List of Neighbours characters introduced in 2021
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on 18 March 1985 and airs on digital channel 10 Peach. The following is a list of characters that first appear in the show in 2021, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's executive producer Jason Herbison. Curtis Perkins was introduced towards the end of January, and [|Jesse Porter] made his debut in March. [|Sheila Canning] began appearing in April. Abigail Tanaka and Evelyn Farlow arrived in August, followed by Britney Barnes in September and Felicity Higgins during October, whilst December also saw the arrival of Wendy Rodwell.
Curtis Perkins
Curtis Perkins, played by Nathan Borg, made his first appearance on 28 January 2021. The character and Borg's casting details were announced on 3 December 2020, which is the United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Borg is the first actor with a cochlear implant to appear on Australian television. Of his casting, he stated "Growing up I never saw anyone like me on television, so I knew it was time to have a hard of hearing actor on our Australian screens. I think it's important in this industry that people with all disabilities of all ages get to tell their stories." Borg began filming his first scenes for the recurring role of Curtis in November. Curtis is a newly qualified teacher who joins the teaching staff at Erinsborough High, "under the watchful eye" of Susan Kennedy and Jane Harris. He is billed as "an easy-going guy" and "far tougher than he lets on". Series producer Jason Herbison said Curtis is independent and not defined by his disability. He also has a link to one of the established characters. Borg was initially contracted for eight weeks, but the producers asked him to continue in the role and he "was happy to bring more of Curtis, for sure." Curtis was later given a love interest in the form of Jesse Porter, who comes to spy on a few residents and enters into a fake relationship with Harlow Robinson. Borg told Joe Julians of Radio Times that Curtis is hurt by Jesse's behaviour and "feels quite betrayed and very angry". Borg also told Julians that the plot allows the audience to see a new side to Curtis, as he gets angry and even physical at one point. Borg admitted that he really enjoyed playing out those scenes and exploring another side to the character.Principal of Erinsborough High, Susan Kennedy introduces Curtis to fellow teacher Jane Harris and explains that this is his first teaching appointment. She also tells Jane that Curtis is deaf and will be teaching some Auslan classes for the Year 9 Connections program. Jane asks Curtis how he copes if he cannot hear what the students are saying, and he shows her his cochlear implant and mentions that he can lip read. Susan asks Curtis and Jane to keep an eye on student Hendrix Greyson. Jane and Susan later notice Hendrix sitting alone at lunch and Curtis tells them that he was quiet and withdrawn in class, before offering to have a talk with him. Curtis tells Hendrix that it took guts to come back to school and tries to persuade him to go to the common room, but Hendrix says he does not have any friends and points out that the girls in their class were laughing at him. Curtis tells him that he is over-thinking things and the girls could have been laughing about anything. Curtis then tells Hendrix that if he ever needs to talk, he should come find him. At the end of the day, Curtis sees Hendrix punch his locker, which has been graffitied, and Hendrix yells that he hates school before kicking over a bin. After Brent Colefax's personal records are uploaded to the online student resource centre, Jane and Susan ask Curtis whether he is responsible, but he tells them that he was only uploading study resources. They later apologise for jumping the gun, and Curtis admits that he is worried about Brent and asks to put in some extra hours with him. Curtis offers to oversee Year 13 while Jane attends a conference, as he is keen to gain experience and show Susan that he can take on more responsibility. Jane is not sure because of Hendrix and Brent's behaviour, but she allows Curtis to take the class on a trial run.
Upon Jane's return, she learns Curtis has started a vocational project with Hendrix and Brent. She feels that he has taken over the program, which Curtis apologises for. Although Curtis thinks the project is good for the boys, Jane tells him that it is not possible to include more activities as Year 13 has been planned already. Curtis informs Hendrix and Brent that the project has been cancelled, but Hendrix says he will talk with Susan and that he and Brent will move the power tools to The Hive in preparation. Susan allows the project to go ahead, which upsets Jane as she thinks Curtis has gone over her head. She later finds Curtis and Susan discussing the project at Susan's home, and expresses her unhappiness at the way things were handled. Jane wants the project scrapped and tries to make Susan choose between them, but Susan refuses. The following day, Jane and Curtis try to work things out. Curtis tells Jane that he is not trying to undermine her, but he has more to contribute than she realises. Jane offers to think more about his project. After learning Curtis is Vera Punt's nephew, Jane visits Vera in the hospital in order to speak with Curtis. He reveals that he turns his cochlear implant down, as he cannot put up with his aunt's whinging. Jane tells him that she has decided to let the project go ahead as long as Curtis checks in with her weekly. Jane later suggests that Curtis move the power tools from The Hive. When he eventually makes it there, he finds the tools in a van and confronts Holden Brice as he is about to leave. Holden strikes Curtis in the head with a torch, damaging his cochlear implant and preventing Curtis from hearing Nicolette Stone's cries for help. Curtis manages to give Levi Canning a statement, and is checked over by paramedics, before he is given a temporary implant. He then goes to Susan's house to tell her what happened and expresses his guilt over Nicolette. Levi later shows Curtis a sketch of Holden and Curtis acknowledges that it is the same person who attacked him.
