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Character Profiles > Sheila Canning Colette Mann

Sheila Marie Canning 2012-
Lives: 26 Ramsay Street
Marital Status: Frank (Deceased)
Children: Gary, Naomi
Occupation: Barmaid/Manager of Charlie's Bar, Manager of The Waterhole

Never one to keep her opinion to herself, particularly where her family was concerned, Sheila Canning first descended on Erinsborough from Frankston, to visit her grandson Kyle. Ready to get to know Kyle's girlfriend Jade Mitchell, Sheila ended up mistaking Kyle's neighbour Kate for Jade. Thinking Kate was a lovely, polite young girl and perfect for Kyle, Sheila was disappointed to meet the real Jade and didn't hide her feelings on the matter, making it clear to Kyle and Kate that they'd make a better couple. Jade, however, impressed Sheila when she stood up for herself and made it clear that she wasn't about to give up on the relationship.

Sheila quickly found a new battle when she met rogue Lou Carpenter, who partnered Kyle in his handyman business. Although she was unaware that Lou was broke and had been stealing money from the business, Sheila had her suspicions that something was amiss. Having followed Lou out of Charlie's bar, as he'd forgotten his change, she spotted him accepting money from a woman named Vera Munro. Lou had been attending dance classes with wealthy Vera and had been conning small amounts out of her, but was already feeling guilty about his lie that he'd lost his wallet with his rent money inside. When Sheila caught up with Lou and Vera at their class, she took great delight in revealing the truth about Lou to Vera, ending their brief relationship. And Sheila soon found herself caught up with another of Erinsborough's eligible bachelors, when a bachelor auction took place at Lassiter's, with Paul Robinson receiving an anonymous $1500 donation and mistakenly believing that it had come from newcomer Sheila. Having spent the night giving her strange looks, Paul finally confronted Sheila, who explained that, if she had that kind of money, she certainly wouldn't be wasting it on him.

Sheila also used the auction as another excuse to encourage Kate's crush on Kyle, and when Kate then scored the winning bid for a date with him, Sheila was eager that it should take place soon. After Jade was called away to Sydney on the day of the date, Kyle decided to go with her and let Kate down, despite Sheila's advice to the contrary. But Sheila stuck around to keep an eye on Kyle's business, continuing to encourage Kate and almost stumbling upon Lou's secret in the company books too. Sheila returned to Erinsborough once again to help organise a street barbecue, to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, butting heads with Paul again on the subject of the monarchy, and confused at the sudden chill in Kate and Kyle's friendship - unaware that the pair had shared a kiss. When Sheila returned for another visit a few weeks later, she found Kyle depressed and unwilling to talk about it. When she eventually found out about Kyle's kiss with Kate, Sheila was secretly pleased, until she spoke to Kate, who made it clear that she'd made a huge mistake, lost two of her closest friends and destroyed their relationship. After further witnessing how unhappy Kyle and Jade were without each other, Sheila helped Kyle with a plan to get them back together but as it all ended in disaster, Sheila decided to be honest with her grandson and admitted that she'd pushed Kate towards Kyle, thinking she'd be better for him that Jade. Horrified by his gran's actions, Kyle told her to go home to Frankston and stay away from Erinsborough for a while.

A few weeks later, Kyle had found out that Lou had stolen $8000 from the business, and, although Lou had paid the money back, Kyle was still upset and contacted his gran for support. Sheila was happy to be let back into Kyle's life so quickly and struggled to forgive Lou for what he'd done, though not surprised by his actions as she'd never trusted him, she was shocked to learn that Kate had known about the money and helped Lou cover his tracks. These revelations caused more problems for Kyle and Jade, who had only just reunited after their recent problems, and Sheila, still feeling guilty about her interference in their relationship, was determined to help. When Sheila found out that Lou was selling his half of the handyman business, she considered buying it and negotiated with Lou's lawyer Ajay, before revealing to Kyle that it was actually Jade who'd bought Lou's share, in an attempt to save their relationship. Satisfied that her grandson's love life was back on an even keel, Sheila headed back to Frankston.

