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Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Alex Argenzio Marco Pio Venturini

Alex Argenzio 2003
Occupation: Barman

Whilst trying to move on from a brief relationship with Max Hoyland, Steph Scully went with best friend Libby Kennedy to Lou’s Place pub and announced that she would ask out the first guy she saw. When that man turned out to be Libby’s cousin, dastardly Dr Darcy Tyler, she changed the rules, and decided that the man had to be a stranger. Her next meeting was with the pub’s new barman, Alex Argenzio, and when he started telling her about his plans to save enough money to tour Australia on his motorbike – something she had also planned to do – her friends started encouraging her to ask him out. Before she could do so, he admitted that he had a secret – he still lived with his parents, but Steph wasn’t dissuaded and the pair started planning their first date. When Max, who part-owned the pub, found out that his new barman was dating Steph, he was upset to hear about her moving on.

Steph and Alex’s first date took them to Melbourne Aquarium, where Alex had arranged for them to swim in the shark tank. Following that first, exhilarating date, Steph and Alex shared a kiss, and he arranged another extreme sport for their next date, in the form of sky-diving. However, to go on the date, Alex was forced to ask Max to cover his shift, and when Max had to go home at the last minute, Steph and Alex had to cancel their date. They soon made up for it, however, as she spent the evening with him at the pub and, after he locked up, they got more comfortable in the office. Unfortunately, when Max was called back by the complex security, he caught the pair together and a furious Alex accused Max of behaving like Steph’s dad, interfering in her love life.

Max’s young daughter Summer, meanwhile, was upset that Alex had come between Steph and her dad, and started changing the bar rotas so that Alex only had one shift a week. But Alex and Steph’s relationship only grew stronger, and he was taken home to meet her parents, Joe and Lyn. They thoroughly approved of the new man in Steph’s life, and Joe was pleased to find out that Alex’s uncle worked for him as a cement pourer. And, at the bar, Max was growing increasingly upset as Alex talked about Steph all the time and found himself feeling old and unwanted after Alex suggested that he attend an over-40s speed dating evening. In an effort to compete with Alex, Max bought some hipper clothes, but it looked like he might be about to lose Steph completely, as Alex decided to leave for his trip around Australia, and asked her to join him.

After much deliberation, Steph agreed to go with Alex, but, as the two of them started to plan the trip, it became clear that her heart wasn’t in it, and her feelings for Max were still present. When Alex found out that Steph hadn’t even mentioned the trip to her family, he confronted her and asked if she really wanted to go. She decided to go, and Alex was delighted, but after Steph had another chat to Max, during which she tried to find out his feelings by saying that there was nothing keeping her in Erinsborough, she changed her mind again. She told Alex that she had feelings for another man, and it wouldn’t be fair of her to go on the trip. Alex replied that they could still go, just as friends, and, a few days later, they set off on their big adventure, with Max asking Alex to take good care of Steph.

As the trip began, Steph was finding it difficult to enjoy herself, missing her friends and family, and particularly Max, back in Erinsborough. Alex tried to cheer her up with a few days spent canoeing down the river but, when the capsized, Steph struggled to the surface and immediately called out Max’s name. Alex admitted that the accident had also made him think about all of the things he might have missed out on, if they hadn’t survived and Steph realised that she wasn’t happy on the trip. Alex and Steph parted ways, and she headed to visit Libby, who had since taken a teaching job in the country, before returning to Erinsborough for a happy reunion with Max.

Biography by Steve

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