The newbie has already been introduced to Australian viewers, as she has struck up a friendship with Leah at the mental health clinic, something UK viewers will see on screen soon.
Former kids TV presenter Clarke has teased that it won’t take long for Valerie to get romantically involved with another character, although she didn’t reveal who that other character was.
“I think it’s quite a beautiful one,” she told Aussie publication Stuff. “There’s quite a strong polarity is all that I would say about it. You’ll have to watch to find out.”
Speaking more generally, Clarke teased that Valerie will cause “a few unsuspecting waves in the community over some different issues,” but made sure to state that “she doesn’t have any sort of negative intentions”.
“I tried to play her in the most empathise-able way possible. The great thing about Home and Away is that you get an insight into a lot of the characters in a more private way, like the audience gets the full perspective.
“I thought if she’s going to be causing drama with the other characters at least, hopefully, the audience will understand why.”
There’s a reason why Valerie is the way she is, as Clarke teased that her “past experience is something that I would consider to be incredibly rare”.
Although she has been involved in music in her career before, Clarke explained that Valerie won’t be joining Lyrik or performing, preferring to “leave all of the music side of things to the Home and Away professionals”.
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.
In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7Plus.