With their gleaming, white smiles and their impeccably coiffed locks, the star quality of these Home And Away actresses is obvious.
But during New Idea’s fun-filled swimwear shoot, it quickly became clear there’s more than just good looks to Penny McNamee, Sarah Roberts, Sophie Dillman and Raechelle Banno.
Down-to-earth, humble and honest, the starlets have each fought their own battles to feel comfortable in their own skin.
From bullies to boys, the Home And Away stars reveal some of the hurdles they’ve overcome to help them become the strong, independent women they are today.
In fact, each one has penned a letter to their younger self, sharing the things they wished they’d known before.
Sarah Roberts
‘To my dearest Sarah girl, the caterpillar,
‘Firstly, let’s talk about the boy you have a crush on called Novak, the one you wait for to walk home from school with? You were oh-so-brave for mustering up the courage to go over to the basketball courts and ask him to be your boyfriend in front of all his friends.
‘Well done beautiful girl!
‘I am so sorry that he made you cry when he said he didn’t want to ‘go out with you’ because he might get his tongue stuck in the gap between your teeth when you kissed and because you have brown skin.
‘He’s just mean and you deserve much better, really.
‘The thing is Sar, as you grow up, a lot of people are going to make fun of you for the colour of your skin. They are going to call you names like ‘poo-face’, ‘curry-muncher,’ ‘chipolata sausage’ and ‘abbo’, but as the years go by…you’ll realise that the colour of your skin is actually your most beautiful asset.
‘So like your mummy taught you, be humble, be kind and be brave. You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out. And perhaps butterflies are proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness and yet become something beautiful.
‘All my love, your future self, your butterfly, x’
Penny McNamee
‘To my year-nine self,
See those cool girls across the quad, the ones who stopped sitting with you at lunch and ignored you on the bus? They are not the girls you want to be friends with.
Stop looking to the cool girls and wishing you were friends with them. Find the funny, kind, interesting girls – the ones who laugh at themselves, not others. The ones who have dreams and goals beyond what party they had going to that weekend or what boy they want to kiss.
‘Find the girls who have hobbies and passions – those who play instruments, who ride horses, who scrapboook, who draw, who write! Find the girls who help others, who do charity work, who lift each other up.
‘They are the girls who will go far in life, who will follow their dreams and help you achieve yours. They are the girls to hang out with at lunch.
‘Forget the cool girls. Nerdy is the new cool!’
Sophie Dillman
‘Dear 17-year-old, graduating, bad-driving, pre-schoolies Sophie,
‘You have spent the past 12 incredible years in an environment run by fiercely powerful women. Your teachers and fellow peers have inspired you, encouraged you and pushed you. They have instilled in you that you can do anything, be anyone – that you are equal. Not having experienced anything else, you believe them wholeheartedly.
‘You are sitting in a moment in time where you are fearless, dreaming and excited. Cherish that feeling, those moments and your friends and mentors around you feeling the same, because in times of need, they are the women who will pick you back up and keep you going.
‘Trust me, our life is, so far, pretty amazing, but you will face moments where you are treated differently. You will be flooded by social media telling you to ‘look hotter’ and ‘make boys drool’ and sometimes you’ll buy into that crap. In these hard times just remember who you are.
‘PS. Despite what you are thinking, schoolies Tequila Tuesday is not a good idea.’
Raechelle Banno
‘Raechelle,
‘Right now, high school is starting and you just can’t wait to be an adult already. It’s coming, believe me, way faster than you think. Just know, for now, that the things you feel in your gut – just wanting to dance and act, and not wanting to go to parties and kiss boys and rebel, and that it’s OK if you snort when you laugh – they’re right.
‘Those gut feelings are way wiser than you realise right now. Those feelings are going to teach you things, and even if you misread them sometimes, you’ll know that they were there and they were right. They’re going to teach you what feels right, what feels wrong, who’s your friend, who’s not, how to stand up for yourself, those you care about, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, that mummy really does know best, and that the louder you snort.
‘Parting words? Breathe more you’re going to be OK. You are loved and you are going to realise you love yourself too, which will only open you up to more happiness than you could imagine.
‘Love Raechelle, x’
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