Five Bedrooms

We are reunited with our gang on a day promising adventure, hope and intense anxiety – it's auction day for their potential new home. And after months of dead-end property searches and separate, less-than-ideal living arrangements, there's a lot riding on this one… but the gang's second foray into home-ownership is thwarted when Liz, the only one of the five registered to bid, sees her ex husband Stuart in the auction crowd, with a mystery woman and baby in tow. All of Liz's unresolved feelings about Stuart, and the fact he never wanted children with her, come roaring to the surface. She flees the scene, leaving the others confused and without any ability to bid. Heather convinces everyone to stalk Stuart to find out more about his life and discover all was not as it appeared…

As the gang moves into their new, soon-to-be-five bedroom house, Ainsley, now into her second trimester, is preparing for a 'gender reveal' party, and for the arrival of her father and step-mother from Tasmania. After getting her first ultrasound snaps, she decides to announce her pregnancy on social media and carefully crafts a loving caption. However, this backfires spectacularly when Lachlan's ex Melanie (who's also pregnant to him), trolls Ainsley savagely, publicly branding her a "HOME WRECKING WHORE." Ainsley is mortified when her step-mother reads Melanie's attacks and learns the truth about Lachlan's complicated situation. The housemates advise Ainsley to delete the comments and forget about it… but that's not Ainsley's nature. Instead, she goes on a mission to reconcile with Melanie, determined to make an ally of the woman carrying her baby's sibling… all before the gender reveal party…

Things are coming up trumps for Ben. Even though he's a bit behind schedule, the renovation for the nursery is coming along nicely and it's also doing wonders for his love life. Heather's never seen him in full work/build mode, and she likes it… a lot. But things come asunder when Ben, freshly shagged and glowing, takes a fall from a ladder and totally, comprehensively, buggers his shoulder. With no insurance, things begin to look incredibly dire, until a well-meaning Simmo suggests they claim the accident on his business insurance… he's been paying the premiums for years anyway. But when Ben's 'light insurance fraud' situation descends into more complicated, "could go back to jail" territory, he turns to Liz for help… and also makes a call to his older, wealthier brother Joseph who's been living the high life in Singapore.

Harry gets an unexpected but welcome surprise when Manju invites the gang, plus Marty and Xavier, to their family's annual Diwali celebrations. But Harry's elation is quickly dampened when he realises that Manju expects him to pretend that he and Xavier are 'just friends' around the family…. at least for the next few years, and definitely while her older brother and unyielding head of the family, Akshay Mama, is still alive. Emboldened by new love, Harry pays a visit to Akshay Mama and his aunty, Neha Mami, and tells them about his relationship with Xavier. He leans into the slim chance that it's all gone well... until he gets a call from a devastated Manju informing him that Diwali's been cancelled. Determined to help set things right, the housemates swoop in, and with Manju's blessing and guidance, conjure up their own version of Diwali for Harry to return home to…

With Ben cutting corners with his rehabilitation, drinking too much, and struggling with his lack of purpose and inability to work, Heather has again found herself in caretaker mode. In fact, the dynamic is alarmingly similar to the one she had with Colin (still a few key differences). To make matters worse, Heather's accused of workplace bullying, and defiantly responds to the allegations by sticking it to middle management and quitting her job. Liz manages to negotiate a workplace peace treaty – Heather can have her job back, on the condition she apologises and undertakes a few anti-bullying courses. Heather flatly refuses, and after everyone fails at convincing her otherwise, Xavier steps in and insists that what Heather actually needs is a night of getting smashed… at a gay nightclub. Heather reluctantly goes along … but just as she's loosening up, she crashes into her son Timmy… and realises there's a lot he hasn't told her.

At twenty-seven weeks, Ainsley's more determined than ever to create the right environment for baby Evie to grow up in…. but it's hard to ignore that some divisions in the house have emerged. Harry and Liz are both gainfully employed while Ben and Heather are both now unemployed and taking on extra house duties in lieu of paying bills…. and they've noticed that certain members of the house are more than comfortable with being served. In spite of the emerging rift, when Ainsley finds out that Lachlan's put Evie on a waitlist for a private school for girls, she organises a dinner with Ben's daughter Mia, a current student of the school, and the rest of the gang in the name of further research. It's an ambitious call. As the public versus private school debate is cracked open, tensions quickly spill over and Xavier and Liz lock heads in the most overt and heated of ways, leaving Harry speechless and Liz rocked by his lack of support.

In the wake of an unexpected tragedy and despite having plenty of things to turn his mind to, Harry's anxiety levels are at an all-time high. Unable to contact Xavier, and having surpassed the reasonable person's quota for attempted-calls, Harry drops into Xavier's apartment to see what's going on. He arrives to find Xavier's bed unslept in… and worst-case cheating scenarios immediately begin to flood his mind. Harry finds momentary relief by leaving a number of colourful, accusatory voicemail messages on Xavier's phone…but as soon as the damage is done, he learns that Xavier's in fact now at the house and helping Stuart, Manju and the rest of the gang finish the nursery. Liz takes one for the team and tries to run interference between Xavier and his phone but fails almost immediately, instead alerting Xavier to the fact that something's wrong.

An anxious Liz tells Harry about her surprise acceptance into Cambridge University's Masters of Law. It means she'll be leaving the house and moving across the pond for at least a year, and with Harry in the throes of his first heartbreak, the timing's definitely not ideal. But through the depths of depression, Harry's manages to show his complete support for Liz…until he realises that Stuart will also be in tow. To help soften the blow, Liz approaches Simmo and asks him to take over her room while she's away, but he politely declines….he definitely couldn't move in when he has such strong feelings for Ainsley, not that he lets Liz into that version of the story. With Simmo off the cards, and Heather dragging her feet in a not-so-silent protest about Liz's selfish life decisions, the gang embarks on a search for a replacement housemate.