Gypsy Nash
Encyclopedia
Gypsy Smith is a fictional character
from the Australian Channel Seven
soap opera
Home and Away
, played by Kimberley Cooper
. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 18 February 1998. Gypsy and her on-screen family the Nash's were introduced to fill the void of Debra Lawrance's
departure as Pippa Ross
, to form the main family at the caravan park home, often described as "the centre of Summer Bay". Cooper quit the serial in 2001 and last appeared on 15 February 2002. Cooper has won two awards for her portrayal of Gypsy and is often referred to as a "sex symbol" of the serial. In June 2011, it was announced that Cooper had reprised her role as Gypsy. She returned on 9 September 2011 and departed on 13 October 2011.
quit her role as Pippa Ross
producers decided to introduce a new family to run the caravan park, because the household was seen as the "centrepieice of the show". They created the Nash family consisting of Gypsy played by Cooper, sibling Tom Nash (Graeme Squires) and their parents Natalie
and Joel Nash
played by Angelica la Bozzetta and David Woodley respectively. The family come to Summer Bay from Hong Kong
to start a new life.
Cooper later spoke fondly of the serial, stating: "I never look at Home and Away and cringe [...] Unapologetically it's good TV for the time that it is made in." In 2009 executive prodcer Cameron Welsh
stated he would love to see Cooper return as Gypsy. In 2010, Zac Drayson
who plays Cooper's on-screen husband Will Smith
revealed that Cooper wanted to return along side him, but could not commit to filming because of her wedding commitments.
In June 2011, it was announced that Cooper had reprised her role as Gypsy and had returned to filming in May. Cooper confirmed that Gypsy's return would be "dramatic, in true Gypsy style". Gypsy returned with her daughter Lily in September 2011.
, her father's old home town, with her father Joel, mother Natalie and older brother Tom. She had grown up in Hong Kong and as a result was used to the city life. The somewhat quieter pace of life in Summer Bay was something she had a hard time getting used to at first. She and Tom were also surprised to find their uncle Travis Nash
, who they had never met, living in the town and learned that Joel had left Summer Bay when he found out his father had been behaving inappropriately towards Natalie. Although things were tense at first, the two branchs of the family soon bonded.
As an attractive young woman, Gypsy was never short of male attention. The first person to take an interest in her was Vinnie Patterson
but since he was dating Justine Welles
at the time she quickly made it clear she was not interested. She soon caught the eye of Will Smith
, who had also just arrived in the Bay. In order to impress him, she bought him some dope
(which in fact he did not touch) and when Joel and Travis found it she ended up in trouble. She eventually reported the dealer, Lillian, to the school. She also became good friends with Sam Marshall
and later Hayley Smith
.
Gypsy, together with Justine and Tiegan Brook, started up a band called the Broken Dolls, managed by Vinnie. After their first performance at a school dance, Gypsy snuck off into a classroom to spend time with Will and as a result the pair were locked in and had to spend the night at the school. Joel was furious when he found out and tried to break the pair up but eventually relented. As soon as Joel started to approve of Will, Gypsy lost interested in him somewhat. She later changed her mind and seemed ready to sleep with him but when he treated the matter casually she broke up with him again. She briefly dated Sam but never saw him as anything more than a friend.
While bushwalking, Gypsy, along with Will, Sam and Hayley, was taken hostage by Murray, a drifter who had previously robbed the Diner. During the incident, Will turned down an opportunity to escape in order to stay with Gypsy and told her that he loved her. However, she was upset when straight afterwards he left town without telling her. By the time he returned she was seeing an older man, Robert Perez, and was delighted when her parents, unaware of the connection, employed him as their tutor.
What no-one in the family knew was that Perez was actually David DiAngelo, a career criminal who had spent fifteen years in prison as a result of a chance encounter with Joel, when he was working as a policeman in Hong Kong. DiAngelo kidnapped Gypsy while supposedly taking her to a booksale and held her prisoner for nearly two weeks, planning to kill her. When he forced Gypsy to record a tape message to be sent to her family, she managed to include a clue as to her location and the police rescued her. DiAngelo came after the family again, setting fire to their house. Gypsy was rescued from the blaze by Travis and DiAngelo was finally caught but the house was gone and Gypsy and her family were forced to move in with Travis and his wife Rebecca. Gypsy struck up a sisterly relationship with their foster children, Justine and Peta Janossi, especially after Travis and Rebecca left and Joel and Natalie started fostering the pair.
