresses through the years, was perfect – simple, elegant and beautiful.
“But the problem is that when you’re wearing anything corseted in the heat for two days straight, 16 hours a day, it gets a little uncomfortable! I’m not going to lie – as beautiful as the dress is, I was happy to see the end of it by the end of the second day!”
That aside, it’s a day Leah has long dreamed of and the wedding she hopes will be the start of a long and happy life with Justin.
“This is it for her,” Ada says. “For a long time, she was adamant she wasn’t going to get married again. As much as she loves Justin, she didn’t feel they needed to do that.
“But after the awful year they’ve had – and also for Leah, who hasn’t had a lot of luck in the marriage department prior to this – it just feels right.”
For both Leah and Ada.
“When it was suggested they would marry I said to the writers, ‘I want it to be nice. I don’t want something awful to happen,’” she says.
“I think we just need to see a really lovely Home And Away wedding – something joyous and about love… and it is!”
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