“I was certain I was going to lose my job.”
Home and Away star Steve Peacocke has admitted he feared being axed from the soap when he joined in 2011.
The actor, who played Darryl Braxton in the Australian soap, became a fan favourite and one of the show’s most popular characters.
Steve even won two Logie Awards for Most Popular Actor for his role, but despite this, the Five Bedrooms star said that he thought Darryl would be killed off within two to three months of his arrival in Summer Bay.
“When I started work in Home and Away, I was so nervous for the first two or three months – I was certain I was going to lose my job,” he shared during an interview with TV Week (per Now To Love).
“When I came home from work, I could taste blood in my mouth just from talking at the back of my throat, which is the first thing you do when you’re nervous. Everything constricts.
“I was like a ball of tension until the first episodes went to air and I realised that the audience kind of liked it and it was okay.”
Aside from his work in soap, he went on to star in films such as the 2014 adaptation of Hercules, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and Me Before You.
Following his Home and Away exit in 2016, Steve landed roles in drama series Wanted as Detective Josh Levine and ABC drama The Newsreader as sports editor Rod Rickards.
“Oh look, I’m endlessly insecure about what I do,” he continued. “But with acting, you can never be too comfortable in what you’re doing. I find I’ve got to be thinking, ‘Is this really good enough?’ to get good stuff out of myself.”
Darryl arrived in Home and Away alongside his brothers Heath and Casey Braxton as part of what would become the River Boys gang, inspired by the real-life Bra Boys group.
The character, nicknamed Brax, was involved in a long-term relationship with Charlie Buckton until her death, which led to him turning to cage-fighting to deal with his grief and mounting debt.
He was later involved with Natalie Davison and Ricky Sharpe, who gave birth to Brax’s son Casey.
After a tumultuous life in the Bay including prison sentences, flings, fights, and heaps of drama, Darryl said goodbye to the soap alongside Ricky and Casey in 2016.
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.