Some months later, Kyle had split up with Jade and had been looking after his problematic 15-year-old cousin Harley for a few months, but was making little progress in keeping him out of trouble. Having finally had enough, Kyle contacted Harley's mum Jackie, who agreed that Harley should return home and, as he couldn't return to school after being expelled, he'd have to find a job. Harley was horrified, but Sheila turned up to collect him and refused to listen to any of his excuses. Whilst there, Sheila was appalled by the state of Kyle's house, which he shared with Rhys Lawson and Chris Pappas and, she announced that, after dropping Harley back home, she'd be returning to move in with the boys and help them to sort things out. It soon became clear, however, that Sheila wasn't exactly a perfect fit for a share house, as she nagged the boys and drew up a roster for cleaning the house and garden. As Kyle tried to get her to leave, but didn't want to come out and ask her to go, he messed up the house, in the hope that she wouldn't be able to live like that. The plan backfired when Sheila realised what was going on and forced the boys to clean up, and later admitted to Kyle that she'd been struggling lately as she didn't feel like anyone needed her. It dawned on Kyle that, after all she'd done for him over the years, his gran really needed him right now and, as she packed to leave, he told her that she could stay - but she'd have to ease up on the nagging a bit. Sheila then found new purpose when she used her experience as a barmaid, as well as 11 years running a pub in Frankston, to score a new job working for Andrew Robinson at Charlie's bar.

Sheila's new job instantly brought conflict with fellow barmaid, and Andrew's girlfriend Tash. Although Tash had deliberately suggested Sheila for the job to avoid Andrew working with a glamorous young female, she soon came to regret it as Sheila attempted to make changes and foist her 'Frankston pub ideas' on the bar. The two women also argued over tips, with Tash bragging that she had the record for the most tips in one day, and Sheila challenging her to see who could make the most money that day. Crafty Sheila was the winner, and suggested that, from now on, they have a tip jar and split them equally, though she later admitted to Andrew that a $20 tip had been a member of the bowls' club, for which she was the treasurer, paying her for his club shirt. Enjoying mixing with the youngsters in the neighbourhood and offering them her wisdom, Sheila decided to try and help Chris, who had just split from his boyfriend Aidan, to find a new man. After looking around the bar, she tried to hook Chris up with a man who'd just walked in, but Chris angrily told her that he wasn't ready to meet someone else yet and asked her to keep out of his business. Later, Sheila apologised to him by cooking her famous spag bol and agreed that she wouldn't interfere in his life again.

Sheila's ability to offer bad advice, where it hadn't even been asked for, continued when she told Rhys that nurse Georgia had a crush on him, and he should ask her out to move on from his heartbreak with Vanessa. Unfortunately, Georgia actually had a crush on Kyle, who had mistakenly assumed that she liked Rhys, and Sheila had overheard him discussing the situation with Chris. Rhys was left humiliated when Georgia rejected him, and Sheila was once again in trouble for poking her nose in where it wasn't wanted. She soon found a new target, however, when Lou's daughter Lauren returned to town with her husband and children. Lauren was under the impression that her dad still owned his own house and the car yard, so when Sheila met her, it wasn't long before she was putting in digs about Lou stealing $8000 from Kyle's business and working as an escort to earn back the money. Furious at Sheila's interference, Lou was forced to own up to Lauren about his financial state and lack of stature in the community.

As Sheila began to realise that Georgia was beginning to feel more than just friendship for Kyle, she made her feelings clear on the matter - Georgia already had a boyfriend back in the country, Scotty, and she wouldn't encourage her grandson to be around a girl who was already attached. Despite her best efforts, Sheila was annoyed as Kyle and Georgia kept finding themselves spending time together, and he helped her when she cut her foot as he was fixing some tiles by the pool. After Rhys asked Kyle to join him on a double date, Sheila was quick to encourage it, and when Kyle then hit it off with his date, Jana, Sheila continued to poke her nose in, telling Kyle to call her and arrange another date. For once, Sheila's timing proved to be good, as just as Jana came to visit Kyle at home, Georgia had also turned up and was about to tell Kyle that she'd split up with Scotty, but realised that she was too late. When Kyle then broke up with Jana after only a couple of dates, realising that his heart was actually with Georgia, he too just managed to miss the boat, as Scotty turned up, looking for another chance.

