Home and Away’s Sophie Dillman and her co-star Patrick O’Connor have announced their engagement in a sweet post.

Soap star Sophie, 32, confirmed the couple’s exciting news on social media last night, sharing a gallery of photos capturing the proposal, including the moment Patrick got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife. They have shut down split rumours after speculation swirled earlier this year.

The pair, who moved in together before Covid, play Ziggy Astoni and Dean Thompson in the much-loved Aussie show. They have been together since 2019 and confirmed they’re taking a huge step after Patrick popped the question in the build up to Christmas on a scenic Sydney beach.

Sophie captioned the romantic snaps with the words: “‘Home has always been with you” before adding both a diamond ring and love heart emoji. Fans and colleagues rushed to congratulate them with Summer Bay co-star Georgie Parker saying: “Oh sweethearts, huge love to both of you. Could NOT be happier for you.”

She says the secret to their relationship is that they were friends first. It meant she gets to “hang out” with her “best mate all the time, which is such a blessing” and added in an interview with The Daily Telegraph: “Our characters got together – and then we did. We spend every waking minute together, but it’s really lucky because we were really good friends first.”

Sophie spoke up to raise awareness of endometriosis earlier this year The condition, as stated by the NHS, involves cells similar to those in the lining of the uterus growing in other parts of the body, and symptoms can include severe period pain, heavy periods and fatigue.

The actor, who has revealed that she has now lived with endometriosis for more than a decade, spoke to 7News about how she dealt with her symptoms whilst on set of the show. Sophie returned for several episodes of the soap just months ago, after previously starring on it from 2017 to 2023.

She told the outlet that she often relied on a hot water bottle during filming. She said: “Those days, they can hurt, being on your feet all day, running up and down, changing costumes being in costumes that when I’m in a flare don’t fit.”

Sophie said that she would walk around “everywhere” with her hot water bottle. She recalled pulling it out of her trousers when filming began and suggested that colleagues would then give it back to her in between takes. She added that she has “permanent scarring” on her stomach due to “using it for so long”.

Speaking about the condition, Sophie said that she’s been experiencing symptoms since her first period. She added that she received an ‘official diagnosis’ after she urged doctors to examine the possibility of endometriosis.

Sophie said she felt “strongly” about it. She said: “They found what they thought was just scar tissue and I said ‘no, I want you to test it, I think it is endometriosis’ and I felt really strongly about that and it came back and it was endometriosis.”

She added that for another two of the surgeries she was woken up and told it was scar tissue, rather than endometriosis. Sophie recalled saying “that’s what happened last time” and encouraging them to test the scar tissue.”