Sonya (played by Eve Morey) learnt at the beginning of the year on Neighbours she had stage four ovarian cancer, leaving her and husband Toadie Rebecchi (Ryan Maloney) devastated as she began her treatment.
Keeping the secret at first, Sonya decided to tell her fellow Ramsay Street residents after seeing the turmoil her husband was facing having to keep the information to himself, as well as dealing with fresh drama at the hands of Andrea (Madeleine West).
However, even though she has had the support of her fellow Neighbours and has been undergoing treatment for the cancer, Sonya has been told her cancer isn’t responding and she doesn’t have long left on the Channel 5 soap.
Upcoming scenes will see Sonya ask Toadie to take her to the beach with their children to enjoy their time together before passing away in his arms as they look out on the youngsters playing together and now, actress Eve Morey, 35, has revealed what it was like to film her final scenes.
Eve first arrived on Ramsay Street in a guest role as Sonya Mitchell for a handful of episodes but the popular character managed to stay in Erinsborough for almost a decade, falling in love with Neighbours icon Toadie and going to build a family with him.
Having spent so much with actor Ryan Maloney, 39, over the past ten years, Eve has spoken out about the hardship of having to filming the heartbreaking scenes alongside her colleague and friend.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Eve said: “It was awful. Just awful. But at the same time incredibly special and precious.
“Even though Ryan and I were in the most awful circumstances in the final scenes, we still shared light and loving moments and in the end, there is this beautiful tragedy.”
The actress also spoke about filming the entire storyline, which has seen faces from the past return to Ramsay Street, with more to come as Sonya’s friend and family come together to remember the much loved character in upcoming scenes.
Asked what the hardest part of the storyline was to film, Eve admitted the scenes with Sonya’s young daughter Nell Rebecchi (Scarlett Anderson) were some of the toughest: “Having kids made me have a perspective on those scenes.”
Speaking more about Sonya’s exit and taking on the cancer storyline, Eve added: “It was the most meaningful storyline of the show and my most meaningful story I’ve had.”
The actress also revealed it was producers for the Australian soap who decided to bring Sonya’s time on the show to a conclusion, but admitted she was happy for the popular character’s story to come full circle.
“It was a decision taken by the Neighbours team at the end of last year and we sat down together and decided that if Sonya was going to leave she couldn’t just leave Toadie it wouldn’t be believable.
“I believe everything happens for a reason and it’s a decision that has been incredibly positive for myself and my family and I don’t say that lightly.”
However, Sonya won’t be leaving Ramsay Street without playing on the minds of a few of her fellow Neighbours as she recently revealed a secret to Toadie’s brother Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) regarding his late wife Dee Bliss (Madeleine West).
Schemer Andrea arrived in Erinsborough under the guise of Dee, who was believed to have died after she and Toadie were in a tragic car crash on their wedding day, with Dee’s body never found as the car went off the edge of a cliff.
Andrea resurfaced a couple of weeks ago as Sonya decided to pay her visit after the troublemaker filed for sole custody of her son Hugo, with whom she had with Toadie when she tricked him into sleeping with her a couple of years ago.
Sonya managed to convince Andrea to drop the case, revealing she had cancer, but the troublemaker had her own admission to make as Andrea told Sonya about a meeting with a mystery man who believed she was a woman called Karen.
With Shane knowing this information, he will be left with a huge dilemma following Sonya’s death on whether to tell his brother his former dead wife Dee could still be alive.
However, could he be beaten to it if Dee rocks up in Erinsborough under the alias of Karen and how will Toadie react as he struggles to come to terms with his recent wife’s death?
Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5.
