‘Difficult’: Home and Away star Christie Hayes shares heartbreaking reality about relationship with 11-year-old son

Former Home and Away star Christie Hayes has revealed she has never been able to have a “proper conversation” with her 11-year-old son.

The radio host, 39, opened up on her relationship with her son Hendrix, who has Level 3 autism, during an appearance on Channel Seven’s The Morning Show.

Hayes shared with co-hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies the personal struggles her family has faced.

“Hendrix didn’t say the word mum until he was four. I’ve never really heard him have … You know when you see memes and they go, ‘If you could have a conversation with anyone, who would it be?’ It would be my little boy,” she said.

“I’ve never had a proper conversation with my son.

“I think that the world needs to be more patient with people that live with autism, and any parent out there knows what it’s like to have an autistic child. There are wonderful days, but there’s also really hard days – meltdowns, lack of sleep.

“It is difficult at times. It’s a wonderful job, as motherhood is in any capacity.”

Hayes is mother to three children, sons Hendrix, 11, Harley, 10, and daughter Marigold, who she welcomed in November 2025 with husband Justin Coombes-Pearce.

She shares her two sons with ex-husband Daniel White.

The actress-turned-radio host shot to fame in 2000 playing Kirsty Sutherland on Home & Away.

Hayes has encouraged her fans to join Walk for Autism in May, a campaign that sees participants walk 7,000 steps a day while raising money and awareness.

In a post shared to Instagram earlier this month, the former soap star revealed that as Hendrix’s mum she vows to “make sure he never walks alone”.

“At almost 12, he still has limited speech and I sometimes wonder if he knows what he’s saying when he parrots me back and tells me he loves me,” she wrote.

“I’ve learnt to carry many words for him since he was born. One of those words is ‘autism’. They say when you have an autistic child, you plan a trip to Italy… but sometimes you land in Holland instead.

“And while it’s not the journey you expected, it can be just as beautiful — just different.

“As Hendrix’s mum, my job is to make sure he never walks alone. To stand beside him, to advocate for him, and to be his voice when he doesn’t quite have one yet.”