Matilda Mareikura "
Tillie"
Samuels is the daughter of
Sarah Potts (
Amanda Billing) and
TK Samuels (
Benjamin Mitchell) who was born in mid-2011. Tillie was originally portrayed by baby boy – Nathan Anderson but the baby started to grow much more masculine and European looking than producers wanted and Nalani Rose Tuhoe was cast to replace him. Growing up on-screen, in 2022 she was part of a group of teenagers on the show who as a "posse" featured in predominantly youth-based storylines. Born on the roadside whilst Sarah travelled to TK's wedding with
Roimata Ngatai (Shavaugn Ruakere), she was named after a waitress who worked at a restaurant Tillie's grandmother –
Pam (Teresa Woodham) dined at. In September 2013 Sarah accidentally reversed over her in a truck after she crawled into the driveway. Despite severe injury, Tillie received surgery and survived. The following year, controversy erupted at the hospital when receptionist
Leanne Miller (Jennifer Ludlam) smacked her whilst babysitting. In August 2014, Tillie was left without a mother when Sarah fell victim to a deadly illness. Tillie grew close to TK's partner
Kylie (Kerry-Lee Dewing), acting as a mother-figure. In 2017 TK permitted Tillie to live with the Samuels Whanau away from Ferndale due to the angst he was suffering deeming him unfit to act as parent, having murdered Hayden Crowhurt (Aaron Jackson). Tillie returned to Ferndale and TK's custody in December 2019, quickly adjusting to life as a teenager. In 2021 she developed a rebellious streak and narrowly avoided death in a car crash that killed the teenage driver. Developing a mutual crush on
Wilder Mullens (Felix Jones), she rebuffed a kiss and he fell, sustaining a severe eye injury. Under questioning, Tillie claimed she pushed him as he was acting without consent, though later retracted her accusation. Picking up an interest in
Kapa Haka, Tillie fell for one of her fellow students and later began sleeping with him, much to TK's anger. Falling into a bad crowd at school, one of Tillie's associates
Milo Cross (Ben Porter) assaulted TK and Tillie took part in a
ram raid, leading TK to send her away from Ferndale. A 2012 scene that saw
Brooke Freeman (
Beth Allen) awkwardly attempt to sing a
Māori lullaby to Tillie, was voted by fans as the top moment of the season.{{cite web|title=Top 20 moments of 2012 ==Alexander Murphy==