Gypsy and Will continued to remain close without actually dating and instead Gypsy started seeing Jesse McGregor
. The age difference worried a few people but her parents cautiously approved. Gypsy, however, soon found a relationship with a stay-at-home single parent somewhat dull and after meeting a guy over the Internet she broke off with Jesse. She then went to meet her Internet beau at the Surf Club...only to discover to their mutual horror that it was Tom.
Gypsy took a liking to Mitch McColl
when he arrived in the Bay and the pair dated for a while but she backed off when she realised Hayley liked him. Gypsy ended up in trouble when she and some of the Bay's other teens went joyriding in the car belonging to Irene Roberts'
boyfriend Anthony Doyle. A speed camera photo of the car clearly showed Gypsy and faced with Joel's intense disapproval she went and confessed to his superior, Mike Carter, who let her off with a warning.
Will had tried to cover for her during the incident and the pair reconciled. However, Gypsy hid the fact she had slept with Mitch and when the truth came out it caused a rift between her and Hayley. She was also passed over for school captain and in annoyance started a campaign against headmistress Judith Ackroyd and hence fell out with Peta, who was dating Judith's son Edward. She started a feud with classmate Claire Rodgers, who accused Gypsy of being a slut. When she found out Claire had slept with Sam, Gypsy made it public knowledge, widening the rift with her friends further.
When Tom took Alf Stewart's
boat out for a rich kid's party, he asked Gypsy to help out. She was enamoured with the birthday boy, Charlie Nicholas, and started dating him, even though she was still seeing Will. She quickly realised Charlie had a drink problem but enjoyed the party lifestyle too much. She soon sobered up when she learned Natalie had had an affair with an old friend, Glen Tanner, and he was the father of her unborn child. Immediately afterwards, Charlie's drinking involved the pair in a car accident: Charlie was killed and Gypsy badly injured.
Gypsy matured considerably over the incident, telling Joel she was responsible for what had happened when he tried to blame other people. But her affair with Charlie had been revealed in the worst way possible and she was left a virtual outcast. She did, however, end up bonding with Natalie(who was almost as vilified) for the first time and was upset when both she and Tom left the Bay, leaving her alone with Joel, now conditioned to think the worst of her, and forced to sell their home.
With Gypsy's reputation at an all-time low, she found herself receiving unwanted advances from Kieran Fletcher, Sally's
fiancé, who pointed out no-one would believe she was innocent. She kept quiet until halfway through Kieran and Sally's wedding, when she announced what had been happening. Fortunately both Hayley and Colleen Smart
backed her up. Her courage caused her to build bridges with Will and Hayley, as well as starting a friendship with Sally.
Joel and Gypsy ended up moving in with Vinnie in Joel's old family home and Gypsy and Vinnie ended up becoming good friends. She had quit school during the Kieran incident and ended up getting a part-time job at the Drop-In Centre. Ironically, she ended up staying there herself when relations with Joel hit an all-time low, shortly before he moved in with Judith, who he had started seeing. Gypsy became close to Shelley Sutherland
, her boss, but the fact that Shelley's daughter Dani was seeing Will meant spending time with her family was uncomfortable.
No-one seemed happy with Vinnie and Gypsy living alone together, especially Vinnie's girlfriend Leah Poulos, but Gypsy's old teacher Harry Reynolds
was an odd choice for chaperone given that everyone thought he and Gypsy were seeing each other. Despite their protests, the pair then did start seeing each other. Soon after, Gypsy received a hoax call telling her Harry was dead. This turned out to be the work of Kirsten, a former girlfriend of Charlie's, who then made it look as though she and Harry had slept together. Gypsy and Harry apparently split up but this was just a ruse to flush Kirsten out and she was charged with harassment. Around the same time, Joel and Natalie reunited and moved to Queensland
, leaving Gypsy as the only Nash left in Summer Bay.
