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Character Profiles > Dee Bliss Madeleine West

Dione 'Dee' Rebecchi (née Bliss) 2000-2003
Lived: 30, 32 Ramsay Street
Born: 1979
Parents: John and Magda Bliss
Marital Status: Darren Turner (1997; dissolved), Toadfish Rebecchi (2003)
Siblings: Cecile
Family Tree: Bliss
Occupation: Nurse at Erinsborough & District Hospital
Died: 2003 (presumed)

Dione Bliss was born in Caroombin, Tasmania on July 31st 1979. A kind and caring nurse with a wicked sense of humour, Dione met Joel Samuels and Toadie Rebecchi while out for dinner with her friend, Vanessa Bradshaw. When she introduced herself to Joel, who was claiming to be a famous Argentinian soccer player, she told him that she and Vanessa were from a wealthy background. Unfortunately, the truth came out after a disastrous dinner at Lanzini's, but Joel wasn't about to give up. When Dione's sister, Cecile, turned up at Number 30 with a group of friends looking for calendar hunk Joel, Dione came to pick her up. Joel talked her into going on a date with him and they agreed on complete honesty from then on.

A few weeks later, Dione's friend Carrie Clark returned to Erinsborough after spending some time abroad. While Dee thought that things were finally working between her and Joel, she didn't realise that Joel and Carrie were secretly seeing each other. Joel was trying to decide which friend he preferred, but the decision was suddenly made when Dee caught her boyfriend and her best friend kissing in the pool at Number 30. Carrie left town, while Joel was quickly dumped.

Joel was devastated and began harrassing Dione with phone calls. She reluctantly started to see him again, but he found it difficult to trust her, first when he saw her with her colleage Dr. Marcus Stevens, leading to them taking another break. However, they couldn't just be friends and soon got back together. Their relationship was tested again when Joel's father, Bernie, came to stay. Dee quickly got tired of Bernie's flirting and lecherous attitude and was forced to tell Joel the truth about his father. Joel found this difficult to face up to, but soon saw what his father was really like.

Soon after, Dee's ex-boyfriend, Max Crawford, came to town. Joel tried very hard not to be jealous. First, Toadie found out that Max was trying to win Dee back by moving in with her, then Joel tried to matchmake Max with Steph Scully, in order to get rid of him. When Dee found out, she warned Steph off and later shared a passionate kiss with Max. However, Dee's guilt got too much for her and she admitted it all to Joel. They managed to patch things up and agreed not to get jealous anymore.

After a misunderstanding with Tess, Joel thought that Dee wanted commitment and proposed to her. At first, she thought it was a joke, but when she realised he was serious, she turned it to her advantage, leading to a series of practical jokes between the couple. Dione managed to terrify Joel when she started craving commitment and wanted to marry as soon as possible. Joel got his revenge by getting a fake tattoo, claiming it was real and a sign of his love. This backfired when Dee decided she wanted to get a matching one, with Joel only admitting the truth when they got to the tattoo parlour.

Dee also developed a frosty relationship with another Ramsay Street resident. When Dee bad-mouthed Libby's gynaecologist, Karl was furious as Libby already had enough to worry about. He confronted Dione, who in turn called him a typical, arrogant doctor. To disprove this myth, Karl invited Dee to join him in some fund-raising, and Dee came up with the idea of Wigs for Kids. Everyone was sponsored to wear a funny wig for the day, raising money for important surgical equipment.

Meanwhile, the practical jokes continued. Joel was aware of how seriously Dee took her painting and so arranged for his friend Mal Kennedy to get in contact from England pretending to be a distant relative from the UK, interested in her art. Dione was extremely excited, thinking she was on the verge on international recognition, so when she learnt it was all a joke, she was devastated. Even Lance and Toadie were horrifed with what Joel had done, and once again, Dione and Joel split up.

Joel was surprised to find out that Tess' new housemate at Number 32 was none other than Dione. Dee was quick to strain her friendship with Tess when she started leaving the house in a mess and inviting her nursing friends back at all hours. Likewise, Tess got off to a bad start by accidentally breaking Dee's Ganesh elephant idol. Tess almost threw Dione out on a number of occasions, but they eventually managed to learn to live together.

