Melissa George opens up former Home and Away co-star Dieter Brummer’s 2021 death

Australian actor Melissa George has reflected on her Home and Away co-star Dieter Brummer’s death in a new interview, calling it “devastation beyond comprehension”.

The 49-year-old star joined the popular Aussie soap opera at the age of 16, where she played Angel Parrish, who married Brummer’s character Shane to form one of the show’s most iconic couples.

Brummer, who also starred in Neighbours, tragically took his own life in Sydney on July 24, 2021, at the age of 45.

In a new interview with Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, George said she still watches Home and Away despite leaving the show three decades ago.

“I do watch often because obviously Dieter’s no longer with us, which is just a devastation beyond comprehension,” she told podcast host Sarrah Le Marquand.

“That’s just too many years of him suffering that was overlooked. It really breaks my heart because he was a beautiful man. It’s very sad.

“I’m not one to step out or make comments that people are gonna use for years to come. I’ve already done that and suffered the consequences. But I sort of kept silent.

“Shane and Angel was everything. I did rewatch the scene when he passed away on the rock on the beach – the final scene of Shane – and it was absolutely heartbreaking.”

George said being on Home And Away at 16-years-old was the “best training ever, really” and set her up for several other TV shows and movies, including 30 Days of Night and The Mosquito Coast.

George moved to Los Angeles at 20-years-old but now lives in France, raising her two-year-old son Lyor (she shares two older sons with her ex, French entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc).

Her latest project is a starring role in the new Binge series Ms X, set for release on Tuesday, in which she plays a suburban mother who gets wrapped up in Auckland, New Zealand’s crime world.

While the filming took place close to Australia, George said she didn’t get a chance to return home due to her busy schedule as a lead.

“I wasn’t allowed because I was the lead, but my family came over. My mother visited because I’d just had baby Lyor [in March 2024], so she got to see her grandson,” she told Le Marquand.

George said that despite being an Aussie with “perfect French”, living in France did come with some challenges, such as “living in a country where you’re not from; doing the French admin and taking care of children in a foreign country”.

She said it wasn’t her choice to live there but France’s custody laws mean her sons must remain in the country despite their parents’ 2016 split.

But being in Europe means she is closer to all the soccer action and said she even purchased a house in Buenos Aires because of Argentinian star Lioner Messi.

“I’m a huge soccer fan. My friends this morning, doing my hair and make-up, they’re like, ‘You like soccer?’ I’m like, ‘Guys, I got a place in Buenos Aires, because Messi has his club right down the street from my house.’ I love it so much,” she said.

Even though the celebrated actress has lived and worked all over the world, she hoped to one day spend more time in Sydney or Melbourne.