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Guest Character Profiles > Samantha Fitzgerald Simone Buchanan

Whilst studying to be a lawyer, Samantha Grieves met trainee teacher Daniel Fitzgerald and the pair's friendship grew into love. They married, and soon after moved to Sydney, where Sam landed a job with prestigious law firm Shaw & Bracks. It wasn't long after they arrived there that Samantha's behaviour gave Dan cause for concern, as she started suffering from manic episodes and was eventually diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. Though Samantha became a changed person once on her medication, she would often deliberately stop taking it, addicted to the thrill of manic behaviour, and Dan would struggle to cope as she dabbled in drugs and brought strange men home from clubs. After falling pregnant, then miscarrying at six months, Sam's behaviour grew worse and she walked out on Dan, realising how much she was hurting him, and the pair lost contact for almost two years. When Dan then moved back to his old home of Erinsborough and became attracted to fellow teacher Libby Kennedy, he realised that he still had to deal with issues from his past, before he could fully move on. He got in touch with Carli Chan, a musician and friend to both him and Sam, and she explained that she'd last seen Sam around nine months ago, when she was having a manic episode in a club one morning. Carli agreed to ask around and see if she could find Sam, while Dan promised Libby that he was only contacting his wife to ask for a divorce. But, just as Libby was accepting the situation and walking over to see Dan, she was surprised when Sam arrived, stepped out of a taxi and planted a kiss on her husband's lips.

Sam explained to her husband that she'd heard he was looking for her and, hoping he wanted a reconciliation, had come to find him. Dan was forced to explain that he had only tried to contact her in order to get a divorce, as he wanted to start a new relationship with Libby, and she was shocked, asking if he could honestly say that he no longer loved her. Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Dan's housemates, and Sam was surprised to find her husband sharing with Rosie Cammeniti, someone she'd done an articleship with at uni. The girls caught up on each other's news, and Dan was concerned as Sam learnt that Rosie was expecting a baby with husband Frazer. As he dropped her off at her hotel, Dan told Sam that they both needed to move on with their lives and, when she went to Ramsay Street to give him back his jacket the next morning, and found him talking to Libby, Sam realised that she was losing him. After being offered work with Rosie's law firm, Rebecchi Cammeniti, Sam decided that she was going to stick around for a while, and agreed to Dan's request for a divorce.

Sam quickly settled in at the law firm, though was reluctant to share details of her medical condition, telling Dan that it was nobody's business unless it affected how she did her job. She was frustrated to realise, however, that Dan had told Libby about it, but did her best to be pleasant to her love rival. When Libby visited Sam for legal advice about dividing up the business she'd owned with ex-partner Darren Stark, the conversation inevitably turned to Dan. But as Sam told Libby that she was welcome to see him, Libby said that there was nothing between her and Dan. Despite her best efforts, Libby couldn't dislike Sam and a friendship began to grow between them, with Sam confiding in Libby about the baby she'd miscarried. Just as they were starting to get along, the two women were united with worry when news came through that Dan had been involved in a serious accident whilst out working for the SES.

Though he appeared to be fine, Dan collapsed at the hospital, and was found to have internal bleeding and rushed into surgery. As he recovered, Libby took a step back to allow Sam to spend some time with Dan, and the estranged spouses finally started to talk about the baby they had lost. Sam admitted that, due to her bi-polar diagnosis shortly afterwards, she'd never really allowed herself to think about the baby or grieve for it, and Dan showed her some things he'd kept - a photo of her during the pregnancy, a scan of the baby and a short obituary for 'James' that he had put in the newspaper, without Sam knowing. This proved to be a turning point for the couple, and they spent time together as he recovered, even helping to find Libby's son, Ben, who, whilst trying to recreate Dan's accident, had become trapped in a drain. Soon after, Sam announced that she was planning to leave to visit her parents for a while, but when Frazer mentioned that Rosie was about to go for her first scan and could do with some support, Sam was persuaded to stick around and arranged a surprise baby shower, inviting most of the street. The party ended badly, though, when the expectant parents returned home with the sad news that there was no baby - Rosie had suffered a false pregnancy. However, she remained convinced that there was still a baby, and Sam told her to listen to what her body was telling her, even arranging for her to have another scan, putting her at odds with Frazer, who was concerned for Rosie's mental state. As Dan defended his wife and offered her support, they agreed to give their marriage another go, though Sam admitted that her medication made it difficult for her to fully appreciate what was happening. Things, however, took a positive turn when Rosie went for another scan and found out that she was pregnant after all, and Sam had been right to encourage her to listen to her body.

Sam continued to struggle with her feelings, and decided not to go when Libby invited her and Dan to dinner. When Dan went over, with the excuse that Sam was unwell, and then agreed to stay for a drink, Sam then changed her mind but as she approached number 32, she saw Dan and Libby playing and laughing with Ben and, confronted by the happy family scene that her husband could be a part of, she ran off but was spotted by Libby's mum, Susan. The awkwardness continued as Libby, Dan and Sam were all thrown together as they searched for Frazer's younger brother Ringo, who had gone missing whilst out swimming. As the search continued, Sam and Libby went back to Ramsay Street, where they prepared food for everyone and got chatting, with Sam apologising for lying about being ill and missing the dinner party, while Libby said that she would never be the other woman in their marriage, as she knew how it felt to be cheated on.

Trivia Notes
• Simone Buchanan's sister, Beth, appeared in Neighbours between 1990 and 1991 as Gemma Ramsay
• According to Dan and Sam's divorce papers, her birthday is 16/06/1980

Biography by Steve

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