Dione's life started heading in a new direction when Susan's nephew, Dr. Darcy Tyler, arrived in Erinsborough. While she was lusting after Darcy, she also noticed how close Joel was becoming to Felicity Scully, particularly at the debutante ball. While Dee tried to fight her attraction to Darcy, it became more and more difficult and after a date at the fundraising ball, they started seeing each other. Dee was made aware of Darcy's ex-girlfriend, Alice Jamison, and Darcy painted a picture of her as cold and manipulative. When Alice turned up in Ramsay Street, it became clear that there was more to the story, but Darcy decided to go back to the country, leaving Dione devastated.

Dee decided to put Darcy behind her, throwing herself into the single life with housemate Tess. But everything was thrown into chaos once again when Philip Martin decided to sell Number 32. At first, Dee and Tess thought they could buy the house themselves, but when the day of the auction came, they were outbid by Evan Hancock. Dee swallowed her pride and accepted Lance's old room at Number 30, living alongside her ex-boyfriend, Joel, who was now seeing Flick. Not long after, Darcy returned to Ramsay Street, leaving Dee even more confused. Darcy insisted things were over for him and Alice and then he was offered a job in Perth, meaning Dione had to decide whether she wanted him to stay. At the last minute, she realised she had feelings for him, so they started seeing each other after a passionate kiss in the surgery.

Despite a few problems, including a warning about Darcy from Alice, Dione and Darcy settled into a happy relationship. Meanwhile, Joel wanted Flick to come and stay with them and Dee reluctantly agreed. However, Flick wasn't a very good housemate, ruining the cooker in the process and Dione was furious. Dee's problems continued to escalate when she left the pool gate open and Lolly Carpenter wandered in, fell in the pool and almost drowned. Dione admitted what had happened to Lou, who was just relieved that Lolly was okay. The incident also led to Leo Hancock confiding in Dee after it reminded him of a similar incident in his childhood, when his sister, Francesca, drowned.

While all this was going on, Dione didn't realise how close Darcy was getting to her ex-housemate, Tess. The pair of them began an affair, while Dee was confused as her old friend, Tess, began to act oddly, putting their friendship under strain. Dee was also unaware that Darcy was plotting to sell Karl's surgery and turn it into a superclinic. Realisation finally came for Dione when she arrived at the fishing competition looking for Darcy. When she eventually found him, she was shocked to see him in his car kissing Tess. Dee slipped away, furious, but she decided to bide her time. While the Kennedys and various other neighbours were in the pub celebrating Darcy's partnership at the surgery, Dione tipped a glass of champagne over his head and announced Darcy and Tess' betrayal to everyone. Susan was furious with Dee, whie Tess felt terrible over what had happened. Dione found unexpected sympathy with Joel and realised she was still attracted to him. Now that Joel's relationship with Flick was over, Dee started spending more time with him, all the time feeling more and more bitter over Darcy and Tess.

At a singles night, Dione met Victor McMillan, Darcy's friend who was part of the plan to take over the surgery. As Dee learnt of Darcy's plans, she agonised over telling Tess, who, much to Dee's disgust, was planning to marry Darcy. In a last ditch attempt to convince Tess, Dee contacted Alice, who had always warned everyone about Darcy. Alice contacted Tess, who decided she had to leave town, but called in on Dione on her way and the two friends finally patched up their differences.

However, Dee was still aware of Darcy's plans for the surgery and couldn't allow him to con Karl and Susan like that. But it all paled into insignificance when Dione made the shocking discovery that she was expecting Darcy's baby. Unable to tell Darcy himself, she confided in her housemate and close friend Toadie. He helped her through the difficult time, while she tried to work out what to do. Fate stepped in and made the decision when she slipped on the driveway while Toadie was cleaning the car. She suffered a miscarriage and planted a rose bush in the baby's memory. Desperate to change, Dee also got Lyn to cut her long hair and re-colour it.

