Home and Away stars Ada Nicodemou and James Stewart have posed for their first Christmas shoot as a couple, with Ada saying she’s “so excited” to celebrate the festive season with her on-and-off screen partner. However, the charismatic duo won’t actually be able to celebrate Christmas Day together, due to James going to Queensland to see family and Ada staying in Sydney with hers.

“Ada and I are so family-oriented,” James told TV Week. “She has this amazing Cypriot family, and they’re so well connected. And my family are up in Queensland and, you know, I miss Mum.”

While they may not be together for Christmas, James said the two still plan to celebrate part of the holidays together. “We’re just trying to figure out our schedules now. It’ll be filled with joy, though,” the actor said.

Ada Nicodemou and James Stewart’s huge year

It’s been a huge year for the couple, with rumours of a romance swirling around Anzac Day in April and the two officially making their public debut as a couple at the August 2024 Logie Awards, a month after they had acknowledged their relationship.

“Going to the Logies with Ada was a big thing,” James said of the couple’s public debut, while also noting their big Home and Away storyline where their characters Leah and Justin got married. “And honestly, Leah and Justin’s wedding was one of the best storylines I’ve ever done.”

While they’ve navigated all sorts of drama on Home and Away, outside of the popular soap, the two have also had a wildly successful professional year, with James coming in fifth place for the 2024 series of Dancing With The Stars, and Ada celebrating the release of her second children’s book Mia Megastar.

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Ada Nicodemou’s ‘shock’ at feelings for James Stewart: ‘It was weird’

While Ada and James have been playing on-screen lovers on Home and Away for years, earlier this year Ada expressed her shock at her feelings towards James changing from friendship to romantic.

“Jimmy and I have known each other for 25 to 30 years and there were no feelings for a really, really long time. So I was shocked when I started having feelings,” Ada said in an interview with Mamamia. “There was this chemistry for the first time — this spark that happened that wasn’t there before and it was weird.”

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She went on to say they had never hung out outside of the workplace, so it had been “lovely” getting to know each other off set.

“It was very new, we were just getting together and we wanted to do our thing. Unfortunately, we were papped kissing while waiting for an Uber,” she said. “Everyone knew who needed to know anyway.”