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 (George Mason). 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 (Nic Westaway). Later storylines saw Billie develop an infatuation with Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) after he saved her life. She became jealous of his relationship with Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) and tried to ruin her career. As the storyline progressed, Billie accused Nate of assaulting her, leading to his arrest. The storyline was criticised by Rosa Walling-Wefelmeyer of The F-Word, who thought it could potentially reinforce harmful stereotypes about victims of sexual violence.
Billie was then accused of burning down Leah Patterson-Baker's (Ada Nicodemou) house, despite helping to save three of its occupants and sustaining serious burns. Following a brief departure, Billie returned to Summer Bay for her court appearance. Billie's early storylines have led her to be called "unhinged", "troublesome" and "the Bay's bad girl" by critics. Billie was later raped by Mick Jennings (Kristian Schmid) and became pregnant with his child. She also had a relationship with a then seventeen year old VJ Patterson (Matt Little). Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Luc, Billie was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she died on 15 February 2017.
Casting On 19 April 2015, it was announced that Tessa de Josselin would be portraying Billie, Martin "Ash" Ashford's (George Mason) younger sister. Of joining the cast, she stated "I was super chuffed. No doubt there was a huge grin on my face for the rest of the week. It's a cool thing when hard work pays off and you know you've been given an opportunity to do what you love." De Josselin shot her first scenes in a cemetery on the Central Coast, alongside Mason, who she met for the first time that morning. De Josselin made her debut as Billie during the episode broadcast on 27 April 2015. Billie was initially a guest role and de Josselin left at the end of her contract to film new episodes of In Your Dreams, before she was invited back as part of the regular cast.
Development Characterisation Billie is the younger sister of Martin Ashford (George Mason), who was introduced in late 2014. Billie is a feisty, "tomboy surfer", who endured a troubled childhood. De Josselin said Billie was fun to play and added "Billie's super upfront and sometimes lacks a social filter." De Josselin told Stephen Downie of TV Week that she shared some similarities with Billie, such as being "very active", but did not think she was as abrasive and as closed off as Billie. De Josselin added, "I think she puts on a front – her kind of tough-girl thing – but I think that's hiding a lot of stuff on the inside." The actress was grateful to the writers for writing in her passion for surfing and joked that she always wanted more surfing scenes in the scripts.
Introduction After he was released from prison, Ash began a search to find his sister. Mason commented, "Billie is the only family Ash has left, and he feels they need to make amends now he's out of jail." The siblings were finally reunited on Anzac Day when they both visited their brother Luke's grave. Billie ran away from Ash and tried to leave in her car, but he stood in the way and asked her not to go. She eventually agreed to stay and they returned to Luke's grave, where they talked about their past. Ash then convinced Billie to return to Summer Bay with him, so he could show her around. He introduced her to Ricky Sharpe (Bonnie Sveen), who invited them both to lunch. While they were talking about the events that led to Ash's prison sentence, he admitted to Billie that her boyfriend Dean Sanderson (Kevin Kiernan-Molloy) was dead. Billie was "horrified" and initially believed Ash was responsible, until he explained that his friend Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke) had been charged with Dean's murder.
When Ash offered to let Billie stay in his caravan, she turned him down and decided to stay at the Braxton house instead. De Josselin commented that Billie was "excited" about meeting new people and finally having a roof over her head, as she had been living out of her car for the past few months. Unaware that Billie was in the other room, Kyle Braxton (Nic Westaway) came home and started playing his guitar, waking her up. Billie introduced herself to Kyle and explained that Ricky had allowed her to stay at the house. Kyle apologised for waking her and Billie began flirting with him, before leaning over to kiss him. De Josselin told Stephen Downie of TV Week, "I think Billie can sense Kyle's a sensitive, caring guy. She can also sense he's going through something." Despite going through a recent break-up, Kyle responded to the kiss and he and Billie had a one-night stand. Kyle felt guilty the following morning and made it clear to Billie that their night together was a mistake. When Kyle's ex-girlfriend, Phoebe Nicholson (Isabella Giovinazzo) came over to reconcile with him, she overheard Kyle asking Billie to keep their one-night stand a secret.
Assault allegation Billie's first major storyline occurred in June 2015 when she developed a crush on Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) and later accused him of assault. The storyline began when Nate and his girlfriend Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) spotted Billie floating face down in the sea. Nate ran into the surf to get Billie and carried her to the beach, where he administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to get her breathing again. As Billie came round, Nate assured her she would be okay. As Billie looked at Nate "adoringly", Stephen Downie of TV Week noted that she was developing a crush on the doctor. Billie's crush on Nate intensified and she began trying to break up his relationship with Kat. Nate rejected Billie's advances and made it clear to her that he was not interested in her romantically, which she seemed to accept. Billie later approached Nate when she found herself alone with him in the gym and thanked him for being a gentleman, unnerving Nate. Billie's demeanour suddenly changed and she ran her nails down his cheek, scratching his face, and tore at her clothes, while screaming for him to stop. Her screams attracted the attention of Chris Harrington (Johnny Ruffo), who rushed into the gym and comforted Billie, as she accused Nate of assaulting her. Nate was questioned by Sergeant Mike Emerson (Cameron Stewart) at the police station, where he protested his innocence. However, Emerson then produced proof of a sexually explicit text sent from Nate's phone to Billie the previous week.
Nate was arrested for the attempted sexual assault of Billie. Kat immediately began trying to prove that Nate was innocent, but had difficulty as Billie "put on a confident performance" for the police, while Chris also backed up her story. However, Nate and Kat came to Chris to plead Nate's innocence and then asked him to help catch Billie out. Chris agreed to help them after finding evidence that Billie was behind an embarrassing poster that threatened to ruin Kat's career. Chris invited Billie over to his house and then tried to get her to confess to setting Nate up. He told her that he knew she was lying, but he wanted to see Nate punished and suggested they work together. Billie soon spotted that Chris's phone was recording the conversation and she switched it off, while claiming that she had not fallen for his plan. However, when she also admitted to framing Nate, Chris revealed that he was actually wearing a police wire and Billie was arrested by Emerson. De Josselin found the storyline challenging to portray, saying "it's not something I would ever do. So, there's a challenge with breaking it down and thinking from the perspective of your character."
Arson accusation and depression
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.
Return and trial