Dee was also becoming close to Joel again. As he tried to score a job with Vernon Wells, she was worried for his safety, especially when he almost performed a dangerous dive. Dee also confided her secret pregnancy to him. Joel was furious with Darcy and despite promising not to say anything, he blurted out the truth during an argument. Dee forgave him and then he announced he'd be leaving to go to Queensland and work for Vernon Wells. He asked her to go with him and she agreed. However, she changed her mind at the last minute and joined him at the jetty as he left Erinsborough for good.

Dee turned her attentions back to her friends. Her friendship with Toadie grew, while she also reluctantly allowed Matt Hancock to move in. Then Stuart Parker arrived in Erinsborough. Dee found him sleeping in the garage and offered him the couch at Number 30. The two of them began a relationship after a few dates. At the same time, Dee helped out Darcy who had suffered heart problems after a series of personal setbacks. This went some way to helping her put the past behind her.

Dee and Stuart's relationship was a short one, but not without its dramas. When Stuart's ex-fiancee, Tracey, turned up, it brought out a side in him that she hadn't seen before. He was cold and unforgiving and she realised their relationship was going nowhere. After Tracey left, Dee broke things off with Stuart and the two went back to being friends.

Through all this, Dee still had one person who she could rely on - Toadie. After her disasters with Darcy and Stuart and his relationship with Maggie Hancock, they decided on throwing a party for a 'new start'. While spring cleaning the house, Dione found Toadie's lost letter from Maggie.

Dione attempted to move on with her life, taking a course in massage and going on a date with Ray Milsome, Stuart's friend from the army. But all the time, Toadie was growing more and more jealous and he confronted her - which ended in a kiss. Things were then very awkward between them. Everyone had noticed that there was something between Dee and Toadie, they had even started behaving like an old married couple. Eventually, they managed to get things together, but Toadie's insecurities in the relationship would frequently bubble to the surface. He insisted on going with her when she got a massage appointment with the Sydney Swans. When Ray attempted to split the two up, even going as far as throwing himself at Dee, Dione was honest with Toadie and Toadie finally found the strength to confront Ray. Since then, Dee and Toadie have been very happy together, even when Dee agreed to be Darcy's chaperone at the surgery after his sexual harassment case, and they decided to share a room.

A few weeks later, Dione went to Tasmania for her gran's birthday, but while she was there, her gran got sick and Dee decided to stay for a few weeks to look after her. When Dee returned to Erinsborough, she found a new surgeon, Martin Cook, working at the hospital. Martin agreed to let her join his tutoring group and she found herself spending more and more time with him. Unfortunately, Martin only had one thing on his mind and he made a pass at Dee. She warned him she wouldn't stand for it and removed herself from his group, but didn't tell anyone what had happened. Sadly, her behaviour led Toadie to believe that there was something going on between her and Martin, so he resolved to end the relationship.

Dee realised she had to tell Toadie the truth. After they had got their relationship back on track, she decided to lodge an official complaint against Mr. Cook, or Cookie to his friends. Dee was warned that the case may not go in her favour and that could harm her future career prospects, but after seeing Cookie around the hospital, she realised he had to be stopped. Very few people believed that a well-respected, not to mention happily married, surgeon like Cookie could do something like this. When Cookie was offered a permanent position at the hospital, Dee began to wonder if she was out of her depth.

After Darcy was attacked, Dee was tending to him when Cookie came in. Thinking Darcy was asleep, Cookie mentioned coming on to Dee and her rebuffing his advances. However, Darcy heard every word and offered to be a witness for Dee. Dee wasn't sure whether to trust Darcy again, but realised she had little other option. However, Dee noticed that Darcy was still pally with Cookie, who was arranging him a membership to the Delphium Club. Dee felt betrayed and told Toadie she wanted to leave town. They began to make plans for Toadie to work with Dee's aunt in Sydney. Then, while out at the pub, Dee bumped into Darcy who explained that he had blackmailed Cookie, by recording their conversation and threatening to tell his wife. Dee was thrilled, when, the next day, Cookie retracted his statement and was transferred out of Erinsborough Hospital.