Meanwhile, Sheila saw a new opportunity to put down roots in Erinsborough when she saw a leaflet advertising the new Eclipse Apartments, a development that would turn the top two floors of Lassiter's Hotel into residential properties. With an opening offer in place, Sheila was keen to move quickly and scraped together the savings she had, before getting a loan to help her to pay the deposit. After looking through the small print in the contract, Sheila noticed that the development was still subject to council approval, but Paul assured her that it was just a formality, and that her money would be safe. With further reassurance from Andrew, who was working as Paul's assistant on the project and was aware of the potential problems, Sheila handed her cheque over and began to look forward to having property of her own in Erinsborough. However, when Andrew kept reminding her about the three-day cooling off period, Sheila decided to get lawyer Toadie to look at the contract and began to realise that, even without council approval, there were numerous problems, including the plans being ripped off from a design in Dubai. When Sheila threatened to kick up a fuss, Paul eventually gave in and decided that it would be easier to just give her back the deposit.

Sheila also found herself caught up in some dramas for the Turner family after she found a garden gnome that had been thrown out with their hard rubbish. Vanessa had thrown it away as the Turners would be renting her house for a while, and Sheila had taken it for her collection, with both women unaware that it contained a roll of notes which added up to $10,000 - the proceeds of a warehouse robbery that had seen eldest Turner son, Mason sent to juvenile detention. Knowing that his accomplice, Robbo would turn up sooner or later for his half of the money, Mason searched everywhere but soon gave up, believing it was gone for good. It was a few weeks before Sheila found the money and after a few subtle enquiries, she decided to start spending it, and bought a new birdbath for the garden, asking Mason's younger brother Bailey - the only other person who knew about the money and the one who'd hidden it inside the gnome - to help her. When he saw the gnome in Sheila's garden, Bailey tried to get a better look, but couldn't find a moment away from Sheila, so he and Mason later jumped over the fence, but were caught. Sheila demanded to know how the brothers had ended up with $10,000 and they quickly lied that it belonged to Lou, their grandfather, and that he'd been working as an escort again to raise some cash. Fortunately for them, Sheila believed the story and handed the money back to Lou, who then found out the full details of the mess his grandsons had found themselves in.

When Andrew and Tash left Erinsborough for Europe, Sheila was quick to suggest to Paul that she become the new manager, and she immediately hired new staff member Pete Clark, a useless barman who nevertheless attracted customers and helped increase takings. Sheila also helped out another of Erinsborough's waifs and strays when Rhiannon Bates took a room at number 26. Having left her young son with her sister, Rhiannon had moved down to Erinsborough to reunite with boyfriend Mason, only to find herself dumped and, having used up all her money on the bond and a month's rent in advance, she found herself spending a lot of time sitting around the house. Sheila did her best to keep Rhiannon active, giving her chores to do around the house and suggesting that she find a job, but Rhiannon struggled to get motivated and Sheila had a difficult task ahead as she tried to help her gain some self-worth. In the end, Rhiannon managed to sort herself out, turning down Paul's attempts to buy her, and returning home to Mount Isa to try and fix her relationship with her young son, Jackson.

When Kyle looked directly into the sun during Erinsborough's eclipse, without his protective glasses, he found that he'd badly damaged his eyesight and would need to wear patches until they repaired themselves. Sheila did her best to help her stubborn grandson around the house, but when Lou then tried to help with some heavy lifting at Kyle's yard, he ended up hurting his back, and Sheila found herself with another patient. Spending more time together, Lou and Sheila grew closer and, when they got chatting about their families, she encouraged him to get in touch with his eldest daughter, Mai Ling. Lou emailed her, and, a few days later, announced that he was going to spend some time with her in Cambodia, thanking Sheila for helping him to get back in touch.

