Jesse McGregor
Jesse McGregor was a main character from May 1996 (Ep 1926) to February 2000 (Ep 2760), and again from August 2002 (Ep 3341) to July 2005 (Ep 4012).
Jesse was played by the late Ben Unwin.
Backstory[]
Jesse had a relationship with Kylie Burton and she became pregnant with a little girl Rachel while they were still quite young. Kylie's father wasn't happy about this because Jesse was a bad boy who'd had run-ins with the law. Mr Burton brought his pregnant daughter to Queensland to have her baby and supported her financially after baby Rachel was born.
1996-2000[]
Jesse was first seen in 1996 when he rescued Selina Cook, Shannon Reed and Curtis Reed from a group of criminals. He settled in Summer Bay and began a relationship with Selina. When his ex-girlfriend Kylie was arrested, he became Rachel's guardian. By now, Kylie's father had died and that had taken away her support system. Jesse was eager to be the best possible dad to Rachel and to go straight. He moved in with Travis Nash and Lachlan Fraser, and went into partnership with Alf Stewart at his bait shop. Eventually Jesse resumed his relationship with Kylie and they got engaged. Their wedding never happened because Kylie was arrested again and sent to prison. After she died in custody, Jesse became a single dad.
Jesse opened a garage but ran into problems when an old prison friend called Mick Dwyer resurfaced and tried to get him to carry out illegal work. Jesse was reluctant to get involved but Mick blackmailed him into it. When local policeman Joel Nash got wind of this, Jesse and Mick fled and a high-speed car chase ensued. The cars crashed and Joel was left trapped, Jesse saved Joel but was nearly shot for his troubles. Jesse handcuffed Mick to the steering wheel and Joel let him get away. After saying goodbye to Rachel and arranging for her to live with Joel and his family, Jesse fled into the night. Several months later, Jesse gave himself up and was sentenced to two years in prison. He was later joined by former housemate Vinnie Patterson who was imprisoned after being framed for committing fraud. Upon his release, Jesse made a promise to Vinnie that would look after his wife Leah.
2002-2005[]
Jesse returned to Summer Bay and was welcomed by old friends Irene Roberts, Hayley Smith and Sally Fletcher. Other locals weren't so happy to see him back. Noah Lawson, Josh West and Alex Poulos were mistrustful of him. It didn't help that during his first month back in town, Jesse has two brushes with the law. First, he beat up Jason Edwards who had been attacking Alex. Then he hit Kelvin Matthews who had been making unwanted advances on Hayley. Unable to control his anger, Jesse turned to Flynn Saunders for help.
Jesse later visited his daughter Rachel in Queensland and tried to get her to return home with him. After he realised she was happy with the Nashes, Jesse returned home alone. He began to become close to Leah and that deepened when she learned that her husband Vinnie had apparently died in a prison fire. Jesse proposed to her but she turned him down. They later began a relationship anyway. When Jesse's former girlfriend Angie Russell was found dead, he became one of the many suspects. He was cleared (the culprit was later revealed to be her son Dylan).
Jesse's relationship with Leah ran into problems when Sally and Flynn asked her to become a surrogate mother for them. When he learned that Leah and Flynn had shared a brief kiss, his jealousy got the better of them and they broke up.
When Hayley's brother Will returned for her wedding to Noah, he asked Jesse's permission for him and his wife Gypsy to officially adopt Rachel. Jesse was reluctant at first but agreed to it. Jesse then had brief relationships with Alf's granddaughter Martha and with Angie's cousin Josie. Neither lasted long.
When Chloe Richards returned to town for Alf's 60th birthday party, Jesse's old feelings from a kiss they shared several years earlier resurfaced. He was turned down by Chloe who only wanted to be friends. Jesse left the party early and was later involved in a car accident. He left the scene, not knowing at the time that he had just killed Chloe. When he realised what he had done he handed himself into the police. Alf and Irene were both disgusted with him. After an emotional goodbye with Sally, Leah and Martha, Jesse was transferred to a city jail.
Memorable info[]
Last Line: "It was hard, OK, it was just really, really hard. When I first came back to this place, when no-one really wanted to know about me, you were there. You meant everything to me, and I really want you to remember me as the guy that I was, the guy that you loved, and not as..." (to Leah)
Family[]
Children Rachel McGregor