As a result of Darcy helping her beat Cookie, Dee began to trust her ex-boyfriend again and spent more time with him, little realising that he was falling for her all over again. When Toadie asked Dee to join him at a family reunion in Colac, Dee was a little worried about spending two weeks with the infamous Rebecchi clan, but she agreed. However, a jealous Darcy arranged for her to be given a massage contract by a local football team, meaning she would have to stay in Erinsborough for the duration of the 'Rebecchi Round-up'. After Toadie had left for Colac alone, Darcy mentioned that he had a friend down near Colac who he's be visiting the following weekend and invited her to join him for the ride, then she could spend that weekend with the Rebecchis. She agreed and he invited her over to dinner, where she was impressed with his apartment, strewn with scatter cushions and candles. Of course, the whole design had been put in place for Dee's benefit and she fell asleep on the sofa after watching a Hugh Grant flick.

The next day, Dee decided not to tell Toadie about the incident and a few days later she set off with Darcy to Colac. Unfortunately, the car 'broke down' and Dee was forced to spend the night in a motel with Darcy, where they only had one double room left (another arrangement set-up by the evil doctor). Dee slept in the bed, while Darcy stayed on the sofa, depsite his best efforts, and the next morning she went to meet Toadie. Upon their return, Dee and Toadie's relationship seemed strained. Her constant jokes about how annoying the Rebecchis were began to grate on Toadie. Dee was also extremely disapproving of Toadie contacting Tim Collins about a reference. Later, Darcy 'accidentally' revealed that he and Dee shared a room at the motel, causing tension between Dee and Toadie. She also told him about the night she spent on Darcy's sofa and after a long chat, they managed to work things out.

A few days later, a box arrived at Number 30 for Dee, containing some of her old belongings, sent up from Tasmania by the gran. Little did Dee realise that amongst those belongings was a marriage certificate - and that Darcy had been snooping and found it.

Dee had no idea that behind her back, Darcy was scheming to split her and Toadie up. She went off to Tasmania to help her gran move into a retirement home, blissfully unaware that Darcy had managed to track down her ex-husband, Darren Turner, who was now living in Queensland. Arriving back in Erinsborough, Dee made plans with Toadie to attend the Erinsborough Charity Ball, after some persuasion from Darcy. However, little did she know that Darcy had plotted for Darren to be present at the ball - and when she realised, she quickly vanished, unable to cope with seeing him again. As she returned for dinner, Darcy began questioning Darren on how he knew Dee, eventually wheedling out the information that they were once married. Toadie was horrified by the revelation - something else that his girlfriend had kept from him. Although they managed to talk through the situation, the trust was gone from the relationship. When Dee returned home to find Toadie reading her diary, she finally lost it, telling him that if he now had so little respect for her, she would move out.

She went to stay with Darcy, who she had come to rely on in recent weeks. Dee's friends were surprised by the sudden end to her relationship and encouraged her to try and work it out with Toadie. When Dee headed down to the pub with Libby - another situation orchestrated by Darcy - she was shocked to see him flirting with Sindi Watts. Darcy told Dee that she needed to move on and that Toadie was enjoying the single life and so she accompanied him to an evening at the Aurora Club, where he had recently been accepted as a member. Dee watched as Darcy began gambling, but warned him about getting too carried away. As they arrived home the next morning, she fell asleep on the sofa and Darcy moved in for a kiss while she slept. However, she suddenly woke up and Darcy moved away before she realised what had been going on.

Meanwhile, Dee walked into the Coffee Shop while Toadie was on the phone to Sindi. Dee decided to have it out with him once and for all, and their revelations about Darcy surprised both of them as they realised he had been lying to each of them. Darcy, however, managed to talk his way out of it, explaining to Dee that he had said she was going out partying every night in order to spare her dignity. While Dee believed him, she was also a bit put out and asked him not to talk about her behind her back. Darcy's behaviour further shocked Dee when she found out he had developed a taste for gambling - and had got himself $10,000 in debt.

