Home And Away Spoilers – Irene Leaves After Reaching Rock Bottom

It’s been a month since Irene (Lynne McGranger) fell off the wagon after 9 years of sobriety, and next week will finally see her reach out for help as she hits rock bottom.

As Irene battled to cope after realising ‘terminally-ill’ housemate Bronte (Stefanie Caccamo) was a con-artist, John (Shane Withington) had been the first to realise that Irene was drinking again after he walked in and discovered her kneeling over a bottle of whisky she’d just dumped.

After that, Irene consented to go to an AA meeting, and John left to visit his son Jett in the city, thinking that Irene was now on the right track.

But the only thing Irene remembered from the meeting was that she felt different from the other attendees since she was now in charge of her drinking.

Irene told her startled friends Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Marilyn (Emily Symons) that it was time for her to stop punishing herself and as a result, she started drinking in public.

Irene kept drinking wine in social situations, but when she was at home, she was sneakily downing the stronger varieties.

When John returned, he was unhappy to find that Irene had given up on the AA meetings and quickly saw through her façade. John was searching through Irene’s kitchen cabinets for her secret when she held a dinner party to show that she had everything under control.

John lost the ability to control his mouth and informed Irene that she was deceiving both herself and everyone else as she was toasting.

The following day, John’s suspicions were confirmed when he saw Irene discarding a carrier bag in a bin close to the surf club, revealing six empty whisky bottles within.

When John confronted Irene, she turned on him and declared their friendship to be over.

“Now get out,” she spat at him. “John, you and I are done. I really mean it.”

Irene’s drinking spirals out of hand even more the following week, to the point that she starts bringing a hip flask to work.

As Irene keeps giving the wrong instructions throughout the day, Leah and Marilyn quickly realize something is awry and start taking covert swigs in the pantry. Leah follows Irene into the pantry after noticing that she frequently vanishes and quickly captures her zipping up her bag.

Leah responds that if Irene tells her that what’s inside is none of her concern, then it IS her business if she drinks at work. She can smell it on herself, and the clients will definitely be able to detect it as well.

Rather than accepting Leah’s offer to drive Irene home, she storms out, returning to the Beach House grumpy and requesting Harper (Jessica Redmayne) and Dana (Ally Harris) to clear out and give

After they go, Irene closes the door and begins to slurp the whisky.

Irene is in a state of shock as she stumbles to the back door when Leah comes over to see how she’s doing. She slurs her words and accuses Leah of taking pleasure in her sense of superiority before sobbing and telling Leah that she embarrassed her at work.

Leah is heartbroken to see her friend in this position and begs her to allow her to get assistance—all she has to do is ask. Instead, Irene dismisses her and keeps smothering her grief.

Later, when an inebriated Irene attempts to climb the stairs, she stumbles and falls to the ground, unconscious and suffering from a horrible

As this is going on, a worried John asks Juliet Godwin’s character Bree for guidance, wondering how he can assist someone who refuses assistance. She tells him they can’t, pointing out that patients who are unwilling to participate are frequently the ones who are most afraid of appearing weak.

Harper doesn’t get home until late that evening because the sisters are obeying Irene’s orders to keep their distance. When she does, she discovers a drowsy Irene sitting on the sofa with a messy bandage over her head.

Irene says she stumbled on a damp area in the kitchen, but Harper immediately figures out what really happened and demands that she be sent to the hospital after seeing the abandoned bottle on the stairs.

Bree examines Irene and, fearing that she might have suffered a concussion, arranges for a CT scan. Irene reluctantly acknowledges that she has had a few glasses of scotch, but she disputes that there is an issue.

At the ED, Leah, Xander (Luke Van Os), and Rose (Kirsty Marillier) congregate. However, when Leah peeks her head over the curtain, Irene isn’t grateful about her presence. Leah reveals gently that Irene is an alcoholic in recovery who recently had a relapse when Bree asks if there’s anything medical that she should know.

When Bree offers to help Leah with alcohol withdrawal, Irene quickly realizes that Leah has been lying. She denies that she needs any assistance, telling Bree that this isn’t her first experience.

However, the embarrassment hits Bree hard when she later sees Irene sipping from her hip flask.

Irene breaks down as Bree confiscates the hip flask, pointing out that she’s obviously not handling things if she still requires booze while on a drip in the hospital.

At her lowest point, Irene acknowledges her need for assistance. Marilyn accepts her apology for being inebriated at work and informs her that John is considering her.

After everything she made him go through, Irene finds it hard to think John would still care. However, a short while later, John shows up with a massive bouquet of flowers, which makes Irene cry uncontrollably.

After the two got back together, Irene acknowledged that she had been lying to everyone, even to herself, but that she now saw things clearly. Irene informs John that Bree has made arrangements for her to visit a treatment facility because she knows she can’t trust herself to return home. When Irene asks if John would take her there, he says, “Of course.”

While traveling, John drives Irene to the diner so she can say goodbye to Marilyn and Leah and apologize. The two convince her that everything is forgotten and that taking care of herself is now what matters.

John asks Irene whether she’s okay as they head off, not knowing when she’ll return.

Irene responds, “I will be,” exuding confidence.

After filming this narrative, Lynne McGranger took a six-month hiatus, therefore this will be the last time we see Irene on UK televisions until roughly April 2025.

After vacationing in the UK, Lynne came back to Australia and immediately started rehearsing for a theater play called The Grandparents Club, which was scheduled to tour Victoria, ACT, and NSW from May to August.

After recovering for a few weeks following her thyroid gland removal operation shortly after the tour ended, Lynne resumed filming last week.