Not wanting Harry to see her as a schoolgirl, Gypsy decided to complete her education at TAFE while continuing to work at the Drop-In Centre. In the end her relationship with Harry did not last long-she found out he still had feelings for his old girlfriend Shauna Bradley and in anger shredded his shirts and smashed up his bike. Possibly as a result of this latest bad experience with men, Gypsy found herself developing romantic feelings for Shelley. When Shelley told her she would have been experimenting with her sexuality if she felt like that, she went out with another college student, Desiree Upton, but one kiss was enough to convince her she was not gay and although real her feelings for Shelley were not physical ones.
When Shelley commented that she considered her husband Rhys
her best friend Gypsy wondered if that was where she was going wrong. She tried being friends with Will, which meant getting on with Dani. Things seemed to be going well until Dani learned Will had lied about spending time with Gypsy. Will and Gypsy then ended up sleeping together but she decided against pursuing a relationship, thinking Will still loved Dani.
Although she had initially balked at the idea, when Vinnie married Leah Gypsy ended up taking over her old room at Sally and Shauna's place. Soon after, she discovered she was pregnant with Will's child. Not wanting to trap him into being a father, she went out with one of her lecturers, Andrew Moffat, and let Vinnie think they had slept together so everyone would think he was the father. However, both Sally and Tom (paying a brief visit) quickly realised the truth.
Left in charge of the Drop-In Centre in Shelley's absence, Gypsy became involved with the case of Jodie Harrington, a young girl who was apparently being abused. Even though it appeared her bruises were the results of accidents caused by her ADHD
, Gypsy asked for a full investigation and when Shelley and DOCS turned up nothing she started hanging around outside Jodie's home and school looking for evidence. She eventually realised Jodie was making stories up to try to get her dad to come home but the incident caused her to fall out with Shelley and be suspended from the Drop-In Centre, having to take a job at the Diner to earn money. The two women eventually made up when Gypsy was slightly injured protecting Shelley from a violent parent.
Five months into Gypsy's pregnancy, Will finally realised he was the father. Gypsy considering leaving town but eventually accepted he had a right to choose what he wanted to do. With the information common knowledge, Gypsy complained that Will was causing her unnecessary stress and even when he broke up with Dani she was worried he did not love her. He eventually won her round and the pair reunited, with Gypsy moving in with Will and his family.
Gypsy's water broke in the middle of the kitchen and she ended up giving birth to her daughter Lily by the roadside, with Will supporting her. He promptly proposed to her and she accepted. Soon after, Will was offered a job in Queensland, meaning they would be near to Gypsy's family, but they did not have time to arrange a marriage license before they left. The pair married anyway in a purely symbolic ceremony before marrying for real in Queensland. Gypsy did not accompany Will on any of his return trips to the Bay. A few years later, Will reveals Rachel McGregor, who had been staying with him and Gypsy, had asked them to adopt her. On his return to the Bay in 2010, Will revealed he had cheated on Gypsy and they had separated.
Nine years after she left the Bay, Gypsy returns to see Irene, following her breast cancer diagnosis. Gypsy and Lily (Charlie Rose Maclennan) move in with Irene, Bianca (Lisa Gormley
) and April Scott (Rhiannon Fish
). Gypsy tells Irene she is dating a man named Mark (Shane Emmett), but he and Lily do not get on well. Gypsy tries to help care for Irene and she gets on Bianca's nerves. Gypsy is attracted to Liam Murphy (Axle Whitehead
) and she organises a gig for him at the restaurant. Mark comes to visit Gypsy and he and Lily clash. Mark later suggests sending Lily to boarding school, but Gypsy disagrees with the idea. She later has sex with Liam on the beach, but they are interrupted by Bianca. Lily tells Mark and he and Gypsy break up. Irene tells Gypsy to leave and she and Lily pack up and go home.
Cooper won the "Most Popular New Female Talent" award for her portrayal of Gypsy, she was the first ever recipient of the award. Gypsy's kidnapping was nominated for "Most Dramatic Storyline" at the 1999 Inside Soap Awards
. The following year, Cooper won an award in the "Best Aussie actress" category.
