page_title: Billie Ashford
section_title: Arson accusation and depression
hierarchical_section_title: Billie Ashford / Development / Arson accusation and depression
caption_attribution_description: Pia Miller at Myer Fashion Spring Launch 2015 Red Carpet
context_page_description: Belinda "Billie" Ashford is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Tessa de Josselin. The actress was first pictured on set in November 2014, before it was announced the following year that she had joined the cast as the younger sister of established character Martin Ashford. De Josselin shot her first scenes in a cemetery on the Central Coast. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 27 April 2015. The actress departed the show at the end of her guest stint, but she was later asked back by the producers and she became part of the regular cast.
  Billie is portrayed as a feisty, upfront, "tomboy surfer". Bille's introductory storylines focused on her reunion with her brother Ash and a brief casual relationship with Kyle Braxton. Later storylines saw Billie develop an infatuation with Nate Cooper after he saved her life. She became jealous of his relationship with Kat Chapman and tried to ruin her career. As the storyline progressed, Billie accused Nate of assaulting her, leading to his arrest.
context_section_description: When Billie noticed Leah Patterson-Baker's (Ada Nicodemou) house was on fire, she ran into the building to help Zac MacGuire (Charlie Clausen) rescue Oscar MacGuire (Jake Speer) and Matt Page (Alec Snow). She helped Zac kick down a bedroom door, allowing Oscar and Matt to escape. As the men rushed to get out of the house, they inadvertently left Billie behind. She became trapped by falling ceiling debris and was seriously injured. While Billie was recovering at the hospital, Kat arrested her for arson. Ash refused to believe that she was innocent, following her false assault allegation against Nate, and walked away from her. When Billie began to feel that no one cared about her, she "fell into a dark depression", leaving Nate concerned about her state of mind. Nate urged Ash to visit her in the hospital. Ash realised that Billie would not be able to cope with losing another sibling, so he tried to "clear the air" between them.
  However, when Ash voiced his doubts about Billie's innocence, she grew angry and disowned him. Billie then decided to get revenge by writing a letter to Ricky telling her that Brax had faked his death and that Ash had lied to her about it. When Billie discharged herself from the hospital, Nate told Kat that he was worried about her mental and physical health, as her burns needed constant treatment. Kat was also aware that Billie was close to breaching her bail conditions and she and Ash began a search. After failing to find her, they called off the search for the night, leaving Ash feeling guilty. The following day, Kat found Billie on top of the headland. De Josselin told an Inside Soap journalist that Billie felt that she had lost her brother and that the whole town was against her, so she had no reason to stay in Summer Bay.
  Kat was worried that Billie might jump due to her unstable behaviour, so she tried to talk her into stepping away from the edge. However, it appeared Billie had not heard her as she continued to stare at the sea. When a message came through on Kat's police radio, it startled Billie and in her panic at seeing Kat, she moved closer to the edge of the cliff. De Josselin commented, "When Billie hears Kat's radio, she snaps straight back to reality. She immediately thinks that Kat is there to arrest her for setting fire to Leah's house." Kat was worried that Billie might fall and reached out to grab her in an attempt to save her. Billie stepped to the side at the last minute, causing Kat to go over the edge. She managed to grab hold of a ledge and called for Billie to help her. Billie managed to save Kat by pulling her back over. At the hospital, Billie reiterated that she did not start the fire, before she was transferred to a hospital in the city.
caption: Billie helped save Kat Chapman, played by Pia Miller (pictured), from falling off a cliff edge, shortly after Kat had arrested her for arson.
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