A Podcast Conversation Takes An Unexpectedly Personal Turn
Some interviews start out light and stay that way. Others take a sudden, unplanned detour into something far more vulnerable — and that’s exactly what happened when former Home and Away star Sarah Roberts sat down with fellow alum Debra Lawrance for an episode of Cracking On, the podcast Sarah co-hosts with Sam Frost.
What began as a chat quickly turned into one of the most honest conversations either woman has had in public, touching on miscarriage, grief, and the quiet ache of wanting a child that hasn’t arrived yet.
Debra Opens Up About Her Own Heartbreaking Losses
The conversation shifted when talk turned to Debra’s own path to motherhood, which included four separate miscarriages. Now 69, Debra didn’t hold back, revealing the devastating pattern her body seemed to fall into during two of those losses — both occurring on a Friday, timed so precisely that she was back at Home and Away rehearsals by Monday without anyone knowing what she’d just been through.
She explained that understanding the medical side of things had helped her cope with those early losses. But nothing could have prepared her for what came the following year — losing identical twin girls sixteen weeks into the pregnancy. By that stage, she’d already chosen names and found herself thinking ahead to things like university costs, only to have that imagined future disappear overnight.
Debra shared that guidance from a spiritual teacher eventually helped her make peace with the pain, describing grief as mourning for a future the mind had already built — one that technically never existed, and could therefore be released.
Sarah’s Own Story Comes Pouring Out
Debra’s honesty seemed to open a door, because Sarah, 41, then shared her own experience of two miscarriages during her four-year marriage to fellow Home and Away actor James Stewart. Despite recognising in hindsight that the relationship hadn’t been right for her, Sarah admitted the emotional weight of those losses hasn’t faded.
She described still knowing the dates her children would have been born, and catching herself watching kids in her family who’d be around the same age now — a quiet reminder of what might have been.
A Confession That Changes The Tone Of The Room
It was at this point that the conversation took its most emotional turn. Sarah — currently dating cinematographer and artist Jake Iesu, who’s based overseas in Vancouver for work — admitted to a feeling she’d clearly been sitting with privately: a deep longing to become a mum, despite being with a partner who has said he doesn’t want children.
Visibly working through her own uncertainty in real time, Sarah wondered aloud what that longing might actually mean for her future.
Debra’s Response Hits Home
Rather than offering a vague platitude, Debra gave Sarah a direct and emotionally charged answer — telling her that if the longing was genuinely there, it likely meant she was meant to become a mother. She went further, framing the desire as something rooted deep in biology, something too powerful to simply talk herself out of.
Her co-host Sam Frost reportedly nodded along in agreement as the moment unfolded, underlining just how raw and unscripted the exchange had become.
A Reminder Of What Soap Stars Carry Off-Screen
For two actresses best known for their work on one of Australia’s most beloved soaps, this conversation was a powerful reminder that the emotional lives of performers often run just as deep — if not deeper — than anything scripted for the screen. Grief, hope, and the uncertainty of what comes next don’t stop when the cameras do.
Have you been moved by Sarah and Debra’s honesty? Share your thoughts and support in the comments below.
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