Jane visits a school in Mildura, leaving Curtis in charge of Year 13. When Jane returns, she tells Susan and Curtis of her plans to tweak the school's programme. She takes over from Curtis and tries to help with Hendrix's project, but he does not appreciate her interference and Curtis steps in to distract Jane. He later gets Hendrix to open up to him about his problems, which impresses Jane, until she learns that Curtis knows the principal of the Mildura school and she realises was not sought out for her expertise. Curtis admits that he just wanted some space to prove himself. Days later, Toadfish Rebecchi thanks Curtis for a character reference he has written for Brent. Curtis asks Toadie if he has researched any other options for Brent and explains a way to keep Brent out of the prison system. They visit Brent together at the remand centre, where Brent apologises to Curtis for everything that happened to him. Curtis then tells Brent that in order to avoid a custodial sentence he could join the Australian Defence Force, which Brent agrees to. A couple of weeks later, Curtis meets up with Jesse Porter and after flirting with each other, they leave Harold's Café in order to spend the night together. Jesse later ignores Curtis's text messages and eventually tells him that he is busy that week, but he will try to meet up with him again soon. The following week, Curtis and Jesse meet in Harold's and Jesse asks if he has ruined his chance. Curtis asks him out for a drink and Jesse suggests meeting up later. Jesse later breaks up with Curtis, claiming that he is too busy. Curtis opens up to Hendrix about the break up and wonders if it is because he is deaf. Hendrix tells him that Jesse was dating someone else and Curtis confronts Jesse outside the hotel. Jesse tries to explain, but when he touches Curtis on the shoulder, Curtis tells Jesse to get off him and shoves him onto the luggage trolley, before leaving. Months later, Curtis voices his concerns to Jane and Susan about Zara Selwyn's bad influence on other students. He also puts out a bin fire when Jane freezes at the sight. He tells her and Susan that according to the fire captain there were cigarette butts in the bin, which Jane believes Zara could have smoked. Susan refuses to jump to conclusions, while Curtis says they need to find out who was in the area at the time. He later assists with Aubrey Laing's transition to homeschooling, and accompanies her grandmother Shannon Laing to a hearing test. Curtis goes to a Ramsay Street party with Vera a few months later.
Jesse Porter
Jesse Porter, played by Cameron Robbie, made his first appearance on 19 March 2021. The character and Robbie's casting was announced on 16 January 2021. Robbie's older sister Margot Robbie previously appeared in the show from 2008 to 2011 as Donna Freedman. Cameron secured the role of Jesse after an audition and began filming his guest appearance in late 2020. Jesse is a lifeguard who secures a summer job at Lassiter's Hotel, as he tries to work out what he really wants to do with his life. Maddison Hockey and Jess Pullar of TV Week reported that Jesse "comes from a wealthy background, but has decided to break away from the pressures he's had placed on him growing up." Robbie described him as "a pretty fun-loving type of guy" and said there would be "some twists and turns within his story line!" Four months after his introduction, it emerged that Jesse is connected to the Quill family, who run a rival hotel chain, and has been helping them to plot against Lassiters. Robbie thought his "slow-burn" introduction was "a pretty fun character development" and believed that the pay-off when his identity was exposed was also a fun moment for viewers. He explained to Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy that spying for the Quills was not Jesse's plan, and he hoped the audience would enjoy finding out the reason why Jesse felt that he could not say no. Robbie continued "Jesse is feeling a lot of pressure on himself. He puts the weight of the world on his shoulders while he's doing his best to please others. But at the same time, he's a little lost. A lot of it is serving an end goal, but also taking opportunities as they come along." He also said Jesse was trying to avoid his own "demons", but felt that he was a good person who has been lying to himself for a long time.Jesse is hired to work as a bartender and ceremonial lifeguard at The Flamingo Bar, which is located on the fringes of Lassister's Lake. He helps out Roxy Willis and Sheila Canning, and poses for photos with them to help promote the bar. He later asks them how is he doing, as the job description was vague. After several mistakes, he admits that he has always had trouble remembering people's names. Jesse backs Roxy up when she tells Terese Willis that she is the perfect candidate for the bar manager role. Jesse points out Roxy's skills in remembering orders. Terese tells Roxy that she needs to put in an actual application, causing Jesse to apologise for being a bad wingman. He tells Roxy that she would make a great boss, as she is the type of person that makes everything fun. Later, Jesse, Roxy and Kyle Canning approach Paul Robinson and Terese to ask for permission to set up a volleyball court at The Flamingo Bar and Terese accepts. Jesse also presents the bar's new merchandise. During The Flamingo Bar's first volleyball tournament, Jesse is seen scoring and umpiring the matches. Jesse takes part in the Longest Workout competition and ends up helping Melanie Pearson hide from her boyfriend Toadfish Rebecchi. Paul later approaches Jesse to ask about his interests, career path and relationship status, which Jesse initially confuses for flirting. Jesse wins the competition and is congratulated by Harlow Robinson. After Harlow is offered the job of Terese's EA, Paul arranges for her to talk to Jesse about feeding concerns up to management, something an EA would deal with. Harlow tells Jesse that Paul has an ulterior motive in getting them to talk, knowing that he disapproves of her current relationship. Jesse convinces Harlow to take the EA job as she can push more green initiatives. Jesse later meets up with Curtis Perkins for lunch, but they spend the time flirting and decide to go elsewhere.
