Maria Thattil will be joining the show in a guest role next year.
The show announced on social media that Maria will be joining the cast:
“We’re delighted to announce that Maria Thattil will be joining the cast next year in the guest role of Haz’s big sister! But just why she turns up suddenly at Harold’s is yet to be revealed.”
On her own Instagram, Maria shared her delight at heading to Erinsborough:
“I’ve been a few places this year – from the Drag Race panel to the big red TEDX stage – but I’m pretty excited about this next destination …. I’m SO excited to be heading to Ramsay St in 2024! Get ready to meet Amira Devkar.
I couldn’t be more proud to join the beautiful Neighbours cast at a time when the show is evolving to tell even more Australian stories. Imagining 10 year old me turning on the telly to see herself is pretty surreal… even more so because I can’t remember ever seeing a gay female South Asian character on an Australian TV show. Can you? Grateful to Neighbours & Channel 10 for the honour of being authentic representation of what we’ve been missing. And to do it with a bang.
See you in 2024!“
Maria was named Miss Universe Australia in 2020, representing her country at the global competition, where she placed in the top 10 and was just the third woman of colour to represent Australia at the contest.
More recently she was seen on Australian television in their version of “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” in 2022. During an episode of the show she came out as bisexual in a chat with another camp mate and briefly dated another camp mate, TOWIE’s Joey Essex after leaving the jungle.
Thattil was awarded ‘The Voice of Now’ Award in the 2023 Marie Claire Women of The Year Awards and is celebrated for her work as a trailblazing Australian who staunchly uses her voice to campaign for change. She is outspoken in regards to equality, especially for women, the LGBTQIA+ community and on racial topics. Earlier this year she gave her first TED Talk as well as launching her own podcast “The Maria Thattil Show”. She also appeared as a guest judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under” and published her first book, “Unbounded”.
Speaking in an interview with Australian press, she revealed that she filmed her first scenes this week and we would be seeing Amira in early 2024. (The show is currently filming around 5 months ahead of broadcast, so we should expect to see her on air around April/May).
Thattil originally tried for a different role in the show earlier in the year, admitting that she was too young to play the role she auditioned for, but luckily, the team at Neighbours liked her audition and called her back when casting the role of Haz Devkar’s older sister.
We look forward to seeing Maria on screen and learning more about Haz’s family.