In 2002, Chris Middendorp of The Age
said Gypsy was a "schoolgirl tart" who dominated the 2000 season of Home and Away as "she explored romantic opportunity in all the wrong places - rich playboys, schoolboys, older men. She finally embraced true love with young Will, one of her first boyfriends." Soap opera reporting website Holy Soap
included Gypsy on their list of "Sexiest Home and Away girls ever" list. They also brand her most memorable moments as being "being kidnapped and having a baby with Will Smith". The Courier-Mail
include Cooper on their list of sexiest ever Home and Away characters. In his book Super Aussie Soaps, author Andrew Mercado criticised the Nash family because of their Hong Kong origin, stating: "Was Summer Bay finally turning multicultural and getting an Asian family? Fat Chance. They were middle-class Causasians just like everyone else in the Bay (and Neighbours Ramsay Street)."
Jon Horsley of Yahoo!
was happy that Gypsy was returning to the serial and said "It’s always nice to have a nostalgic favourite return."
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Australian Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
, played by Kimberley Cooper
Kimberley Cooper
Kimberley Cooper, in Sydney New South Wales, is an Australian actress who played Gypsy Smith in Home and Away . Cooper won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent on Australian television in 1999 and the Best Aussie Actress for The Inside Soap Awards, UK, 2000...
. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 18 February 1998. Gypsy and her on-screen family the Nash's were introduced to fill the void of Debra Lawrance's
Debra Lawrance
Debra Lawrance is an Australian actress best known for her role as Pippa Ross on Home and Away, which she played from 1990 to 1998. She continues to guest star to this date- her last appearance was in 2009.-Biography:...
departure as Pippa Ross
Pippa Ross
Phillipa "Pippa" Routledge OAM is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Actress Vanessa Downing originated the role from 1988 to 1990, then Debra Lawrance took over from 1990 to 1998. The character has made guest returns in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and...
, to form the main family at the caravan park home, often described as "the centre of Summer Bay". Cooper quit the serial in 2001 and last appeared on 15 February 2002. Cooper has won two awards for her portrayal of Gypsy and is often referred to as a "sex symbol" of the serial. In June 2011, it was announced that Cooper had reprised her role as Gypsy. She returned on 9 September 2011 and departed on 13 October 2011.
Character creation and casting
In 1997, after Debra LawranceDebra Lawrance
Debra Lawrance is an Australian actress best known for her role as Pippa Ross on Home and Away, which she played from 1990 to 1998. She continues to guest star to this date- her last appearance was in 2009.-Biography:...
quit her role as Pippa Ross
Pippa Ross
Phillipa "Pippa" Routledge OAM is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Actress Vanessa Downing originated the role from 1988 to 1990, then Debra Lawrance took over from 1990 to 1998. The character has made guest returns in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and...
producers decided to introduce a new family to run the caravan park, because the household was seen as the "centrepieice of the show". They created the Nash family consisting of Gypsy played by Cooper, sibling Tom Nash (Graeme Squires) and their parents Natalie
Natalie Nash
Natalie "Nat" Nash is a fictional character from the Australian Seven Network soap opera Home and Away, played by Antoinette Byron. She made her first on-screen appearance on 18 February 1998. Natalie was originally played by Angelica la Bozzetta until her departure in 1998...
and Joel Nash
Joel Nash
Joel Nash is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Portrayed by actor David Woodley, he was a regular on the show from 1998 until 2000.-Character's background:...
played by Angelica la Bozzetta and David Woodley respectively. The family come to Summer Bay from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
to start a new life.
