Leah Patterson (also Poulos and Patterson-Baker) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Ada Nicodemou.

Leah is one of the longest featured characters in the serial's history and has been involved in storylines including the deaths of her husbands, her many relationships, surrogacy, suffering anxiety and the victim of racism.

Leah takes a job as a chef at the local diner and moves into a house with Vinnie Patterson (Ryan Kwanten) and Tom Nash (Graeme Squires).

Leah starts dating Roman Harris (Conrad Coleby), Nicodemou said it is good for her and it was nice to see her "thinking of herself for a while".

[19] Nicodemou expressed her delight over Leah's romance with Elijah when she started ji jitsui classes to build her confidence.

He arrives with a new wife Grace Johnson (Clare Chihambakwe) whom he has married to help her ill son, Thabo Manthenga (Joshua Mbakwe) receive treatment.

While Leah "fell very hard" and formed a life and future with Elijah, she would never take him back as a married man.

[21] In January 2011, Josh Quong Tart revealed his character, Miles Copeland, was set to have a new love interest with someone who may live in Summer Bay.

[23] The actress later told RTÉ TEN that she thinks Miles and Leah are well suited and hoped they find happiness with each other.

[23] Nicodemou said Leah is worried about the decision for them to take their relationship further, but she realises that she and Miles do have chemistry and they begin dating.

That might be an unpopular choice for most people and it can be hard to understand where Leah is coming from, but she doesn't want to be put in that situation at all.

Nicodemou told TV Week that Leah believes that she should set Miles free because she does not want him to miss out on being a father again.

[28] After running away from her wedding to Ted Simos (Harry Pavlidis), Leah is hitchhiking when she is picked up by Vinnie Patterson, who takes her to Summer Bay.

They later marry, when they plan to emigrate to America Dan heads out first to search for a perfect home for their family and to start his new job.

Whilst abseiling Dan has a tragic accident and dies off-screen, leaving Leah devastated again.

Leah begins a new relationship with Hazem Kassir but it is cut short when he is accused of being a terrorist and is severely beaten up by racist drunks who set the diner alight.

When Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) is shot dead by Jake Pirovic (Fletcher Humphrys), Darryl Braxton (Steve Peacocke) struggles to get over her and begins drinking.

Leah know that she should move on so she eventually joins an online dating site and goes out with a guy but finds him boring.

Months later, she and VJ return to Summer Bay, only to be greeted with a broken window in her home and heard a sound and grabbed a frying pan and saw it was Kyle Braxton (Nic Westaway), Zac and Natalie's housemate and apologized for scaring him, but he revealed that he was just going to see someone.

She is then diagnosed with an aneurysm and needs surgery to fix it, but she refuses to as she doesn't want to put her family in anymore turmoil.

The brain surgeon, Sean Gleeson feels bad and beats himself up for it, but Hannah Wilson reassures him that it wasn't his fault.

During the wedding ceremony, Zac's ex-girlfriend Charlotte King (Erika Heynatz) threatens to reveal everyone's secrets.

Leah supports Zac when he becomes prime suspect in Charlotte's murder, and feuds with Senior Constable Kat Chapman (Pia Miller), who sides with Detective Dylan Carter (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor).

Things come to a head when Leah suffers a psychotic episode and threatens Justin with a knife in the diner.

[40] In her book Soap Stars, Debbie Foy refers to Leah as having lived through several dramatic episodes.

[42] Holy Soap describe Leah's most memorable moment as being when: "Finding out her beloved Vinnie had died in pokey.

She had many dramas and Miller said "poor Leah hit the roof" when she found out Elijah and Miles had been lying to her.

[44] TV Week later said Leah's love life was finally looking good with Miles and noted that she is "notorious for getting her heart broken.

[46] While her colleague, Greg Hassell opined that Home and Away was "surprisingly well produced and acted" and that it benefited from the "steadying influence of old-time cast members" such as Nicodemou.

[49] The Sydney Morning Herald's Stuart O'Connor criticised the episode of Home and Away that Leah gives birth to VJ.