Melissa Gregg

Melissa was initially a new hairdressing client of Marilyn’s, who explained she was in town for a job interview at the hospital. She showed Marilyn photos of her daughter Lottie, which led to Marilyn finding out Melissa’s ex-husband was Harvey Ryan, who was dating Marilyn’s housemate Roo. Melissa went to see Harvey at the hospital where he was recovering from food poisoning and revealed that she’d broken up with Edward, the man she’d been living with in the two years since they divorced, and needed their marital home for herself and Lottie. Harvey agreed and in return Melissa arranged for him and Lottie to meet up.

Melissa agreed to Lottie going out for a picnic with Roo and Harvey but was annoyed when she came home late, since Melissa had intended for them to go shopping for a school uniform. She had dinner with Sid, one of her new work colleagues, while Lottie was having dinner with Roo, Harvey, Dexter, Sasha and Xavier. When she heard about casualties coming in from a motor vehicle accident, including a child who was badly injured, she quickly removed herself from the case. Sid found out from Dexter that Harvey and Melissa had had a son, Ben, who drowned after falling overboard during a boating trip and told Melissa that both he and Roo knew.

The already tense relationship between Melissa and Harvey got worse when she learned he had been charged with election fraud after it came out the mayor had rigged the town council election so Harvey would win. She lambasted him for not telling them until it appeared in the papers, and tried to stop Lottie from seeing him. When Harvey pleaded guilty and was given a fine and community service, Melissa complained about him getting away with it, with her mood not improved when he revealed he needed to sell the house to pay the fine.

Melissa’s relationships with those at home and work began to deteriorate and she showed no interest in supporting Lottie when she broke up with Dexter. She helped treat Bianca for pre-eclampsia prior to having an emergency caesarean, but messed up while trying to do a lumbar puncture on baby Rocco, prompting Sid to send her home and Heath to say he didn’t want her anywhere near the baby. Roo found her asleep in her car and she ended up in an argument with Roo and Harvey, then came home to find Lottie had run away. In the end, Lottie didn’t go further than Alf and Roo, but the experience prompted Melissa to admit she had been depressed since Ben died and wasn’t coping with Lottie. She agreed to go to the city to get some help while Lottie stayed with Harvey, Roo and Alf.

Some weeks later, Harvey visited her in the city to discuss Lottie staying with them permanently but Melissa refused to consider it. Having completed her therapy, she intended to move back to the city and take Lottie with her. She arrived in Summer Bay unexpectedly and tried to take Lottie immediately. When Lottie refused to go, she filed a complaint with the family court, since she had been given custody in the divorce, and threatened to reveal the truth about Ben’s death to Lottie: Harvey had been drunk at the time, which they had lied to the authorities about.

Melissa spent the day with Lottie and tried to use the opportunity to pressure Lottie into moving away with her. She learned Harvey had already told Lottie and was told she would be unlikely to win a court case without Lottie’s support but refused to stay in Summer Bay, instead telling Lottie that she was better now and would respect her decision. At that, Lottie changed her mind and moved to the city with her.

Months later, Melissa found Harvey asleep in his car outside the house; he had turned up hoping to see Lottie but she was away at drama camp. Harvey believed that Roo had left him for her old boyfriend Tim Graham and he and Melissa ended up spending the day together and getting on well for the first time in years. She offered him the sofa to sleep on but instead they ended up sleeping together. Next morning, Melissa jokingly pretended to think they were back together before they were almost caught by Lottie coming home early. She was horrified when Harvey finally spoke to Roo and learned she wasn’t with Tim after all but agreed to forget about it.