Sonya Rebecchi
Sonya Rebecchi is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Eve Morey. The actress auditioned for the role and began filming in June 2009. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 14 August 2009. Sonya was introduced as a recurring guest character and dog trainer for established character Toadfish Rebecchi. When producers noticed there was a good chemistry between the characters, Morey was promoted to the regular cast in July 2010.
Sonya is portrayed as being good-hearted, funny and loving. She was once addicted to alcohol, drugs and gambling, but moved to Erinsborough for a fresh start. While working as a guide dog trainer, Sonya develops a relationship with Toadfish Rebecchi, which ends when Toadie gets back together with his former girlfriend Stephanie Scully. However, when Sonya learns the relationship is a sham, she agrees to wait for Toadie. The couple eventually reunite, marry and start a family.
Sonya's estranged younger sister Jade Mitchell was introduced in late 2010, which led to the revelation that Sonya is the biological mother of Toadie's foster child, Callum Jones. Other storylines for the character have seen her open her own garden nursery, suffer marital difficulties, been targeted by a stalker and become Mayor of Erinsborough. Sonya was killed off as a part of a cancer storyline and her final episode was broadcast on 5 March 2019. Morey later made an uncredited cameo appearance on 1 January 2020. The character has been popular with viewers, and Morey has earned two Logie Award nominations, and three nominations for Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards. Morey made a cameo appearance as a ghost in the show's final episode broadcast on 28 July 2022.
Casting
Morey successfully auditioned for the role of Sonya and joined the cast in June 2009 in a recurring capacity. Morey made her first screen appearance as Sonya during the episode broadcast on 14 August 2009. The show's producers noticed the chemistry between Moloney and Morey's characters, and Morey was promoted to the regular cast a year later. A writer for Holy Soap said that viewers would be seeing a lot more of Sonya in the future. In February 2011, Morey signed a new contract to stay with Neighbours for another year. She told the Daily Star, "It was great to know I'd be working for a year – from a struggling actor's point of view that is fantastic. But it also meant there is a year's worth of developing the character because she will become part of the bigger storylines instead of supporting." Morey added that she was loving her time on the show and the people she was working with.Morey took maternity leave from the show in 2014 after giving birth to her first child. Sonya made a temporary departure to visit her son in the United States. In July 2017, Morey announced that she was pregnant with her second child. Producers chose not to write her pregnancy into the show, and Sonya made a temporary departure during 29 January 2018 for Morey's maternity leave.
Development
Characterisation
Sonya is an animal lover who has previously worked for Guide Dogs Victoria. She is good-hearted and relished her role as a trainer. A writer for Network Ten's Neighbours website described Sonya as having a shady past and wanting to set up a new life for herself in Erinsborough. Sonya used to have alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, but she has worked hard to overcome them. Morey told a reporter from Channel 5 that she is similar to Sonya morally and ethically, plus they both want the best for the people they love. However, Sonya occasionally goes about things in a way in which Morey said she did not understand. The actress also struggled to understand the place of darkness that Sonya has been in too. When asked if her character could ever escape her past, Morey replied "I don't think she will every truly escape her past because ultimately I don't think she should. If she doesn't have it there as a reminder and a good motivator to help her stay on track." Morey revealed she would like to see Sonya reach her potential as a mother in the future.In an interview with a What's on TV journalist, Morey said viewers relate to Sonya because she is "pretty normal". The actress noted that Sonya is not glamorous and there is "something quite humbling about her." Morey went on to say that Sonya's heart is usually in the right place and she always tries to do the right thing for the right reasons. Of her character's development, Morey explained "She has become a lot more self-assured and she has learnt to trust herself again. I think when we first met her, she was quite closed off and didn't want to let anyone in fear of hurting them." Sonya decides to give up her job as a guide dog trainer to buy and turn the community garden into a garden nursery. Morey told Jason Herbison from Inside Soap that she thought that the garden was symbolic of what Sonya is doing in her personal life. She explained "She made a lot of mistakes when she was younger. Now she just wants to plant beautiful things and watch them grow. She's very focused on that for now."
