Home and Away star Demi Harman has said she "cried buckets" during her final week of filming before her exit from the soap.
The 21-year-old actress, who played Sasha Bezmel on the hit Australian soap, has left for a new role as craft presenter on TV show Better Homes And Gardens.
Demi, who was cast in 2011 while studying at university, has been involved in Home and Away for four years and filmed her final episodes in October.
Speaking of her "emotional" scenes with her on-and-off screen boyfriend Alec Snow, who plays Matt Page, she said: "I cried myself out, buckets and buckets."
Talking to the Daily Telegraph, Alec agreed: "It was really tough last week."
"She cried so much she was dehydrated. The final scenes are a real tear-jerker."
The Brisbane-born star has had to deal with some difficult storylines throughout her time as Sasha, including domestic violence and the murder of her abuser.
Despite her distress, she said she did not regret her choice to leave the Bay and has dropped hints of "big things in the pipeline" for 2015.
She said: "It needed to happen. It was time to move on. I didn't want to be known as Sasha for the rest of my life."
Although spending long hours filming together may put strain on a romance, Demi spoke of how the show made her relationship stronger: "We got along so well on the show, I guess that helped us in our real-life relationship," she said.
"It helped really because when we had to be angry at each other for the show it was quite easy to do."
Alec Snow will continue as Matt Page on the soap. The final episodes prior to Demi's exit will air in mid-2015.
