After almost twenty years offscreen, Dimitri Poulos is returning to Summer Bay – He might be the eldest of the Poulos siblings, but there’s something about Dimitri that isn’t sitting right. After the arrival of his son Theo last year, chaos has ensured as Leah’s nephew has gotten himself into trouble. However, we learned a frightening secret about his childhood that not even his aunt is aware of what is happening.
Receiving a good behaviour bond after stealing the Surf Club buggy and making an enemy out of Alf, Theo starts acting strangely. After a bit of coaxing from Palmer, Theo opens up, revealing that Dimitri was abusive towards him in his youth. While we were aware the father-son dynamic wasn’t great, we didn’t expect this.
John questions Theo as to whether his father was abusive towards his mother. Theo explains he wasn’t and that Dimtri would always take his frustrations out on him. He is pressed to talk to someone about it, mainly the police or Justin since Leah is in Greece tending to a heavily injured VJ.
We’ve known for a while that Dimitri is returning to Summer Bay, but why?
A Bit About Dimitri Poulos
For new viewers to Home and Away, here’s a breakdown of Dimitri.
As we mentioned earlier, Dimitri is the eldest of the four Poulos siblings. Leah is his sister, and they have two other brothers, Chris and Alex (affectionately known as Alexi). Dimitri is also one of VJ’s uncles and is Theo’s father. He named his son after his father, whose name is also Theo. His and his siblings’ mother is Helen Poulos.
Of all the siblings, Dimitri is the more serious and traditional one. His first appearance occurred in 2003 at his younger brother Alex’s 21st birthday party. According to Back to the Bay, Dimitri is married and has three children. We know now that one of these kids is Theo.
In the eyes of his parents, Dimitri is the golden child, which rubbed Alex up the wrong way as he viewed his older brother as the favourite and as being better than him. Dimitri later explains he acts high and mighty to give his brothers and sister less expectation as older Theo held massive expectations of his eldest son.
Relationship With Leah
When Theo unexpectedly shows up in the Bay, he tells his aunt that he’s having issues with his father. Leah furiously rings Dimitri only to learn that Theo has been ripping off the customers of his shop. His son debuffs this claim, explaining to Leah that it’s the other way around and that Dimitri blames his own actions on him.
Jumping back in time and Dimitri is protective of his only sister. He didn’t like that she was dating Jesse MacGregor, who had a criminal past. He then orders Alex to break them up. After all, the entire family wasn’t thrilled about the relationship and ultimately blamed Alex for not stopping it.
However, after older Theo has a heart attack and a confrontation with Alex, Dimitri became more light-hearted, even joking with Leah. Months later, Dimitri and Theo reunited with Leah before she and VJ flew to the United States for VJ’s hearing operation.
The last time Dimitri appeared was in 2005 when Leah married Dan Baker. When Dimitri, Chris, older Theo, and Helen arrived, the bride is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. She told them the ceremony would need to be postponed as there was no location for the nuptials, nor is there a minister. He later helped reorganise a new one.
Why Is Dimitri Back?
When younger Theo showed up, it was only a matter of time before his father became involved in the story offscreen. As we mentioned earlier, Dimitri abused Theo as a child, so why is he suddenly back in the Bay? In another Back to the Bay article, it is hinted that a scene was shot involving Dimitri where Leah is involved and presumably has to call the police.
There could be any form of explanation for this. At the moment, Leah is in the dark about what her eldest brother has been doing to her nephew. Here are a few ideas:
- Theo comes clean regarding his father’s abuse.
- The truth about what is going on at the Poulos’ business.
- Leah catches Dimitri getting violent with Theo.
We know from recent episodes that Theo has been in contact with his mother, who keeps things from her husband so that he doesn’t attack their son.
Currently, Leah is off helping VJ after his accident in Greece. It’s unclear when she’s coming back. However, given the upcoming storyline with her brother, it should be soonish.
What Other Information Is There?
Outside of Leah’s involvement in the storyline, there’s no other intel yet. However, our feature image, which was taken a while ago and found on Google, shows actor Dimitri actor Salvatore Coco with Lynne McGranger (Irene) and Harley Bonner (Logan). Furthermore, this implies he will appear in scenes with Irene and Logan. However, it might’ve just been the actors hanging out together.
As for an arrival date, it’s unclear. However, given that Salvatore is with Harley, and the scenes being shot last year, we estimate that Dimitri’s first episode will air probably April or May.
