Home and Away star admits she was ‘scared’ to explore Felicity’s tragic new story
Things are about to take a dark turn on Australian soap Home and Way after Felicity Newman's drink is spiked, which leads to her being sexually assaulted while on a night out
Home and Away is set to air an emotional new storyline next week, as Felicity Newman is sexually assaulted while on a night out.
In upcoming scenes which will air on Channel 5, Felicity will be seen supporting Lyrik at the Battle of the Bands contest, an unknown person spikes Felicity’s drink, causing her to become unconscious.
When she finally regains consciousness Felicity becomes aware that she’s been sexually assaulted.
Feeling distraught, she heads to the hospital and receives support from her best friend Eden Fowler and local doctor Bree Cameron.
With harrowing scenes set to hit UK screens, Jacqui Purvis, who plays Felicity told Digital Spy that she was “grateful” writers allowed her character to explore this aspect.
Felicity will face a harrowing ordeal in Home and Away
She said: “The head writer, Lou, brought me into her office and she told me that the show would be putting Flick through a sexual assault storyline. At first, I was shocked and completely scared, but she talked me through everything.
“I was so honoured that they even thought I could do it. I was very grateful to be able to explore this story and raise awareness because it’s something that needs to be reflected on TV a lot more.
“Thankfully I was told just before our holidays, so I did have two weeks afterwards to prepare.”
To prepare for the storyline, the actress revealed she did a lot of research prior and also underwent intense training with her acting coach to get into the right frame of mind.
In addition to this, she also revealed that she unfortunately had friends who had gone through similar terrifying ordeals.
Jacqui revealed that she spoke to her friends about their experiences to gain more of an understanding.
The star explained that her friend had also been spiked with the drug GBH so she was able to “talk me through the whole physicality of it”.
Jacqui went on to add that viewers will quickly see a change in her character Felicity’s behaviour as she comes to terms with the trauma and grief she’s experienced.
The traumatic experience will also have an effect on Felicity’s husband Tane but viewers will get to so see the strength in their relationship.
