.
Character Profiles > Josh Anderson Jeremy Angerson

Joshua 'Josh' Anderson 1990-1992
Lived: 26 Ramsay Street
Marital Status: Melissa Jarrett
Born: c. 1974
Occupation: Student, Stripper

Josh Anderson was born and raised in Mildura, where he grew up addicted to computers and became a genius at anything remotely technical. When his parents bought the local news agents in Erinsborough, Josh was enrolled at Erinsborough High School, where he eagerly awaited the start of Year 10. On his first day at school, Josh made an immediate friend when he bumped into Todd Landers at the Coffee Shop. They realised they shared an interest in soccer and Todd agreed to help Josh settle in and get to know the other students. But the friendship nearly collapsed after the first day when Josh expressed an interest in one student in particular – Melissa Jarrett, who unbeknownst to Josh was Todd's ex-girlfriend. Todd was less than impressed when Josh asked Melissa out on a date and she accepted, but once he realised the connection, Josh backed off, particularly as it dawned on him that Melissa was still keen on Todd anyway.

With Todd and Melissa back together, Josh quickly found himself a girlfriend in the form of Cody Willis, but she, too, had had a liaison with Todd in the past. Cody had come between Todd and Melissa and had led to their break-up. And within a few months of dating Josh, Cody began to renew her interest in Todd while Josh began to fall more and more for Melissa, especially when they began to spend time together studying. Eventually, all four realised that they were with the wrong partner and swapped around – Josh and Melissa got together, and Todd started dating Cody.

Josh and Melissa's relationship consisted of one hiccup after another. Their romantic night at a drive-in movie one time turned into a disaster when, due to the fact that neither of them actually owned a car, they had to watch the film from a tree - which they then proceeded to get stuck in. When Josh rigged the school computer to print out their History essay exactly the same apart from a few sentences, they were quickly caught out by the stern school principal Dorothy Burke. Melissa became suspicious that Josh was having an affair when he began violin lessons and constantly sung the praises of his teacher, Katrina. She eventually tracked her down and was all set to confront her until she discovered that Katrina was actually a much older lady than Josh and there had been nothing to worry about all along.

Josh found himself on the receiving end of Melissa's wrath when he began breeding mice in order to sell them on to the school for science experiments. Melissa responded by breaking into the school to set them free, and the ordeal made Melissa become more and more conscious of events around her whereby animals were being harmed. So when she discovered the tuna Paul Robinson was buying in for the restaurant at Lassiter's Hotel were caught in drift nets which also trapped dolphins, she enrolled Josh in a campaign to inform the hotel's customers about the tuna Paul was buying. Melissa was thrilled when Paul finally agreed not to use the tuna claiming he had had enough of the hassle he was getting from her and Josh. But Josh rained on Melissa's parade by suggesting Paul might have been lying to her about changing suppliers, and he hatched a plan for them to sneak into the Lassiter's kitchen that night. After midnight, Melissa and Josh managed to sneak into the kitchens and searched the massive freezers for the tuna. Their suspicions were confirmed when they discovered that Paul was still buying the same tuna, except it was repackaged in nameless boxes. But just as they made the discovery, a kitchen hand who was locking up shut the freezer door. Stuck until morning, the horrific realisation hit Josh and Melissa that they could freeze to death if they weren't found by then. Luckily, a kitchen hand on night shift found them in the middle of the night and the couple escaped unharmed. However, they still had to face a furious Paul, who landed them with a huge bill for the broken thermostat and damaged food in the freezer.

When Josh's parents decided to sell their newsagency and return to Mildura, he was reluctant to leave Melissa and his good friends behind, and was delighted when Todd's family, the Robinsons, offered to let him stay with them until he completed his schooling. Besides sharing a room with his best mate Todd, Josh also grew close to Todd's uncle, Jim, who shared Josh's interest in technology, and had run an engineering business for many years. Josh was also cared for at the Robinsons by Helen Daniels, Jim's mother-in-law, and she supported him even when he was forced to testify against her in a court case she took against a dodgy hotel where she had suffered a fall down a flight of stairs.

