Home and Away star Paddy O’Connor confessed an iconic part of his soap character almost never translated on-screen.
The actor, 30, is best known for his portrayal of River Boy Dean Thompson on the Channel 5 soap – a role he’s been playing since 2018.
But it appears the character nearly hit Summer Bay with a completely different name, Paddy exclusively revealed to Daily Star.
READ MORE: Home and Away Dean star says on-screen son refused to work unless actor made promise
“When you get your audition for Home and Away, they have a scene or a character blurb and that can change at any given point before you start the role,” he explained.
(Image: Channel 5)
Paddy continued: “And so originally it was actually Roy Thompson. Could you imagine if I was Roy?”
“I don’t think Roy and Ziggy would’ve worked out,” joked Sophie Dillman, who stars as Dean’s on-screen love interest Ziggy Astoni.
“I don’t think Roy would’ve lasted,” laughed Paddy.
Dean and Ziggy have just welcomed their first child together, and Paddy and Sophie explained this storyline helped prepare them as a couple in real life.
“It was really fun having a fake pregnancy because a lot of of the conversations that happened in the scene would then roll on into real life,” Sophie, 29, said.
“We’d go home and talk about those things,” Paddy added as Sophie continued: “Yeah like names, types of birth, cravings and all that kind of thing”.
Paddy went on to say: “It was kind of cool to do all that but then not go home with an actual baby”.
“We got to practise so it was kind of cool,” the blonde beauty chimed in.
Paddy and Sophie met around 12 years ago when they went to the same acting school but reunited when they were both cast on the soap.
Shortly after their characters Dean Thompson and Ziggy Astoni began a relationship, their romance evolved off-screen and the couple started dating in real life in 2019.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
