As Home and Away ends for another year in Australia, we take a look at all the spoilers for 2026 in Summer Bay.

Tonight’s Home and Away ends in dramatic style, as our favourites are left fighting for their lives after an accident on the way to Off the Rails festival.

The name should’ve given it away, really.

It’s believed that one character won’t make it, after actress Maddison Brown confirmed to TV Week that “we know someone dies, but we don’t know who.”

With another season of the Summer Bay soap nearly over, we take a look at everything we know about the year ahead.

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When does Home and Away return?

The return date for Home and Away in 2026 hasn’t yet been confirmed. However, the show often confirms the date right at the end of the finale episodes, so we’ll update this article as soon as we know.

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Who dies when Home and Away returns?

All of the current Home and Away cast are believed to still be filming, meaning we’re not due any major exits in the first few months of 2026, and certainly not in the Season Return.

We do know that someone doesn’t survive the crash, as Maddison Brown previously revealed in an interview with TV Week that “we know someone dies, but we don’t know who.”

Stephen Madsen, who plays Eddie Shepherd, hasn’t been spotted filming at Palm Beach in recent months.

He’s also listed as a guest character in the show’s closing credits, making it unlikely that we’ll see a Jo and Eddie wedding in 2026 after today’s surprise proposal, and suggesting that he could be the character who dies when the show returns.

However, it would certainly be a cruel twist of fate for the Langhams, with the family having already lost matriarch Kristina (Fiona Noonan) some two years ago, and Lacey (Sophea Pennington) losing boyfriend Theo (Matt Evans) at the start of October.

Would producers really be close enough to kill off a third Langham partner so soon?

Or does Eddie survive, and simply leave town after Jo decides she doesn’t want to reconcile their relationship?

It wouldn’t be unexpected for the deceased to end up being the train driver, or a random guest on their way to the Off the Rails festival – but we’ll likely have to wait until January to find out.

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Sonny is in a wheelchair

While all of the full time characters are expected to survive tonight’s incident, Sonny looks like he’ll be badly injured, as numerous photos from the last few months show Ryan Bown filming in a wheelchair.

Ryan has been seen filming in the wheelchair as recently as early November, suggesting that if his injuries are caused in tonight’s accident – which was filmed in late July – he’ll be in the chair for at least three months.

Filming captured by a fan of the show later revealed that Sonny will initially struggle with his condition and seemingly not accept help, before eventually deciding to attend rehab.

More on that below.

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Remi is diagnosed with a brain tumour

In footage captured by bloggers ‘Tripping with Tanni & Al‘ in October, Adam Rowland (Remi) and Ryan Bown were seen filming outside the former Lyrik house, currently home to Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Eden (Stephanie Panozzo).

With a wheelchair-bound Sonny currently living in the pier apartment above the diner, it’s possible he may have relocated now that he cannot manage the stairs.

In the scene, Sonny is frustrated that Remi didn’t tell him something sooner.

In the audio, we see Sonny follow Remi out of the house, asking him to stop. We then hear Remi tell Sonny, “I didn’t tell you what was going on because I was trying to protect you…”

Sonny angrily snaps back at Remi: “Protect me? Oh, right, because I can’t possibly support you now that I’m some pathetic loser in a wheelchair!”

“Why do you keep going on about that?” Remi replies. “No one in there thinks you’re pathetic.”

“Clearly you think that!” Sonny replies.

“I don’t! If anything, at least you’re doing something, going to rehab, getting better!” Remi retorts, his frustration clear.

“Yeah, well I almost didn’t!” Sonny adds.

“But you did!”

“Okay, and your point is?”

“The point is, I could’ve had one operation, had this tumour cut out…” Remi concludes, with his final words being too difficult to make out.

Around the same time, a photo was posted on social media showing Remi in an operating theatre, surrounded by the surgical team.

The scene appears to have been filmed in an actual hospital rather than a studio set, given away by the presence of a real ceiling.

On the wall to the left can be seen brain scans, suggesting that Remi is going under the knife to remove the tumour he was discussing with Sonny.

Adam Rowland is still believed to be filming, suggesting that his tumour won’t put his life at imminent risk.

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New character Holden Dwyer

Tonight’s final episodes introduce new character Holden Dwyer, played by Lach Millar.

Lach, then going under the name Lachie Millar, previously starred as recurring guest character Richie Amblin in Neighbours between 2019 and 2023.