In Lou's absence, a new man entered Sheila's life in the form of Walter Mitchell, the long-lost uncle of Sonya Rebecchi. Walter and Sonya flirted their way around each other, and she invited him to dinner, failing to see that he was a con artist - his real name was Dave, and he'd met Sonya's uncle in a halfway house, listened to his stories about his life, and then come to get what he could out of Sonya, her family and friends. Delighted to be receiving some attention from a man, Sheila paid for his food at the bar when he claimed to have forgotten his wallet, and didn't spot him taking her new cash card from her bag - with the new pin number written down. However, Dave was starting to feel guilty about what he was doing to the good people of Erinsborough, and put the card back without taking any of Sheila's money. She was soon inviting him over for lunch, but was in for a nasty shock when Dave stole the money from the till at Sonya's nursery and did a runner. Sheila was horrified to hear that she'd been taken in by a conman, and even when he came back to apologise, she made it clear that she had no interest in ever seeing him again, slamming the door in his face. But Kyle could see how hurt his gran was, and she admitted that it had been nice to feel wanted by a man again, though the whole incident had done her some good, and she decided that she was going to start getting out more, and find herself a new man. Unfortunately, Sheila's next brush with romance was also a disaster, when Lou returned to town, wrongly believing that she was interested in him. During Lou's time in Cambodia, he'd been keeping a blog and Bailey had been commenting on it, pretending to be Sheila, with some of the messages, such as 'You look hot!" and "What a lovely view" open to misinterpretation. When Bailey confessed everything to Sheila, she warned him that he'd better sort the whole mess out, or there'd be trouble. However, when Bailey begged Sheila not to say anything, she agreed to go along with it, and allowed Lou to 'let her down gently' and tell her that there could never be anything between them - in return, Bailey found himself forced to help Sheila out at home with some of the gardening and housework.

When Chris's boyfriend Hudson was revealed as the person who'd run down, and ultimately killed, Robbo, Sheila did her best to comfort Chris, as Hudson was taken away by the police, saying that he never wanted to see Chris again. After learning that Hudson had made bail and had gone to stay with his family in Sydney, Chris grew more upset, not understanding why Hudson was treating him like this. His unhappiness soon took its toll and he found himself in trouble at work, and begged Karl for some sleeping tablets to get him back on track. When these tablets made his sleepwalk, Sheila offered herbal tea and advice, hoping that he would slowly be able to move on, but Chris decided to start taking the tablets again, and Sheila caught him sleepwalking out of the house late one night. Sheila did her best to catch him in her dressing gown and slippers, but struggled to keep up, then found herself being hassled by a man in a car, who slowly drove alongside her, asking if she wanted to get in. A distraught Sheila managed to hide, and was relieved when Matt came by on patrol and helped her to find Chris, before taking them both home. Matt made it clear to Kate - who had moved into the house a few months earlier - that Sheila had been through a difficult time that night, but Sheila insisted that she was fine and it would take more than a sleazebag in a car to upset her. However, the next day, she became upset when a man came into the bar for a drink and started using lots of the same phrases as the man who'd hassled her the night before. More small incidents followed, with Sheila jumping at the slightest sound and misreading innocent situations, but the police then became involved when she wrongly assumed that a man was taking photographs of her, when infact he was just a photography student at the local TAFE, working on a project, and Sheila had destroyed his camera. The man agreed not to press charges, after Sheila wrote him an apology and a cheque for the damages, but it did make her see that her paranoia was getting out of control. Kate then decided to help, and she took Sheila along to some self-defence classes, which allowed her to regain control of her life, and with Rhiannon back in town and Chris going off the rails, Sheila soon found plenty to keep her occupied.

Having helped Chris and Rhiannon to get their lives back on track, Sheila started interfering in Kyle's love life once again, when she realised that things between him and Georgia were becoming serious. Sheila presented Kyle with Grandma Ruth's engagement ring, telling him that it had seven generations of family history attached to it, and she wanted him to give it to Georgia when he was ready - making it clear that she wanted him to be ready sooner rather than later. Kyle wasn't sure that Georgia was ready for that sort of commitment, so was surprised when she spontaneously proposed to him soon after, and he took her to the bar, where he got down on one knee and proposed properly, using the ring Sheila had given to him. Sheila set about organising an engagement party, despite knowing that they didn't want one, but was disappointed when she struggled to get any of the family to come, revealing to Susan that her own children still struggled to forgive her for something that had happened in the past involving her youngest daughter, Naomi. Sheila pressed on with the plans anyway, but the engagement party ended in disaster, when Georgia's scheming cousin Gem, desperate to have Georgia all to herself, slipped an email into the pile of well wishes, which revealed that Kate and Kyle had slept together earlier that year, and had been desperately trying to keep it from Georgia for months.

