Jezz

I usually overlook most celebrity deaths, but this one has affected me more than I anticipated for some reason. I'm too young to remember Jesse's first stint, but I was old enough to remember his return in 2002 and the second stint he endured up until 2005. He had plenty of memorable moments that I look back on with fondness and nostalgia. I always held out a glimmer of hope of him returning one day, and the opportunity was there when Olivia was reintroduced into the show but that moment came and gone when she left last year. I was also aware that Ben changed his career path and became a solicitor after finishing his role at H&A in 2005. Being a lawyer is no easy feat and can be a very stressful job at the best of times so I wonder whether that may have contributed to his problems. Depression and mental illness is a silent killer in this country. The leading cause of death for men under the age of 45 in Australia is suicide and more needs to be done by the wider community and government to address it. RIP Ben

Shocked and saddened to hear this news. Sounds like he took his own life :(

^ I can remember him appearing in an episode in 2006, when Ric was working as the school janitor (he dropped out and wasn't working at Moran Motors at this stage). It's a shame that they killed off Axel. I thought there was still a lot to explore with him.

He's been charged with various offences. Like all criminal matters, the presumption of innocence needs to be upheld. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-11/craig-mclachlan-charged-with-sex-offences-by-victoria-police/10708742

Very sad news. Loved his portrayal of Gary Samuels. I also preferred his role of Scott Robinson over Jason Donovan. Shocked to hear this, but sadly cancer doesn't discrimate anyone :(

Loved the character of Charlotte. A multi-layered character who's downfall was fascinating to watch, but I think with her being the main story of the second half of 2015 it meant that the show went through a resurgence during that period of time, when the first half of 2015 was notably average. I don't think she was an inherently bad person, but bad decisions mainly through the motivation of protecting Hunter had manifested itself and things spiralled out of control very quickly. Great character who left a lasting impact on other characters. Still love re-watching old episodes when she was on.

That turned out to be a misleading headline, with the benefit of hindsight. Chris remained on the show for only nine months after this news had come to light.

Drew's stint on the show was short, but he was on the forefront for most of 2007 so a lot of storylines were given to him in a short space of time. It started with his introduction as Peter's long-lost son. Then, a pyromaniac was trying to frame him for a series of arson attacks around the town to force Peter out of witness protection (unbeknownst to Draw). He started a relationship with Belle and later cheated on her with Amanda (Belle's mother). Then Peter "returned from the dead". In 2007, he got together with Lisa Duffy but he always had aspirations to get back together with Belle which he did eventually but this meant a huge strain was created with Lucas who was dating Belle at the time. Then his old boarding school friend, Jules arrived in the Bay. Then, Drew dropped out of High School which caused Jazz to arrive in Summer Bay. Jazz's arrival sparked Jules' departure after a long-held secret between the two, and eventually Drew moved out of Leah and Dan's place to move in with Jazz. Drew then purchased a car and started modifying it with stolen car parts courtesy of Dom Moran. This in turn then got him into the drag racing scene which caused him further problems. After the drag racing scene was over, things calmed down for a little while for Drew until Dom was released from jail and started stalking Belle. In 2008, Drew decided to go back to High School, but soon after Dan died off-screen and he subsequently had a massive fight with Belle ending their relationship permanently. Drew then decided to move to the city to live with Peter and Amanda and that's the last we've heard from him. It's odd that most of this happened nearly 10 years ago, yet I remember it so well. I must admit, I was pretty addicted to the show at that time.

I was very disappointed with the way Brax gave up in the end! The decision to plead 'not guilty' just seemed pointless in hindsight especially since he gave up fighting after Ash and received a 20 year jail sentence when this could have been reduced to 8 years had he just pleaded guilty initially. For a pivotal character of the last few years I was vastly disappointed by how this ended for Brax!

Friends

He spoke about it recently in episodes that aired in Australia last week but I think it would have been obvious to most that Cheryl was receiving some assistance from her sons (especially Brax).

I suppose over time Cheryl has begun to tolerate Kyle more as he's settled into the Braxton household and established himself as one of the Braxtons who can be trusted and respected. Its true that Cheryl disliked Kyle but I think a lot of that hatred towards Kyle was more to do with an underlying hatred of Danny Braxton rather than directly at Kyle himself but Kyle was a reminder of Danny's conniving ways when he was married to Cheryl. It would have been nice to see how the civility between one another has developed in the past two years ago. Kyle will presumably continue assisting Cheryl financially simply for the reason that Brax has been doing so for a number of years and he wants to carry on with those duties even if Brax can no longer do this task himself.

Well with Brax going to jail, Heath living in the city and Casey dead all her children are no longer living in Summer Bay. Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see her again however I hope we get to see her meet her unborn grandson soon and she can still be involved in the Braxton household even in a minor role. After all Kyle is still going to assist her financially even with Brax gone now.

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