In late July, when the cast headed to Cowra, NSW, to film the Season Finale, Tristan Gorey added a post to Instagram showed Lach alongside a number of the show’s existing cast members, including fellow newcomer Stephen Madsen.

In early August, Lach posted a photo of a man on a surfboard, alongside the caption “Consider this, the hint of the century”. The post has since been removed.

Shortly after, an actor resembling Lach was spotted filming alongside Sophea Pennington at Palm Beach.

A video taken by CelebTime during the Home and Away Tour on Tuesday 19th August saw the pair filming a scene on the beach.

Holden is set to join the Summer Bay lot on their trip to Off the Rails festival, as he’s clearly visible in the recent promo for tonight’s episode, talking to Sonny and Justin.

Who exactly Holden is, and why he strikes up a friendship with Lacey next year, remains to be seen.

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A new character played by Rocco Forrester-Sach

Another new face in the Bay has been spotted on location this week, after fan Alan Bilsland shared photos from a visit to Palm Beach.

The actor, who Back to the Bay has identified as Rocco Forrester-Sach, was seen filming with Nicholas Cartwright.

Cash is out on one of his customary runs when he crosses paths with the mystery newcomer, though the image and brief clip offer little clue as to the nature of their exchange.

Some fans who witnessed the shoot have speculated that the character could be a new police officer, but at this early stage there’s no confirmation—nor any indication as to whether he’s a short-term guest or new regular.

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Brax and Ricky return as Home and Away heads west

Earlier this year, the show revealed that Darryl “Brax” Braxton (Stephen Peacocke) and Erica “Ricky” Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen) would return to Home and Away for a brief stint early in 2026.

The news came a month after Seven announced that the show would be heading to Western Australia for the first time, to film a blockbuster week of episodes.

Filming locations in the western state were set to include Perth and its rugged coastline, as well as the state’s expansive red outback.

At the time, producers promised that the special episodes would see “an ambitious, high-stakes storyline”, filmed in the “stunning natural beauty” of Australia’s westernmost state.

Shortly after, the show released a series of photos of the pair, who left Summer Bay for the final time in 2016, wearing ‘akubra’ or outback hats, surrounded by the iconic red dirt of the Aussie outback.

In one of the promotional pictures for the pair’s return, Bonnie Sveen is seen holding a film slate which shows that the pair were filming episode 8688, part of production block 1736.

Exact air dates depend on when Home and Away returns to screens in 2026, as well as the number of episodes Channel 7 airs per week, which varies between four and six episodes across the year.

However, we anticipate Brax and Ricky’s special episodes to air on Australian screens sometime between mid-March and mid-April.

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Tane meets up with Brax

While it wasn’t confirmed why we’d be reuniting with Brax and Ricky, fans soon began to spot filming taking place in Perth, and noticed another familiar face – Ethan Browne, aka Tane Parata!

Fans saw Stephen and Ethan – plus various members of the show’s crew – filming in Perth’s CBD, both at The Bell Tower tourist attraction, and nearby Elizabeth Quay.

Tane’s decision to visit the pair in Western Australia is unusual, considering he never met Brax or Ricky, having moved to Summer Bay in 2020, some four years after the pair departed.

However, Tane did briefly meet Brax’s brother Heath (Dan Ewing), when Dean (Patrick O’Connor) and the River Boys helped out him and brother Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) in the 2021 Season Return.

The Parata brothers found themselves in a spot of bother with another gang, and Dean called on his old River Boy mates – including Heath – to help them out.

With Dean (Patrick O’Connor) and Ziggy (Sophea Dillman) currently busy looking after new baby Daniella, could Tane have turned to Brax to help him with some more trouble?

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Summer Bay Fit is temporary closed

Adding to the theory that Tane has fled Summer Bay, pictures emerged in early November showing that his business, Summer Bay Fit, is temporarily closed.

The footage was taken by fan Ashton Richardson and uploaded to YouTube.

As well as showing that Sonny is still filming in a wheelchair in recent weeks, the footage shows an advertising board for the gym with the words ‘SUMMER BAY FIT CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.’

Then, in footage filmed by fan Alan Bilsland in the last few days and posted on Instagram, we see John Palmer (Shane Withington) approach Lacey, who’s busy cleaning boards, and ask her when the gym will be reopening.

Lacey is annoyed by his questioning, and tells him that Tane is the guy who broke her sister’s heart, so she doesn’t “care about his stupid gym” before walking off in frustration.