| Maggie Astoni | |||||||||||||||||
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| Home and Away character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Kestie Morassi | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2017–2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 21 June 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 14 July 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Lucy Addario | ||||||||||||||||
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Maggie Astoni is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by Kestie Morassi. The character made her first screen appearance on 21 June 2017. Maggie arrives in Summer Bay and takes a job as the School Principal of Summer Bay High. She is characterised as a protective mother and career woman. The Astonis are Home and Away's first nuclear family to join the soap opera in 17 years, since the arrival of the Sutherlands in 2000. The show had long been missing traditional parent-child stories and used them to fill that void. Maggie was introduced alongside her husband Ben Astoni (Rohan Nichol) and their two daughters Coco (Anna Cocquerel) and Ziggy Astoni (Sophie Dillman). Maggie decides to move to the town to offer her family a happier future. Maggie and Ben married when they were young and her mother did not approve of him. Morassi has described the Astoni marriage as a strong union, noting that they still have "passion and electricity" in their relationship.
Maggie's main stories have focussed on her various health issues. Firstly her battle to overcome Posttraumatic stress disorder following a robbery, was focused on in her introductory months. Then followed a long-running storyline exploring the effects of living with lymphoma cancer. Maggie was diagnosed with the illness following a bout of ill health. She underwent courses of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants, fought pneumonia, faced death after the cancer had spread and shaved her head. The character ended the 2018 season being told she had entered remission. Morassi has been praised by viewers and critics for her portrayal of the illness and was nominated for two Digital Spy Reader Awards. The character departed the show on 14 July 2020.