Neighbours star Tim Kano has revealed to whattotwatch.com that the Tanaka-Brennan household will be left in uproar after Leo asks brother David (Takaya Honda) and his husband Aaron (Matt Wilson) to take on baby Abigail.
The vineyard owner is struggling to cope after losing little Abi’s mum Britney Barnes (Montana Cox) in the storm that saw Roxy Canning (Zima Anderson) and Kyle Canning’s (Chris Milligan) wedding day end in tragedy.
“Leo was drowning himself in work and looking after Abigail and trying to keep busy so that he didn’t have to confront what happened to Britney,” explained Tim.
“He was so distracted that Abigail had a terrible accident and injury that could have been avoided if he’d been paying attention.
“After the scare with Abi, Leo feels like he’s not good enough to be a dad and he’s not going to do a good enough job without Britney.
“It leads him to hand over Abigail to David and Aaron to bring up as her legal guardians.”
Their house is a home from home for Abi, as the couple looked after her in the early months of her life after a baby swap that saw them believing she was their own daughter, Isla.
But Leo’s plea causes a big rift between David and Aaron, bringing up the trauma of when they first had to give up Abi.
“David is opposed to it and wants Leo to step up and be a dad, but Aaron is quite happy to take on Abigail. They already have that strong bond that they formed after she was born,” shared Tim.
“It causes friction between David and Aaron. This whole tragedy has a domino effect!”
Although Leo’s always been a bit distant emotionally and focussed on his business concerns, surely he would be a fantastic dad if he gave himself a chance?
“Definitely! He feels overwhelmed that he’s going to be inferior as a father. A lot of it is in his head about not letting Britney down,” Tim agreed.
“He’s going through the stages of grief. He’d fantasised about being at the vineyard with his daughter and the love of his life. He was creating a family unit, which is what he’d always wanted.
“He wants Abigail to have the best life she can possibly have and David and Aaron are the best parents he knows so he knows she’ll be one hundred and ten percent safe with them.
“Hopefully he will come to his senses and realise that he should put his focus into being a good father to Abi for Britney’s sake.”
Tim shared that although Leo’s been struggling, the little baby that plays Abigail has been an absolute delight!
“She’s an amazing baby! We have a really nice bond and she’s always giggling or sleeping, so she’s been absolute heaven to work with,” he insisted.
What we want to know is does this mean that Leo is going to be sticking around Ramsay Street? Tim previously left the show for other projects, including a shark attack movie, Great White! He returned in summer 2021 following an 18-month break.
“I’m not sure, we’ll have to see how the storyline plays out and what happens!” Tim teased.
“I’d love to be on Neighbours full time. It would be great to see how Leo will progress and grow. Being a single father, there are so many avenues to go down with that.
“We’ll have to see what happens in the future.”
Neighbours continues weekdays at 1:45pm and 6:00pm on Channel 5.