Things settled down a little bit at number 26 as Kate moved out, but Georgia still refused to forgive Kyle for what had happened. Matters then became more complicated when Georgia discovered that she was pregnant, and although she tried to keep it from Kyle for as long as possible, fearing that he'd feel obliged to get back together with her if he found out, Kyle did finally learn the truth and Sheila was delighted to learn that she was going to be a great-grandmother. Sadly, not long after, Georgia suffered a miscarriage, which left Kyle especially devastated and only served to push him and Georgia further apart, just as they'd finally become closer again.

Sheila was then in for a shock when her youngest child, Naomi, arrived in Erinsborough unexpectedly. Mother and daughter hadn't contacted each other in over five years, with Naomi furious that her mother had interfered in her life - Naomi had been having an affair with a married man, Charles Tranner, hoping to better herself in life, but Sheila had told Charles' wife Polly about her husband's cheating. Naomi admitted to her mum that she hadn't turned up just for a happy family reunion, but was also struggling as she was between jobs and the lease on her apartment in Sydney had run out. Sheila offered her a place to stay, but her interference continued to cause problems as she started snooping, trying to find out if her daughter was still getting herself involved with married men. Naomi made it clear that she wasn't going to hang around if her mum was going to be constantly poking her nose in, so Sheila agreed to back off, and Naomi agreed to hang around, find a job, and try to make things work.

As Naomi started work for Toadie, becoming his assistant at the law firm, Sheila worried that her daughter was setting her sights on another married man. And when Charles returned, and proved himself to be the liar that Sheila had always known him to be, she encouraged Naomi to find someone who'd treat her better, unaware that she was actually only encouraging her daughter's growing feelings for Toadie. When Sheila tried to put her mum off the scent by trying to get back into the dating scene, then claiming to have acquired a stalker, Sheila became suspicious that it was all just a ploy to gain Toadie's sympathy, and so Naomi hired an old friend to break into the house and steal her underwear. The plan seemed to work, with Sheila offering her support to Naomi and taking her along to her self-defence classes. Naomi failed to take the classes seriously, until Sheila explained that she'd been followed by a man in a car one night the year before, and it had brought back some bad memories of a night years before, when a man had attacked her in Frankston whilst she was out walking the streets, looking for Naomi. Feeling suitably guilty, Naomi went to Toadie and almost confessed to lying about the stalker, but enjoying his sympathy and kindness, she couldn't bring herself to be honest. As she continued to widen the cracks in Toadie's marriage to Sonya, Naomi finally found her chance to pounce on him, after suggesting that some time apart might help the marriage. With Sonya away for a few days, Naomi spent the evening watching wrestling with Toadie, and she ended up kissing him. Toadie was stunned that he'd failed to notice Naomi's feelings for him, or the way she'd been plotting to spend time with him. Sheila was less shocked by her daughter's actions, having seen it coming for a while, but found it very difficult to talk to Naomi, in the end blurting out her true feelings - she blamed Naomi for Frank's death. Frank, Sheila's husband and Naomi's father, had always doted on his daughter and had suffered a massive, fatal heart attack after learning of her affair with Charles. This painful truth was the final nail in the coffin for Sheila and Naomi's relationship, and Naomi moved out, finding a room at number 24. Unaware of what had happened, Kyle and Georgia tried to get Sheila and Naomi talking again, but with both women very hurt, it seemed that it was going to take a while to fix things properly. After learning that Naomi was now planning to leave town, Sheila went to see her and gave her a cheque, telling her to use the money to leave, as it had been a terrible idea for her to come to Erinsborough in the first place. A furious Naomi ripped up the cheque, announcing that although she still intended to leave, she would do it on her own terms.

