4.3 update breaks Homepage and changes default Portfolio

After much testing, restoring, clearing caches and updating of plugins and updating to 4.3 and reverting back to 4.2.4 (I think it was 4.2.4?) I have discovered the 4.3 update is causing two things to occur:

1. I lose the Portfolio (called Releases on my site, custom menu item) items from my Home page. Home is a static page. The slider and text is still present, but all Portfolio/Releases are gone. Here is the templates/home.php BEFORE the 4.3 update, if that helps:

<?php
/**
 * Template Name: Homepage
 * @package The Professional WordPress Theme
 * @since 1.0
 * @author AJ Clarke : https://wpexplorer.com
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2012, AJ Clarke
 * @link https://wpexplorer.com
 * @license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html
 */

get_header(); // Loads the header.php template
if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); //start main loop

//Show homepage tagline if not blank
if( of_get_option('homepage_tagline','<h1>Hello. My name is The Professional and I am a super-duper, mega-awesome WordPress Theme.</h1>') !== '' ) { ?>
    <div id="homepage-tagline">
        <div class="boxed">
            <?php echo of_get_option('homepage_tagline','<h1>Hello. My name is The Professional and I am a super-duper, mega-awesome WordPress Theme.</h1>'); ?>
        </div>
    </div><!--homepage-tagline -->
<?php }

//Show homepage slider
get_template_part('content','slides'); ?>

<div id="single-page-content" class="clearfix boxed container">
    <div class="entry clearfix fitvids">
        <?php the_content(); ?>
    </div><!-- /entry -->
</div><!-- /container -->

<?php
endwhile; endif; // End loop
get_footer(); // Loads the footer.php file ?>

2. The current setting of 22 (for my 22 Releases) I have entered at Appearance > Theme Options > Portfolio > Posts Per Page keeps changing to 20 when I update to 4.3

The website currently appears correctly, as it should. I am happy to update to 4.3 should somebody be prepared to help or have the knowledge to assist.

https://homelessvinyl.com.au/

I am running The Professional theme and believe these Portfolio items were created using the Symple Portfolio plugin.

It’s incredibly frustrating because WordPress keeps forcing me to update to 4.3 every 24 hours and it’s driving me mad.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Richie

Thanks for any help!
Richie