Cooper later spoke fondly of the serial, stating: "I never look at Home and Away and cringe [...] Unapologetically it's good TV for the time that it is made in." In 2009 executive prodcer Cameron Welsh
Cameron Welsh
Cameron Welsh is an Australian actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Mitch McColl on Australian soap opera Home and Away from 1999 until 2001. He was nominated for a Logie Award in 2000 for Most Popular New Male Talent...
stated he would love to see Cooper return as Gypsy. In 2010, Zac Drayson
Zac Drayson
Zac Drayson is an Australian actor.He is best known for the role of Will Smith, one of Irene Roberts' many foster children in the soap opera Home and Away...
who plays Cooper's on-screen husband Will Smith
Will Smith (Home and Away)
Will Smith is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Zac Drayson. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 February 1998. Will was a regular on the show from 1998 to 2002. He continued to make frequent guest appearances until 2005. In 2010, it was...
revealed that Cooper wanted to return along side him, but could not commit to filming because of her wedding commitments.
In June 2011, it was announced that Cooper had reprised her role as Gypsy and had returned to filming in May. Cooper confirmed that Gypsy's return would be "dramatic, in true Gypsy style". Gypsy returned with her daughter Lily in September 2011.
Storylines
Gypsy arrived in Summer BaySummer Bay
Summer Bay is the fictional town featured in the Australian soap opera, Home and Away. Palm Beach, north of Sydney, is used for the show's exterior scenes in order to depict the Bay. Lane Cove River Tourist Park at Macquarie Park is the current location for filming of scenes involving the Summer...
, her father's old home town, with her father Joel, mother Natalie and older brother Tom. She had grown up in Hong Kong and as a result was used to the city life. The somewhat quieter pace of life in Summer Bay was something she had a hard time getting used to at first. She and Tom were also surprised to find their uncle Travis Nash
Travis Nash
Travis Nash is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Nic Testoni. He made his first on screen appearance on 10 April 1995 and departed on 11 August 1999.-Backstory:...
, who they had never met, living in the town and learned that Joel had left Summer Bay when he found out his father had been behaving inappropriately towards Natalie. Although things were tense at first, the two branchs of the family soon bonded.
As an attractive young woman, Gypsy was never short of male attention. The first person to take an interest in her was Vinnie Patterson
Vinnie Patterson
Vincent 'Vinnie' Patterson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He made his first on-screen appearence on 14 July 1997 and departed on 1 March 2002...
but since he was dating Justine Welles
Justine Welles
Justine Welles is a fictional character on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. The character was played by actress Bree Desborough.Her biggest storyline was in 1999 when she began babysitting a baby girl, Ruby Collins. One night while looking after her, she noticed bruises on Ruby's body...
at the time she quickly made it clear she was not interested. She soon caught the eye of Will Smith
Will Smith (Home and Away)
Will Smith is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Zac Drayson. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 February 1998. Will was a regular on the show from 1998 to 2002. He continued to make frequent guest appearances until 2005. In 2010, it was...
, who had also just arrived in the Bay. In order to impress him, she bought him some dope
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
(which in fact he did not touch) and when Joel and Travis found it she ended up in trouble. She eventually reported the dealer, Lillian, to the school. She also became good friends with Sam Marshall
Sam Marshall
Sam Marshall is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Ryan Clark between 1991 and 2000. He returned for short stints in 2001, 2002 and 2005.-Character:...
and later Hayley Smith
Hayley Smith (Home and Away)
Hayley Rose Hunter is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She was portrayed from September 1998 to September 2005 by actress Bec Cartwright and from September to November 2005 by Ella Scott Lynch, after Cartwright left the show for personal...
.
Gypsy, together with Justine and Tiegan Brook, started up a band called the Broken Dolls, managed by Vinnie. After their first performance at a school dance, Gypsy snuck off into a classroom to spend time with Will and as a result the pair were locked in and had to spend the night at the school. Joel was furious when he found out and tried to break the pair up but eventually relented. As soon as Joel started to approve of Will, Gypsy lost interested in him somewhat. She later changed her mind and seemed ready to sleep with him but when he treated the matter casually she broke up with him again. She briefly dated Sam but never saw him as anything more than a friend.
While bushwalking, Gypsy, along with Will, Sam and Hayley, was taken hostage by Murray, a drifter who had previously robbed the Diner. During the incident, Will turned down an opportunity to escape in order to stay with Gypsy and told her that he loved her. However, she was upset when straight afterwards he left town without telling her. By the time he returned she was seeing an older man, Robert Perez, and was delighted when her parents, unaware of the connection, employed him as their tutor.