Sheila then found herself thinking about her love life, after reading the mysterious erotic novel The Book Of Secrets, which had been taking Erinsborough by storm after it was revealed that one of the locals was the author. Though Karl claimed to have written it, when he started to find all of the attention very uncomfortable, he persuaded Lou to take credit instead. Sheila was then worried as she started to have saucy dreams about Lou and, when she and Paul accidentally got locked in the cool room at the bar overnight, she confided in him about the dreams and they fell asleep together - and Sheila was alarmed when Paul then replaced Lou in the dreams. Realising that she needed a real man in her life, Sheila decided to join the dating website Ziva and find herself some romance. She soon made a connection with Alan Haywood, and they met at a wine and cheese evening, where Sheila's nerves meant that she made a lasting impression. Though Sheila and Alan were soon arranging more dates, Naomi found herself a little uncomfortable when she met him, particularly when he kissed her on the lips as he was leaving. Though he claimed that it was simply a mistake, Naomi began to do some research and found that Alan was actually bisexual, and was still listed on websites looking for other men. Naomi realised that her mum deserved to know the truth, and Sheila admitted to Alan that although she could have accepted his sexuality, she couldn't accept him lying and sneaking around behind her back.

The incident left things even more fractured between Sheila and Naomi, but when Naomi admitted to her mum that she was finding it difficult to be around Toadie, as she was still in love with him, Sheila decided to help her daughter and bought her an open-ended trip to Hawaii to get her head together. After a happy few weeks, when Kyle and Georgia were finally married, Sheila had further family concerns when Kyle's dad Gary got in touch, asking for money. Confused by his gran's secretive behaviour, Kyle followed her and was shocked to recognise his dad, who'd walked out on him and his mum years earlier. Sheila struggled to see any of the bad in her son, but Kyle was a lot more reluctant to accept him back, until he told them that he'd been the witness to an armed robbery in Frankston years earlier, and had gone on the run to protect the family. As Gary then started to repair the relationships with his mum and his son, Naomi returned to town, making it clear that to Gary that he needed to be honest about what really happened all those years ago. Gary, however, was happy being Sheila's Golden Child again and didn't want to upset her - so when he accidentally left Kyle's ute unlocked, and all of the tools were stolen, he knew that he had to act quickly to make it up to him. Sheila was appalled when she saw Gary buying stolen tools as a replacement, and so Gary had to find another way to help, turning to Paul for some quick cash. Paul, unaware that Gary was a member of the Canning family, got him to do some of his dirty work, beating up Ezra Hanley, who'd launched an unfair dismissal lawsuit against Lassiter's hotel. As Christmas arrived, Sheila spotted Gary accepting money from Paul and finally worked out what he had done, leading to a huge argument, and Sheila threatening to call the police unless Gary handed himself in. When he walked out of the house, Sheila reached for the phone but ended up suffering a massive heart attack.

After being discovered by Naomi, who raised the alarm, Sheila was taken to hospital where, after a tense wait for her family, she began to recover. Naomi, meanwhile, sick of Gary's lies, revealed to Kyle that his father had actually been the getaway driver during the Mackenzie brothers' armed robbery, and had disappeared to save his own skin, rather than helping the family. Kyle then called the police and Gary was arrested, whilst also implicating Paul. With his career as mayor on the line, and facing a return to prison, Paul paid Gary's bail and offered him money to retract his statement, getting Paul off the hook. Gary then tried to give the money to Kyle and Naomi, who both threw it back in his face, and deposited the rest into Sheila's bank account, hoping that it might go some way to make up for his mistakes. He then went to see Sheila, who pretended to be asleep as he made his apologies and said goodbye to her, before going back to the police and having his bail revoked after retracting his statement. As her recovery continued, she was allowed to leave the hospital for the day, and she and Naomi went to see Gary at the police station before he was taken off to jail. Sheila started to blame herself for raising a son like Gary, but he told her that none of it was her fault, pointing out that she'd also been responsible for raising Kyle, who'd turned into a lovely young man. Later that week, Sheila was released from hospital, feeling very sorry for herself and struggling as Kyle fussed over her and the family hid all of the junk food. When she started to feel some chest pain, Sheila immediately thought that she was having another heart attack and told Kyle to call an ambulance, but it was found to be indigestion. Back at home, she told her grandson that she was struggling with the fact that her body had let her down, and that it could happen again at any time, but it was Georgia who made Sheila see that there was no point in feeling sorry for herself, and she was soon out and about again in her wheelchair, dispensing advice and winding up Paul.

