BOBBY & FRANK’S SHOCK RETURN!
FORMER STAR NICOLLE DICKSON TELLS ALL ABOUT COMING BACK TO THE BAY AFTER ALMOST 25 YEARS
It’s the return to Summer Bay we’ve been waiting for – that of Home And Away’s original power couple Bobby (Nicolle Dickson) and Frank (Alex Papps). And you won’t want to miss the once wildly popular duo’s emotion-charged comeback in the special Seven presentation, Endless Summer – 30 Years of Home And Away.
For Nicolle, now 49 and a mother of two, heading back to Summer Bay was an opportunity she simply couldn’t pass up.
‘I was really excited to go back,’ she says. ‘There are not many “oldies” left, but I was so excited to see Ray [Meagher] especially, and also meet some of the new cast members. I have such fond memories of my time on Home And Away and I just thought: “This will be so much fun!”’
Only 18 and an unknown actress when she won the role of tearaway teen Bobby over 400 other aspiring young performers, Nicolle certainly wasn’t prepared for overnight fame.
‘It’s such a blur, because it was such a long time ago,’ she laughs. ‘I was straight out of school and it was an incredibly exciting opportunity, although none of us had any idea at the time of how successful it would become. I think we all went into it a bit blind.
‘It was my first big acting job and so it was a huge break for me. Doing a shopping centre appearance with hundreds of people screaming was a bit surreal – it was a bit of a frenzy.’
Life has undoubtedly changed for Nicolle since she left the Bay – her character dramatically dying in a 1993 speedboat accident, only to later make a brief but unforgettable return as a ghost. Now living in NSW and working as an accountant, Nicole and her policeman husband of 28 years, James Bell, have two grown-up sons, Lincoln, 22, and Winston, 20.
And she wouldn’t have it any other way. ‘I’ve had a completely different life,’ she agrees. ‘I had a bit of a break when I left the show, then started a family before studying accountancy.’
Introduced to her husband through mutual friends while she was still on the show, Nicolle says James had no idea at the time that she was one of Australia’s most popular TV stars.
‘People were calling me “Bobby” and he’d be like “Isn’t your name Nicolle?”’ she recalls.
‘But you know when you find your soulmate and you become best friends. James has a great sense of humour and we love our life together.’
While Nicolle doesn’t socialise regularly with her former castmates, she relishes catching up with them whenever the opportunity arises.
‘It’s an absolute hoot when we’re asked to go to a reunion, because we’re all so excited to see each other,’ she says. ‘You’re just back there again and in each other’s lives straight away.’
So was there ever a real-life romance between Nicolle and Bobby? ‘You know what – there wasn’t at all,’ laughs Nicolle. ‘When I first met Alex, we were always kissing [on the show], but it [an off-screen romance] was never entertained. We were just good friends.’
Storyline-wise, there were many stand-outs for Nicolle.
‘In the early days, when Bobby was a school girl, she was pretty rough and would get into fights, which was funny,’ she says. ‘Then there was finding out that Flathead Fisher (Summer Bay High’s principal played by Norman Coburn) was Bobby’s father – that was hysterical. And, of course, Bobby was always pretty unlucky with romance.’
As for returning to the Bay, Nicolle admits to having had a few nerves, only to find they quickly dissipated the moment she arrived on set.
‘I’ve been out of it for such a long time, but I was with Alex and I felt so comfortable and welcomed by everyone,’ she says.
‘It really did feel a little bit like home.’