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Guest Character Profiles > Barbara Durant Wendy Mocke

Barbara Durant 2022
Marital Status: Alan Durant
Children: Kiri
Occupation: Former Owner of River Bend Retreat

When Barbara and Alan Durant were struggling to have a baby, it led to problems in their marriage, and her having a brief affair with their good friend, Glen Donnelly. Though the affair fizzled out quickly, Barbara found out that she was pregnant, and decided to tell Alan that he was the father. The news got their marriage back on track, and Barbara told Glen to stay away from her after that, with him and his partner Karen moving away soon after. The Durants went on to have a baby girl, named Kiri Hua, the middle name meaning ‘moon’, as Barbara had looked out of the window and seen the moon on the night of Kiri’s birth.

Though he couldn’t be a part of her life, Glen often thought about Kiri, and got a moon tattoo. Many years later, Glen decided to track her down, finding out that she was managing River Bend, her parents’ retreat. After signing up for the retreat’s newsletter, Glen was surprised to find out that he’s won a holiday, realising that he was going to come face to face with his long-lost daughter. The holiday ended badly, when Freya Wozniak’s ex-boyfriend was killed, and the incident led to Kiri’s parents deciding to cut their losses and sell River Bend. At this point, Kiri turned up in Erinsborough, looking for Nicolette Stone, who she’d struck up a close relationship with, and leaving Glen worried that his secret was about to come out. Unable to convince Kiri to leave town, she ended up moving in next-door, at 24 Ramsay Street, and Glen confided the truth to Terese Willis.

After Kiri had been in town for several weeks - and still unaware that she was living next-door to her biological father - her mum Barbara paid a visit, eager to see her daughter’s new life. With Kiri working at Leo Tanaka’s vineyard with Glen, things became very awkward for him when she turned up there, and he did his best to avoid her. When Kiri brought Barbara back to Ramsay Street, to see where she was living and to meet her housemates, Glen once again had to lie that he was busy when Kiri asked him to join them. After spending the evening with Kiri, Chloe and Freya, Barbara left Erinsborough the next morning, but had a brief moment of confusion when she spotted Glen, from a distance, as he was putting the bins out. It didn’t take long for the truth to come out, however, as Terese’s estranged husband and Glen’s half-brother, Paul Robinson, jealous of their relationship, got the truth from a private investigator and told Kiri.

As she found out what had happened, Barbara was then forced to lie to Alan that Kiri had broken her leg and she was going to have to leave the cruise they were on, to go and visit her. After explaining the full story to a distraught Kiri, Barbara found Glen and berated him for the way he’d gone about things, then spoke to Terese, who tried to make her see how difficult it had been for Glen, having made a promise to stay out of his daughter’s life for so long. With things seemingly starting to calm down, Barbara decided that she’d have to go and tell Alan the truth, face to face, and was horrified when he called her, having already learnt the truth from someone at the vineyard. As Kiri angrily accused Glen, Terese appeared and apologised, explaining that she’d taken the call from Alan and had assumed that he had already been told the truth.

As she realised that she needed to go and speak to Alan, Barbara made plans to leave, with Kiri assuring her that she’d be fine, as she’d made some good friends on Ramsay Street already. Barbara then accepted Terese’s apology for the mix-up, and told Glen that she understood why he’d done what he’d done, as he’d been kept away from his daughter for so long, and that must have been difficult. After saying her goodbyes, Barbara then headed off to speak to Alan, leaving Glen and Kiri to navigate their new relationship.

Biography by Steve

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