Belinda "Billie" Ashford is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Tessa de Josselin.

The actress was first pictured on set in November 2014, before it was announced the following year that she had joined the cast as the younger sister of established character Martin Ashford (George Mason).

The actress departed the show at the end of her guest stint, but she was later asked back by the producers and she became part of the regular cast.

Bille's introductory storylines focused on her reunion with her brother Ash and a brief casual relationship with Kyle Braxton (Nic Westaway).

The storyline was criticised by Rosa Walling-Wefelmeyer of The F-Word, who thought it could potentially reinforce harmful stereotypes about victims of sexual violence.

On 19 April 2015, it was announced that Tessa de Josselin would be portraying Billie, Martin "Ash" Ashford's (George Mason) younger sister.

"[2] De Josselin shot her first scenes in a cemetery on the Central Coast, alongside Mason, who she met for the first time that morning.

[2] Billie was initially a guest role and de Josselin left at the end of her contract to film new episodes of In Your Dreams, before she was invited back as part of the regular cast.

[8] While they were talking about the events that led to Ash's prison sentence, he admitted to Billie that her boyfriend Dean Sanderson (Kevin Kiernan-Molloy) was dead.

[7] Billie was "horrified" and initially believed Ash was responsible, until he explained that his friend Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke) had been charged with Dean's murder.

De Josselin commented that Billie was "excited" about meeting new people and finally having a roof over her head, as she had been living out of her car for the past few months.

[9] Unaware that Billie was in the other room, Kyle Braxton (Nic Westaway) came home and started playing his guitar, waking her up.

[9] De Josselin told Stephen Downie of TV Week, "I think Billie can sense Kyle's a sensitive, caring guy.

[10] Billie's first major storyline occurred in June 2015 when she developed a crush on Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) and later accused him of assault.

[11] The storyline began when Nate and his girlfriend Kat Chapman (Pia Miller) spotted Billie floating face down in the sea.

[14] Billie's demeanour suddenly changed and she ran her nails down his cheek, scratching his face, and tore at her clothes, while screaming for him to stop.

[14] Her screams attracted the attention of Chris Harrington (Johnny Ruffo), who rushed into the gym and comforted Billie, as she accused Nate of assaulting her.

Kat immediately began trying to prove that Nate was innocent, but had difficulty as Billie "put on a confident performance" for the police, while Chris also backed up her story.

[20] Billie then decided to get revenge by writing a letter to Ricky telling her that Brax had faked his death and that Ash had lied to her about it.

[20] When Billie discharged herself from the hospital, Nate told Kat that he was worried about her mental and physical health, as her burns needed constant treatment.

[21] De Josselin told an Inside Soap journalist that Billie felt that she had lost her brother and that the whole town was against her, so she had no reason to stay in Summer Bay.

[24] Speaking to Ali Cromarty of TV Week, de Josselin explained that Billie knew she had been set up, but she was "at a loss" because she did not know who really started the fire.

[29] Although Billie was initially uninterested in VJ, she began to develop feelings for him and his friendship helped provide a distraction from everything that had happened to her.

[4] Billie later discovered that Irene Roberts' (Lynne McGranger) son, Mick Jennings (Kristian Schmid) is her rapist and the father of her child.

[36] After her character's exit aired, de Josselin revealed that she was "bummed out" when the producers told her that Billie would die, as she wanted her to carry on and do good things.

[38] A colleague stated, "Ash's sister Billie has caused the usual tornado that extended family members tend to do in the Bay when they arrive.

[13] Rosa Walling-Wefelmeyer, writing for the feminist blog The F-Word, expressed her disappointment about the false assault allegation storyline, saying it was not "that original – or entertaining".

[40] Walling-Wefelmeyer thought the writers' had introduced the trope with the intention of having it "challenged and subverted", instead she believed the plot could "reinforce harmful stereotypes" about victims of sexual violence.

Lying about being attacked, she has become a social pariah – but finds a way to redeem herself this week when she rescues Zac, Oscar and Matt from a fire at Leah's house.

"[41] Another Sunday Mail contributor had a similar view, stating "It's never easy being the town pariah but that's the position Billie finds herself in after her recent unfounded accusations.