Meanwhile, Melissa left Erinsborough when her father landed a job in America, and she and Josh agreed to try a long-distance relationship. But Josh was unable to remain committed, especially when Todd's cousin Lucy returned home to the Robinson house having spent the previous few years at boarding school. Josh was instantly smitten, but could only admire Lucy from afar as she was secretly in love with someone else. However, when Josh realised that that someone else was her recently discovered half-brother Glen Donnelly, he desperately tried to warn her off becoming romantically involved with him. After they kissed, the illicit liaison was exposed by Lucy's brother Paul and Josh was on hand to provide Lucy with a shoulder to cry on as she came to terms with Glen dating Gemma Ramsay.

Josh persisted in his attempts at wooing Lucy, and he lavished her with expensive gifts, including a pair of diamond earrings. Lucy decided to use Josh's love for her to her advantage and persuaded him to hack into the school computer system to change her exam grades. Although he backed out at the last minute, Lucy realised that he had left the system on and she changed her results herself. Dorothy was convinced that Josh had been the culprit and suspended him from school, until Lucy owned up and cleared Josh's name. Regretful of her treatment of Josh, Lucy gave him back his earrings, and luckily for Josh, Emma Gordon was happy to accept them instead. Emma was Lucy's best friend, and as seemed to be the tradition for Josh's romantic interests, an old flame of Todd's. Josh enjoyed a brief romance with Emma, but it caused a rift between him and Todd, as Todd evidently still had feelings for Emma.

Meanwhile, Josh's feelings for Lucy remained, and he was on hand to save her when she was held captive by a crazed photographer who believed she was his dead girlfriend, Claire. Lucy was indebted to Josh after this ordeal and they became closer, and when Josh lost his eyesight after accidentally spraying his eyes with paint whilst making a new surfboard, Lucy promised to look after him. Josh loved having Lucy devote her full attention to him so much that when his sight did eventually return, he kept up the pretence of being blind a little longer.

In order to make some extra cash, Josh found himself a part-time job as a stripper, and was helped by Melanie Pearson in choosing a suitable guise to adopt during his performances. Josh eventually settled on a Roman soldier outfit and his career as a strippagram got off to a flying start – until the night he was called to Helen's hen party at No.22. Josh impressed the more mature ladies at the party – including Helen and Dorothy – so much with his toned body that they ripped off his mask to see more of him. Everyone was initially shocked to discover it was Josh, and Josh felt hugely embarrassed until they all made him realise he shouldn't be ashamed of his body and he should proudly flaunt it.

School nerd Phoebe Bright couldn't believe her luck when Josh asked her out on a date, but she was humiliated and upset when she discovered that the only reason he went out with her was because he had lost a bet with Todd and Cody's older brother, Brad. However, when Josh was paired with Phoebe for the school play, the amount of time they spent together led Josh to the realisation that there was more to Phoebe than he thought. They started dating but her over-protective father Arthur strongly disapproved and insisted Phoebe put all her energy into her studies and not boys. Phoebe eventually stood up to her father and insisted she be allowed see Josh, but the confrontation led to Arthur suffering a heart attack and it caused Phoebe to call things off with Josh completely.

Josh managed to take his mind of the break with Phoebe when the chance came of spending Christmas in Surfer's Paradise with Lucy and Brad when Madge Bishop offered them the use of her holiday home. While there, the trio befriended Beth and David Brennan, who had fled home to escape their mother's abusive boyfriend. While Lucy and David grew close, Josh and Brad fought tooth and nail for the affections of Beth – but neither was successful in their quest and Beth and David were reunited with their mum before Josh, Lucy and Brad returned to Erinsborough.

In Josh's absence, Todd had spent a lot of time with Phoebe and the two began to realise they had feelings for each other. After professing their love for each other, Todd and Phoebe faced the difficult task of breaking the news to Josh, and when he finally realised they were an item, Josh took it particularly hard. A feud developed between himself and Todd, which made for a lot of tension around the Robinson household. But the two mates patched things up just before Josh decided to move back to his parents in Mildura and finish Year 12 there.

In 2023, Melissa returned to Erinsborough and revealed that, following the deaths of both Todd and Cody in the 1990s, she and Josh had reconnected and had been married for 20 years.

Trivia Notes
• During Melissa's 2023 return, a social media interview with Jade Amenta revealed that Josh and Melissa had two daughters together, though this wasn't mentioned on-screen

Tenure
1131-1657

Magic Moments
Episode 1131: Josh's Arrival

Biography by Moe

Back