Huia Samuels
| Huia Samuels | |||||||||||||
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Nicola Kawana | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2005–06 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 24 March 2005 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 11 October 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Harriet Crampton | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Occupation | Chief Executive Officer of Shortland Street (2006) | ||||||||||||
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| Mother | Kuini Samuels |
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| Grandmothers | Mareikura Samuels |
| Uncles | Wiremu Samuels Mitch Samuels |
| Aunts |
Liz Arthur Dottie Samuels Miri Samuels |
| Nephews |
Tane Samuels Wiremu Potae |
| First cousins | TK Samuels |
Huia Samuels is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Nicola Kawana from early 2005 to late 2006. The character was initially a recurring character but when producers realised her potential, she soon became a regular before being axed in a high-profile terrorism storyline.
Huia arrived in March 2005 and within several months had become the Chief Executive Officer of A hospital. She then embarked on a high-profile love triangle storyline when she started a relationship with Craig Valentine (Renato Bartolomei), pitting her against his unrequited love – Sarah Potts (Amanda Billing). Her relationship with Craig led to a motherlike relationship with his teenage daughter Scarlett (Nicole Thomson) and it was not long before the family unit expanded with the arrival of Huia's cousin TK (Benjamin Mitchell). Huia's final storyline saw her breakup with Craig, only to become pregnant after a one-night stand and end up dying after entering a car rigged with an explosive.
Huia was a well received character and her death remains known to fans as one of the most iconic deaths and moments in the show's history. The prominence of her death was long running with the storyline being explored years later. Her introduction also marked the start of the prominent Samuels family.
Huia was created as a minor guest character that was due to appear for several episodes and Nicola Kawana was cast in the role. However, after producers realised the characters potential she was upgraded to a regular.
In August 2006 it was announced that Huia had been axed from the soap. The storyline leading up to her exit was said to be "dramatic" and that all storylines for Huia had "dried up". Kawana was reported to be extremely angry and upset at her axing and reportedly did not show up to work for numerous days. The storyline saw Huia, newly pregnant, die in a car explosion after entering a car rigged with a bomb.
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Wikipedia