What no-one in the family knew was that Perez was actually David DiAngelo, a career criminal who had spent fifteen years in prison as a result of a chance encounter with Joel, when he was working as a policeman in Hong Kong. DiAngelo kidnapped Gypsy while supposedly taking her to a booksale and held her prisoner for nearly two weeks, planning to kill her. When he forced Gypsy to record a tape message to be sent to her family, she managed to include a clue as to her location and the police rescued her. DiAngelo came after the family again, setting fire to their house. Gypsy was rescued from the blaze by Travis and DiAngelo was finally caught but the house was gone and Gypsy and her family were forced to move in with Travis and his wife Rebecca. Gypsy struck up a sisterly relationship with their foster children, Justine and Peta Janossi, especially after Travis and Rebecca left and Joel and Natalie started fostering the pair.
Gypsy and Will continued to remain close without actually dating and instead Gypsy started seeing Jesse McGregor
Jesse McGregor
Jesse McGregor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. The character was played by actor Ben Unwin between 1996 and 2000 and again between 2002 and 2005.-1996-2000:...
. The age difference worried a few people but her parents cautiously approved. Gypsy, however, soon found a relationship with a stay-at-home single parent somewhat dull and after meeting a guy over the Internet she broke off with Jesse. She then went to meet her Internet beau at the Surf Club...only to discover to their mutual horror that it was Tom.
Gypsy took a liking to Mitch McColl
Mitch McColl
Mitchell "Mitch" McColl is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He was portrayed by actor Cameron Welsh. He debuted on 15 July 1999 and departed on 9 March 2001. When Welsh fell ill in 2000, Mitchell McMahon took over the role temporarily...
when he arrived in the Bay and the pair dated for a while but she backed off when she realised Hayley liked him. Gypsy ended up in trouble when she and some of the Bay's other teens went joyriding in the car belonging to Irene Roberts'
Irene Roberts
Irene Roberts is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Lynne McGranger. She was previously played by actress Jacqui Phillips from 1991 until 1992 when McGranger took over the role. Irene was originally a recurring character, in 1993 McGranger...
boyfriend Anthony Doyle. A speed camera photo of the car clearly showed Gypsy and faced with Joel's intense disapproval she went and confessed to his superior, Mike Carter, who let her off with a warning.
Will had tried to cover for her during the incident and the pair reconciled. However, Gypsy hid the fact she had slept with Mitch and when the truth came out it caused a rift between her and Hayley. She was also passed over for school captain and in annoyance started a campaign against headmistress Judith Ackroyd and hence fell out with Peta, who was dating Judith's son Edward. She started a feud with classmate Claire Rodgers, who accused Gypsy of being a slut. When she found out Claire had slept with Sam, Gypsy made it public knowledge, widening the rift with her friends further.
When Tom took Alf Stewart's
Alf Stewart
Alfred Douglas "Alf" Stewart is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Ray Meagher. The character debuted on-screen during the serial's pilot episode on 17 January 1988...
boat out for a rich kid's party, he asked Gypsy to help out. She was enamoured with the birthday boy, Charlie Nicholas, and started dating him, even though she was still seeing Will. She quickly realised Charlie had a drink problem but enjoyed the party lifestyle too much. She soon sobered up when she learned Natalie had had an affair with an old friend, Glen Tanner, and he was the father of her unborn child. Immediately afterwards, Charlie's drinking involved the pair in a car accident: Charlie was killed and Gypsy badly injured.
Gypsy matured considerably over the incident, telling Joel she was responsible for what had happened when he tried to blame other people. But her affair with Charlie had been revealed in the worst way possible and she was left a virtual outcast. She did, however, end up bonding with Natalie(who was almost as vilified) for the first time and was upset when both she and Tom left the Bay, leaving her alone with Joel, now conditioned to think the worst of her, and forced to sell their home.
