| Andy Barrett | |||||||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Tai Hara | ||||||||||
| Duration | 2013–2016 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 28 August 2013 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 5 July 2016 | ||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
| Introduced by | Lucy Addario | ||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | Home and Away Extras (2013) | ||||||||||
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Andy Barrett is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Tai Hara. The character made his first screen appearance on 28 August 2013. Hara relocated to Sydney to take on the role. Kyle Pryor who plays fellow character Nate Cooper originally auditioned for the role. Andy and his half-brother Josh (Jackson Gallagher) were introduced to viewers through a series of online webisodes titled Home and Away Extras, prior to appearing in the main series. Andy is characterised as a troubled man because of his upbringing and disappearance of his father. Hara has described his character as "extremely unpredictable" and very protective of his brother. Andy has spent time in prison and causes trouble from his first episode. Andy's initial storyline was a feud with the Braxton family which had been ongoing before he was born. Through this story, writers involved Andy in crimes ranging from fights and car chases to explosions and shootings. Hara announced he would be departing from the show on 22 February 2016, after over three years in the role and Andy made his final appearance on 5 July 2016.
Producers created a romantic partnership between Andy and Hannah Wilson (Cassie Howarth). Their on/off relationship has been focused on heavily during his tenure. Andy is also involved in drug dealing which saw him temporarily separated from Hannah. His involvement leads to the death of Casey Braxton (Lincoln Younes), which prompts Andy to want to change his life. He sets on course to become a gym instructor, become literate and maintain a relationship with Hannah. The latter rarely goes well as they face problems such as Hannah's paralysis, her infidelity and Andy's temper. The character became popular with viewers as the Barrett brothers gained a fan-base. A reporter from The Daily Examiner said that Andy continually causes friction on the show. A writer from TV Soap noted that trouble follows Andy everywhere. They concluded that writers transformed the character from "rough customer" to "respectable citizen".