SOAP STAR STEPHEN 'THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!'

The RFDS actor reveals why he couldn't turn down the chance to return to Summer Bau

- Leigh Livingstone.

When Stephen Peacocke first swaggered on to the Home And Away set as Darryl "Brax" Braxton, the leader of the infamous River Boys, in 2011, he became a household name almost overnight. Now nearly a decade after leaving the long-running soap, the actor's returning to the world of Summer Bay - older, wiser and with an international resumé that cements his star quality.

But for Stephen, 43, the decision to keep working at home in Australia has been nothing but rewarding.

"I've been lucky to have had 10 years of really good jobs," he shares. "I don't take for granted how fortunate I am to be in this industry in this country - and to have worked overseas on some great things."

After wrapping up on Home And Away in 2016, the star headed to the US with his wife Bridgette Sneddon, who played Sophie Taylor on the soap, and found work reasonably fast.

"We based ourselves overseas after I finished Home And Away," tells Stephen.

"I'd gone from job to job over there and we got the Green Card, then we came back to Australia and COVID hit.

"By some extraordinarily fortunate circumstances, I got cast in Five Bedrooms, RFDS and The Newsreader, which all turned into series, so we've never gone back. I've had a very, very fortunate run.”