With Gypsy's reputation at an all-time low, she found herself receiving unwanted advances from Kieran Fletcher, Sally's
Sally Fletcher
Sally Louise Fletcher is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Kate Ritchie...
fiancé, who pointed out no-one would believe she was innocent. She kept quiet until halfway through Kieran and Sally's wedding, when she announced what had been happening. Fortunately both Hayley and Colleen Smart
Colleen Smart
Colleen Smart is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Lyn Collingwood. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 7 March 1988. She was introduced as a recurring character by producer Alan Bateman. She served as comic relief...
backed her up. Her courage caused her to build bridges with Will and Hayley, as well as starting a friendship with Sally.
Joel and Gypsy ended up moving in with Vinnie in Joel's old family home and Gypsy and Vinnie ended up becoming good friends. She had quit school during the Kieran incident and ended up getting a part-time job at the Drop-In Centre. Ironically, she ended up staying there herself when relations with Joel hit an all-time low, shortly before he moved in with Judith, who he had started seeing. Gypsy became close to Shelley Sutherland
Shelley Sutherland
Michelle "Shelley" Sutherland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by actress Paula Forrest from 2000-2002, 2003, 2004, 2009....
, her boss, but the fact that Shelley's daughter Dani was seeing Will meant spending time with her family was uncomfortable.
No-one seemed happy with Vinnie and Gypsy living alone together, especially Vinnie's girlfriend Leah Poulos, but Gypsy's old teacher Harry Reynolds
Harry Reynolds (Home and Away)
Harry Reynolds is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Justin Melvey. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 September 1999.-Casting:...
was an odd choice for chaperone given that everyone thought he and Gypsy were seeing each other. Despite their protests, the pair then did start seeing each other. Soon after, Gypsy received a hoax call telling her Harry was dead. This turned out to be the work of Kirsten, a former girlfriend of Charlie's, who then made it look as though she and Harry had slept together. Gypsy and Harry apparently split up but this was just a ruse to flush Kirsten out and she was charged with harassment. Around the same time, Joel and Natalie reunited and moved to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, leaving Gypsy as the only Nash left in Summer Bay.
Not wanting Harry to see her as a schoolgirl, Gypsy decided to complete her education at TAFE while continuing to work at the Drop-In Centre. In the end her relationship with Harry did not last long-she found out he still had feelings for his old girlfriend Shauna Bradley and in anger shredded his shirts and smashed up his bike. Possibly as a result of this latest bad experience with men, Gypsy found herself developing romantic feelings for Shelley. When Shelley told her she would have been experimenting with her sexuality if she felt like that, she went out with another college student, Desiree Upton, but one kiss was enough to convince her she was not gay and although real her feelings for Shelley were not physical ones.
When Shelley commented that she considered her husband Rhys
Rhys Sutherland
Rhys Sutherland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by actor Michael Beckley from 2000 to late 2004....
her best friend Gypsy wondered if that was where she was going wrong. She tried being friends with Will, which meant getting on with Dani. Things seemed to be going well until Dani learned Will had lied about spending time with Gypsy. Will and Gypsy then ended up sleeping together but she decided against pursuing a relationship, thinking Will still loved Dani.
Although she had initially balked at the idea, when Vinnie married Leah Gypsy ended up taking over her old room at Sally and Shauna's place. Soon after, she discovered she was pregnant with Will's child. Not wanting to trap him into being a father, she went out with one of her lecturers, Andrew Moffat, and let Vinnie think they had slept together so everyone would think he was the father. However, both Sally and Tom (paying a brief visit) quickly realised the truth.
Left in charge of the Drop-In Centre in Shelley's absence, Gypsy became involved with the case of Jodie Harrington, a young girl who was apparently being abused. Even though it appeared her bruises were the results of accidents caused by her ADHD
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone" and symptoms starting before seven years of age.ADHD is the most commonly studied and...
, Gypsy asked for a full investigation and when Shelley and DOCS turned up nothing she started hanging around outside Jodie's home and school looking for evidence. She eventually realised Jodie was making stories up to try to get her dad to come home but the incident caused her to fall out with Shelley and be suspended from the Drop-In Centre, having to take a job at the Diner to earn money. The two women eventually made up when Gypsy was slightly injured protecting Shelley from a violent parent.