It wasn't long before Sheila was back to her old self, at war with Susan over a baking contest for the Erinsborough Festival, and going out on a date with Harold Bishop - which failed as he was still in love with his late wife, Madge. When Lou then made a permanent move up to Queensland, with a parting gift of a kiss from Sheila, she found herself without a sparring partner, but soon had more important things to worry about, as Naomi's relationship with Paul developed into something more serious. Paul had mistakenly believed that he was dying, after being given a fake diagnosis by twisted Dr Nick Petrides, and Naomi had supported him through the ordeal, to the point that they eventually became a couple. However, Sheila was soon visiting Paul, reminding him of his disastrous past relationships, and telling him not to put Naomi through the same thing, when she deserved so much better. This led to several weeks of problems for Paul and Naomi, as both doubted whether they were suited, before they finally became a couple. Sheila then found herself caught between them once again, when it emerged that she once had feelings for Paul. Sheila had written that secret down, one of several Ramsay Street residents to put a secret in a sealed envelope, to show Sonya that they still trusted her after her past problems as an addict came back to haunt her. When young Jimmy Williams, Paul's grandson, found the envelopes and read some of the secrets, he began blackmailing Sheila, who went along with it, giving him sweets in order to stop him from blabbing. Unfortunately, she went too far in her attempts to keep him quiet, grabbing him by the wrist as he continued to put pressure on her, leaving everyone shocked that she would, seemingly without cause, hurt a nine-year-old boy. When the truth was finally revealed, Paul was shocked, but Sheila explained that she'd simply been very lonely at the time and had stupidly thought that a relationship with Paul might be possible. When Naomi found out about all of her mum's interfering in her relationship, she was angry, but it seemed that the whole thing had affected Sheila more than people realised. As her banter behind the bar was toned down, and she stopped flirting with men, fearing she was past it, the women of Ramsay Street gathered to honour her as a 'crone', claiming back the word from its modern meaning, telling her that she was wise and should be respected.

Sheila's 'croning' brought back much of her old spirit, and she was soon flirting away with Russell Brennan, father of the Brennan brothers who'd arrived to reconnect with his sons. As Naomi arrived home to find her mum and Russell in their underwear, sharing a spa, it became clear that Sheila wasn't going to waste any time with this new relationship. Soon, Russell was talking about selling his garage business in Port Lincoln and making a permanent move to Erinsborough, where Fitzgerald Motors had gone up for sale. Sheila was keen for this to happen, offering some of her 'savings', but later revealing that it was actually the money that Gary had given her before he left, the profits of his dodgy deal with Paul. When Kyle and Naomi found out what she was planning, Sheila was forced to hand the money over to the police, and it seemed like her hopes of having Russell nearby would be dashed, until his sons Mark and Aaron agreed to try and help their dad buy the garage. As that plan went ahead, the truth about Russell's murky past finally came out, when youngest son Tyler, who'd been very reluctant about his dad's presence, revealed that his father had been physically abusive towards him for many years. Mark and Aaron were horrified and threw their dad out of the house, so he turned to Sheila. She agreed to give him a roof for the night, but when he asked her to come back to Port Lincoln with him, she told him to go on his own, and to find a therapist and deal with his past. She made it clear that there might still be a chance for them in the future, if he got the help that he needed, then bid Russell farewell as he took a taxi out of Erinsborough.

When Naomi left Erinsborough for a new job in Los Angeles, Sheila soon found somewhere new to interfere after the locals started banding together to save the high school from closure. As they were all preparing their banners and placards, Susan made a passing comment about her concerns that some of the kids might not even get to finish high school, upsetting Sheila, who later admitted that she'd dropped out without completing her education. A supportive Susan offered to help her to find a course that would earn her some qualifications, and a happier Sheila continued with her efforts to help save the school, attending a protest sleep-over in the building. The night soon took a dramatic turn when a fire broke out, with many people struggling to get out, including Sheila and Toadie, who, following an accident, had been in a wheelchair for a few months. As Toadie found himself caught in an explosion as he attempted to get down the stairs, he called out for help as he heard someone nearby - but a distressed Sheila decided to save herself and quickly ran off in the opposite direction. Fortunately, Toadie was found and rescued by Sonya and Steph, but Sheila was left feeling terrible as she was labelled a hero for pointing Sonya in the right direction, and began to worry that Toadie might remember that it was her who left him for dead...