Shandi Palmer

The real Shandi Palmer was first seen when the police were looking into the murder of Penn Graham. She was asked by the police in Newcastle to accompany them to Yabbie Creek police station for questioning in relation to Penn’s murder. When she arrives, Sgt. Buckton asks her for her ID as she didn’t recognise her as the ‘Shandi’ they wanted to question, but her ID proves that she is the real Shandi.

She reveals to the police that the ‘Shandi’ they were looking for is actually called Daria Hennessey, a girl she had grown up with and was extremely close to for most of her childhood and teenage years. In response to being asked why Daria would want to impersonate her, Shandi says that if there was a chance for her to get her hands on cash, Daria would be there. According to Shandi, Daria had never worked a day in her life and was a true con artist. Shandi had nothing to do with Daria’s plan of extortion and was shocked to learn that Daria had used her estranged father, John Palmer, to get money. Once John and Gina find out that ‘Shandi’ is in fact, not John’s daughter, Gina arranges for the real Shandi to visit which comes as a shock to John when he arrives home with the shopping.

Shandi tells John that she probably wouldn’t have got in touch had it not been for the situation with Daria, but she’s glad she had the chance to meet him. However, she decides not to stay in touch with John – the reason for this being that her mum remarried when she was a baby and since she died, she doesn’t think it would be fair to form a relationship with John when her mum’s new partner, for all intents and purposes, had been her dad all her life.

Three years later, as Marilyn and John began planning their wedding, John alluded to someone he wished could come to the wedding but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to contact them. Marilyn deduced that this was Shandi and reached out, inviting her. John soon revealed he was talking about Xavier, which left Marilyn to talk herself into rescinding the invite. However, when she finally rang Shandi, she was thrilled and couldn’t wait to celebrate. Backed into a corner, Marilyn told John, who revealed that Jett did not know he had a daughter.

Six weeks prior to the wedding, Shandi surprised both Marilyn and John by arriving in Summer Bay early. This confused John, who wasn’t sure Shandi wanted to know him. She admitted she wasn’t sure if she did, but having just gone through a nasty break-up, she wanted to get away. The pair gradually bonded, but she was less than impressed to learn of Jett’s existence. She quickly overcame this and decided she wanted to get to know both Marilyn and Jett better. Whilst she was quick to form a connection with Jett, she took umbrage with Marilyn’s attempt to help her and John bond at dinner and warned her off, not needing her to have a relationship with her father. The relationship was further harmed when Shandi poked fun at Marilyn for her enjoyment of tarot cards. However, with John as a witness to this he offered his daughter an ultimatum: either she gets on with Marilyn or John will choose between them. Saddened, Shandi left without saying anything to John or Jett.

After spending a few days away, Marilyn called Shandi. She returned and explained she wanted to start over, and planned to stay until the wedding. Whilst navigating continuous issues with her stepmother-to-be, Shandi was briefly the object of Chris’ affections, until he caught her berating Marilyn. After being castigated by Chris for her behaviour, Shandi reevaluated her behaviour and apologised to Marilyn, especially seeing how happy she makes her father. So desperate to show her desire for John to be happy, Shandi teamed up with Jett to convince them to move ahead with their wedding, despite Casey’s death. As John and Marilyn briefly entertaining an elopement, Shandi asked Chris to be her date to the wedding, which she later tried to rescind.

As the wedding grew closer, Shandi met Spencer, and the pair shared instant chemistry, which pit him against his older brother Chris. However, it was only Chris that Shandi had eyes for, as she organised for him to act as a life model at Marilyn’s hens night. After spending the night of the wedding with Chris, she decided to leave Summer Bay, him having restored her faith in men. She bade farewell to John, who told her that she always had a home with him in the Bay, as well as saying goodbye to Jett and giving Marilyn a hug.

Following his head injury in 2016, John was worried when he did hear from Shandi. It soon emerged that she had been on an overseas holiday.