Marriage to Toadfish Rebecchi
When Sonya is sent to check up on the progress of Toadfish Rebecchi's guide dog puppy, Rocky, she "soon found love" with the lawyer. Sonya and Toadie began a relationship and Moloney thought that Sonya was perfect for Toadie. Moloney quipped "She's funny and a little bit zany and really accepting and loving as well." However, their romance comes to an end when Toadie tells Sonya that he has got back together with his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Scully. A Sunday Mail reporter said Sonya was "simply heartbroken" and "devastated" after she was told about Toadie and Steph's relationship. However, she is unaware that Toadie is pretending to be in love with Steph to help cover up the fact she is carrying Daniel Fitzgerald's child. Toadie becomes torn when Sonya tells him she loves him, but he carries on the lie. Of the situation, Moloney said "Toadie is in love with Sonya, but he's had to give up the chance to follow his heart. Now we see that he really wants nothing more than to be able to tell her he loves her and that he wants to be with her – but he just can't."Toadie realises that Sonya still loves him when he notices she is still wearing the bracelet he gave her. Sonya tells him that she is not ready to take it off. Sonya tries to move forward with her life and starts dating David Foster. However, she is struggles with her feelings for Toadie. Morey told TV Week that Sonya is "completely in love with Toadie, but she's trying to move on as best she can – and that's where David comes into the picture." Despite only being with David for three weeks, Sonya agrees to move to Perth with him. Morey said that Sonya believes she has nothing left keeping her in Erinsborough and she wants a change of scenery. Sonya chooses not to tell Toadie that she leaving, so Lucas Fitzgerald tells him instead. Steph then comes by and tells Sonya that Toadie still loves her and that their relationship is sham. Steph asks Sonya to stay if she wants more information and Steph later tells her that the baby is not Toadie's. Sonya is left shocked and relieved at the same time. Sonya agrees to wait for Toadie. When Steph's secret is eventually revealed, Sonya and Toadie start their relationship over. Morey told Herbison that due to how the relationship between Sonya and Toadie developed, it gave them a sense of history when they did finally get together.
Morey revealed that she would like to see Sonya and Toadie have children together in the future. She told a Press Association reporter, "I would love it. I think there is so much richness in Toadie and Sonya going on that journey together which lends itself to humour, sadness, more drama. Cross fingers they will go down that path." Morey also hoped Sonya could be happy in the future. Morey told the official UK Neighbours website in July 2011 that Sonya and Toadie would start to have some excitement and fun again following all the drama, but they would have to deal with a few issues first. When the subject of marriage comes up, Sonya and Toadie realise that they have different views about it. Morey explained, "At this point Sonya wants to get married for the wrong reasons, and Toadie doesn't want to get married for the wrong reasons. They haven't both independently reached a healthy perspective on it. She wants to do it for security to protect Callum, and he doesn't want to do it... He feels it will jinx , because his other marriages have gone that way." Morey added that Sonya and Toadie have reached a point in their relationship where they have to make some big decisions, which could change the direction they move in.
In January 2012, Moloney told Sue Yeap from The West Australian that while Sonya was the one for Toadie, he did not think they would be getting married anytime soon. The actor believed Toadie did not need a piece of paper and a ring to tell the world that Sonya was "the love of his life." Sonya and Toadie begin planning to have a baby and Morey stated that she was "deliriously broody" at the prospect of her character becoming pregnant. She admitted that she loved the journey the couple had been on as they try to start a family, although she thought Sonya might go over the top with the situation, which would make it hard for those around her. She also believed that Sonya and Toadie would make "wonderful parents" because of the amount of thought they had put into the decision. She added that Toadie has always wanted a child of his own, while Sonya wanted to make up for her past problems. After failing to fall pregnant, Sonya gave up hope that she and Toadie would naturally conceive a child and she went through a "mourning process", before trying to move on. During a blood drive, Sonya was asked to take a pregnancy test and it came back positive. Both Sonya and Toadie were shocked, but delighted to learn that they were expecting a baby.
A few months later, Toadie asked Sonya to marry him. He had initially been reluctant to propose, as he had had bad luck with weddings in the past. Moloney commented to an Inside Soap columnist, "He's scared that marriage will change things between him and Sonya, as they're perfect at the moment." Toadie realised that with a baby on the way, he could not waste time and proposed to Sonya at the nursery. Sonya, who was "excited, but also a little bit shocked" accepted straight away.