Five months into Gypsy's pregnancy, Will finally realised he was the father. Gypsy considering leaving town but eventually accepted he had a right to choose what he wanted to do. With the information common knowledge, Gypsy complained that Will was causing her unnecessary stress and even when he broke up with Dani she was worried he did not love her. He eventually won her round and the pair reunited, with Gypsy moving in with Will and his family.
Gypsy's water broke in the middle of the kitchen and she ended up giving birth to her daughter Lily by the roadside, with Will supporting her. He promptly proposed to her and she accepted. Soon after, Will was offered a job in Queensland, meaning they would be near to Gypsy's family, but they did not have time to arrange a marriage license before they left. The pair married anyway in a purely symbolic ceremony before marrying for real in Queensland. Gypsy did not accompany Will on any of his return trips to the Bay. A few years later, Will reveals Rachel McGregor, who had been staying with him and Gypsy, had asked them to adopt her. On his return to the Bay in 2010, Will revealed he had cheated on Gypsy and they had separated.
Nine years after she left the Bay, Gypsy returns to see Irene, following her breast cancer diagnosis. Gypsy and Lily (Charlie Rose Maclennan) move in with Irene, Bianca (Lisa Gormley
Lisa Gormley
Lisa Gormley is an Australian actress and best known for playing Bianca Scott on the Channel 7 serial drama Home and Away. She is a NIDA graduate.- Early life :...
) and April Scott (Rhiannon Fish
Rhiannon Fish
Rhiannon Marie Fish is an Australian actress who first appeared on television at age eleven when she starred on Neighbours. She later starred as Rocky in the Disney Channel show As the Bell Rings. As of June 2010, Fish plays April Scott on Home and Away.-Early life:Fish was born in Calgary,...
). Gypsy tells Irene she is dating a man named Mark (Shane Emmett), but he and Lily do not get on well. Gypsy tries to help care for Irene and she gets on Bianca's nerves. Gypsy is attracted to Liam Murphy (Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead is a former Australian Video Hits TV host and current singer, musician, and actor. In 2008, he released his first studio album Losing Sleep which debuted outside of the ARIA top 50...
) and she organises a gig for him at the restaurant. Mark comes to visit Gypsy and he and Lily clash. Mark later suggests sending Lily to boarding school, but Gypsy disagrees with the idea. She later has sex with Liam on the beach, but they are interrupted by Bianca. Lily tells Mark and he and Gypsy break up. Irene tells Gypsy to leave and she and Lily pack up and go home.
Reception
At the 41st Logie AwardsLogie Awards of 1999
The 41st Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Sunday 11 April 1999 at Crown Casino in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Andrew Denton from the ABC was the Master of Ceremonies...
Cooper won the "Most Popular New Female Talent" award for her portrayal of Gypsy, she was the first ever recipient of the award. Gypsy's kidnapping was nominated for "Most Dramatic Storyline" at the 1999 Inside Soap Awards
Inside Soap Awards
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...
. The following year, Cooper won an award in the "Best Aussie actress" category.
In 2002, Chris Middendorp of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
said Gypsy was a "schoolgirl tart" who dominated the 2000 season of Home and Away as "she explored romantic opportunity in all the wrong places - rich playboys, schoolboys, older men. She finally embraced true love with young Will, one of her first boyfriends." Soap opera reporting website Holy Soap
Holy Soap
Holy Soap is a UK television and entertainment website founded in June 2009 by the British television company Channel 5. The website is the official UK home of the Australian soap operas Home and Away and Neighbours, which are broadcast on the channel...
included Gypsy on their list of "Sexiest Home and Away girls ever" list. They also brand her most memorable moments as being "being kidnapped and having a baby with Will Smith". The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
include Cooper on their list of sexiest ever Home and Away characters. In his book Super Aussie Soaps, author Andrew Mercado criticised the Nash family because of their Hong Kong origin, stating: "Was Summer Bay finally turning multicultural and getting an Asian family? Fat Chance. They were middle-class Causasians just like everyone else in the Bay (and Neighbours Ramsay Street)."
Jon Horsley of Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
was happy that Gypsy was returning to the serial and said "It’s always nice to have a nostalgic favourite return."