Home and Away spoilers for UK viewers follow.
Home and Away newcomer Kyle Shilling wants to see Mali Hudson’s family show up in Summer Bay.
Shilling made his first appearance as Mali on Australian screens last month, and is set to join at UK/Channel 5 pace in March.
The character turned up for a brief visit to surprise his old friend and business contact Dean Thompson, but after Dean offered the board shaper a job working in his surfboard shop, Mali agreed to stick around.
Related: Home and Away reveals emotional baby storyline for Ziggy Astoni
Mali was initially unsure about taking up Dean's offer since it would mean spending less time with his family, who live a few hours up the coast.
However, as the soap's first Indigenous character, Shilling thinks it's the perfect opportunity to explore Mali's cultural heritage and have some of his family come up to the Bay for a visit.
"The [Parata] boys had their moments during the haka and stuff," the actor told Stuff.
"I can’t wait to have that moment of, you know, hopefully bringing cousins and family members and friends in to do this really beautiful kind of corroboree ceremony celebration for something to do with Mali or a friend or a family member. I’m really excited for that."
Related: Home and Away star Sophie Dillman shares hair transformation after exit from soap
Shilling continued: "I think it’s going to be positive. Mali is this positive person who loves his family and loves his culture but there’s always going to be negativity around positivity. You can’t do this kind of job and not expect that."
The show's producers have hired an Aboriginal consultant to help with Mali’s storylines, who Shilling says is "amazing".
"It’s very difficult with our culture because there’s more than 500 different tribal groups," he explained. "There’s over 500 different language groups and everything like that too, but yeah, we’ve got a consultant on board and he’s amazing."
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.
In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7plus.
Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.
Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
Coronation Street X Joanie - Gilroy Retro Newton And Ridley Sweatshirt
Content Production Intern, Digital Spy
After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy, she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
