Home and Away fans have been absolutely devastated after learning that Matt Evans, who plays Theo on the show, is leaving. But what makes matters worse is that the character was killed off in a dramatic way, meaning Theo is unlikely to appear on the show again.

Casual viewers were left surprised after Home and Away shared a preview for Thursday night’s episode, which shows the fallout from Theo’s shocking death. Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin (James Stewart) are seen breaking down and talking about how much they miss Theo, who’s Leah’s nephew in the show.

How does Theo die on Home and Away?

Theo dies after being hit at high speed by a car driven by Councillor Craig Wendell (Justin Smith).

The moment occurred after Theo attended Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Eden’s (Stephanie Panozzo) wedding in the Hunter Valley.

When he finally got in touch with Lacey, she told him that she wouldn’t make the wedding and that she was going to confront Councillor Wendell.

Leah tried to stop him, but Theo told her to back off, and she retorted, “Fine. Don’t expect me to be there for you when it all goes wrong.”

With Theo by her side, Lacey prepared to come face-to-face with Councillor Wendell.

After she told him she knew what he was capable of and that she wanted him to confess what he’d done to the cops, he agreed and got into his car, only to drive at her at full speed.

While it wasn’t immediately clear that he had died, the previews for the next episode sadly confirmed the death.

Matt has previously told Yahoo Lifestyle he’d like to have Theo “chase the music career on his own and then I’d do it in real life, and then it fails and I’d say, ‘Can I come back?’”

He reiterated this in another interview with us, where he said, “I don’t want to be killed off, I want to come back.”

Fans were very upset by the move to kill off Theo, with many saying they would no longer watch the show now.

“Why would you kill off one of the best actors in the show – why couldn’t he have just left on a holiday or something like that they are just wrecking the show soon no one will bother watching it,” one viewer wrote.

“I think I’m done with H&A,” another said.

“No point in me watching anymore episodes,” a third added.

“Oh I’m over this show now, always a death… someone got cancer, it’s so repetitive and boring,” someone else wrote.

“[Lacey] killed the show, I don’t even like it anymore,” yet another added.

Others were annoyed that his death involved a car crash, with some saying he “deserved better”.

“But another car accident? They couldn’t have come up with something more original?” one viewer questioned.

“He deserved a better ending than that,” another agreed