With Darcy on her back about rekindling their romance, Dee decided to head to Tasmania and spend some time with her gran. She got a big shock when, a few days later, Darcy arrived on the doorstep explaining that he had to get away from Erinsborough. Dee wasn't happy to see him at first, but finally softened and allowed him to stay.

When they returned to Erinsborough, Dee found out that Toadie had been to visit her while she was in Tasmania, but her gran hadn't told her. Toadie demanded to know who the man was that she'd been with, but Dee told him to grow up and refused to tell him any more. She also decided that things between her and Darcy were a little awkward, with him wanting them to get back together, and so she found somewhere else to stay. However, as time went on, she thought that maybe being with Darcy again wasn't such a bad idea and so she agreed to go out with him, little realising what he'd been up to behind her back.

After finally managing to get to his apartment, despite his protestations that he didn't want her coming round, Dee was shocked to find it practically empty. Confronting Darcy, he quickly explained that he was in the middle of redecorating. As the pair got closer, Dee found herself being questioned by the police about Darcy's recent actions. He explained to her that he was the one who had owed James the money and the police had caught up with him over his recent illegal gambling. Dee was sympathetic towards Darcy's plight and later, went to his apartment where she found him going through the soil in a plantpot. Believing that he had accidentally knocked it over, she told him she would help clean up, but was shocked to find a ring amongst the dirt - a ring with Susan and Karl's names on it. Realising that Darcy had been lying to her and had robbed the Kennedys all along, she called the police, with Toadie's support.

As Toadie and Dee spent more time together, she began to rely on him. Feeling guilty for shopping Darcy to the police, she was surprised when Darcy summoned her and Toadie to the prison. Dee expected him to lay into her for what she did, but was amazed when he finally came clean and admitted that he had plotted to keep her and Toadie apart. This revelation finally made Dee realise how much Toadie meant to her and so she was thrilled when he proposed to her, and quickly accepted. After keeping it quiet for a few days, the pair announced their news to the whole of Ramsay Street in a method only they could - from an ice cream van.

When Angie Rebecchi got to hear about the engagement, she soon headed to Erinsborough and set about organising the happy couple. Dee was patient at first, but soon she and Toadie had had enough and explained that they didn't need her help. However, after learning that Angie had sold her camper-van to help pay for things, they realised that her heart was in the right place and welcomed her back. However, as the big day drew nearer, Dee began to get hysterical, ordering Toadie around and telling Angie that her outfit wasn't suitable for the big day. The final straw came, however, when Dee tripped over and wrecked the cake, but tried to pass the blame on to everyone else. Toadie told her to stop being such a brat about the whole thing, or there wouldn't be a wedding. Dee came to her senses and apologised, and was thrilled when Toadie told her that they'd managed to get the reception venue of their dreams after another couple had pulled out.

When the big day finally arrived, everything seemed to be perfect, despite one or two final hitches - including Toadie being tied naked to a lamp post on his stag night. The wedding was a very happy occasion, as all of Ramsay Street came together to celebrate their odd couple finally walking down the aisle. As they drove away from the venue, Toadie surprised Dee with an exotic honeymoon in the Maldives. The couple couldn't have been happier... sadly, it wasn't to last. As he leaned over to kiss his new bride, Toadie lost control of the car for a split second, skidded, and went straight over the edge of a cliff. Crashing into the water below, the couple struggled to free themselves. Toadie managed to get to the surface, but Dee was not to be seen. Despite valiant efforts by Toadie and, later, the search and rescue teams, her body was never recovered. She is presumed dead.

Trivia Notes
• In June 2002, Madeleine West was hit by a bus during a personal appearance, sustaining serious injuries. During a month-long recuperation period, three past characters were revived to cover her absences: Angie and Big Kev Rebecchi and Sheena Wilson
• Madeleine West returned to the role of Dee when she recorded a voiceover for episode 5396 in which Toadie read an old letter from Dee. However, West was not credited at the end of the episode

Tenure
3459-4293, 5396