Sarah Thompson

Sarah O'Neale (née Thompson) is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Laura Vasquez. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 26 January 1993. Vasquez's screen-test for the role was one of her career highlights. Sarah is characterised as a "real good goody" female who is "very intelligent" and she arrives to study in Summer Bay. Sarah's main romance storyline is with Tug O'Neale (Tristan Bancks). Subsequently Vasquez and Bancks became fixtures in the media, as interest increased about the nature of the actor's off-screen relationship. Mary Fletcher from Woman's Own wrote that Home and Away producers were infuriated by the reports because they felt it discredited the show's image. But the actors later denied any romance occurring off-screen.