Jesse organises a picnic for Harlow to celebrate her taking the EA job and they discuss their plan to fake a relationship between them, so Paul will stay out of her personal life. Harlow thanks Jesse for going along with the plan and he tells her that he likes hanging out with her. Jesse meets with Shay Quill from Lassiters' rivals, the Quill Group. Jesse gives Shay a report about a drive-in movie night idea that Harlow has had. When Shay demands more information, Jesse tells her that Paul and Terese already know the Quill Group stole their film festival idea and that they will eventually figure out that he is spying on them. Shay tells Jesse not to tell her it cannot be done and questions if he would say that to Julie Quill, Jesse says no and that he will work it out. Jesse asks Paul to be his mentor and Paul agrees to consider the idea. Jesse also arranges to meet up for a date with Curtis to make up for ghosting him. He later learns that Harlow and Roxy know about him and Curtis, but they assure him they will not say anything. Roxy catches Jesse in Terese's office, and later that day, he meets up with Shay and admits that it has not been easy to find out the information she wants. Shay tells him to copy everything, as she wants to know every detail about what Lassiters is planning. Jesse says he is doing his best, but Shay replies that it is not enough and he is about as good for the business as his mother, Julie. The Quill Group pull out of hosting the film festival after Harlow tells Jesse that the organisers are facing a big lawsuit and he relays the information to Shay. Lassiters then wins the film festival contract and Harlow tells Jesse that Lassiters is also planning on buying some land next to a Quill Hotel in a bid undermine their business. Jesse breaks up with Curtis, claiming that he is too busy, but Curtis later confronts him about dating someone else and pushes him into the luggage trolley.
Terese learns Jesse's true identity and confronts him. He admits that he hated spying, but Terese fires him and tells him not to come near her family again. When Jesse comes to collect his belongings from the hotel, he tells Harlow that he let his family buy the land, as a way of apologising to her and Terese. He admits that he does not want anything to do with the Quills, and later apologises to Paul and Terese, before mentioning that he was happy being around them. Terese later invites Jesse to stay at the hotel after learning he has been thrown out of his apartment by his step-siblings, who blame him for the collapse of the Quill hotel. Terese decides to invest in the hotel, but is later forced to pull out of the deal. She gives Jesse a job at Lassiters instead and becomes his mentor. The Lassiters staff go on strike when Harlow is promoted to a job they feel she did not earn, but Jesse does not join them. He later advises Harlow in her decision to accept a demotion and helps liaise with the striking staff. When thanking him for his actions, Terese inadvertently calls Jesse by the name of her son Josh, whose death Julie was responsible for. After putting the initial awkwardness of her mistake behind them, the two continue to grow closer. After learning more about Josh, Jesse contacts his mother and she asks him to visit her. Terese offers to accompany Jesse to visit Julie in prison. Jesse learns from Terese that the Quill Group has debts from a bad deal, which is why the sale fell through, and he says he will discuss it with Julie. Paul accuses Jesse of having an agenda when it comes to the investment and warns him to keep Terese out of it. On the day of the visit, Paul's son David Tanaka tells Jesse that the family are concerned about his relationship with Terese. He encourages him to distance himself from her and move on if he really cares about Terese. Jesse fails to show up at the prison, resigns from Lassiter's and leaves for Sydney. Jesse returns the following month after being contacted by Paul, and shares a final conversation with Terese.