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Guest Character Profiles > Tegan Freedman Chelsea Jones

Tegan Freedman 2008-2009
Lived: 22, 24 Ramsay Street
Born: c. 1994
Parents: Matt and Cassandra Freedman
Siblings: Donna and Simon
Occupation: Student

Whilst working in Harold's Store one day, Elle Robinson found herself rudely confronted by mouthy 14-year-old Tegan, who complained that her latte was cold and wanted another one. She promptly threw out Tegan and her quieter older brother, Simon, only for them to turn up on her doorstep later that day, explain that they were the younger siblings of Elle's 18-year-old ward, Donna Freedman. Though Donna was away on a school rafting excursion, Tegan and Simon insisted that they'd told Donna they were coming and she'd said that they could stay.

Though Tegan and Simon quickly settled in with Elle, Donna was upset to see them upon her return and refused to speak to them. But when Tegan mysteriously made it clear to Simon that they had to be there, as their mum had sent them, she then told Donna that their mum had a creepy new boyfriend, and with no lock on the bathroom door, they had to get away. Donna instantly melted and hugged her little sister and before long, she was loving having her siblings to stay. She introduced them to her boyfriend Ringo and took them to a pirate party being thrown for neighbour 12-year-old Callum Jones. Callum soon got Tegan's attention, and sympathy, as he told her he had amblyopia, leading her to believe that it was a life-threatening illness, though Tegan was embarrassed to later find out that it meant he had a lazy eye.

Meanwhile, Simon had just about had enough of Erinsborough, and Ringo caught him with his bag, ready to leave. He angrily warned him to stay, pointing out how happy Donna was, but they were caught fighting and, as Tegan reminded Simon that they had to be there, he agreed to stay. The following week, Ringo found out that Donna had come off the Pill a couple of months earlier in the hope of falling pregnant and, although she'd soon thought better of her plan, he was disgusted by the deceit and dumped her. A jealous Tegan spoke to each of them, encouraging them both to move on, but Simon, seeing how unhappy his sister was, went to see Ringo and told him that he was the first guy Donna had really been happy with, and had tried to change for. Tegan was left annoyed when Donna and Ringo then got back together.

Feeling like she wasn't wanted by Donna, Tegan lashed out, so Donna arranged for 'The Freedman Show', a pretend chat show, to be staged at number 22, with the siblings all getting to know each other better. The plan worked and they were soon bonding, but things changed dramatically when their mum, Cassandra, was revealed as the new tenant of number 24, a Salvation Army refuge house. Simon and Tegan moved in with their mum, happy to see her, but Donna hated her presence, ruining her new life in Erinsborough, and immediately suspicious of her motives for coming. But when Donna confronted her mum with her belief that she had only come to Erinsborough to snare rich Paul Robinson, Tegan was forced to admit that it was true, and she'd been keeping her mum up-to-date on Donna's new family. Shunned by Simon and Donna, Tegan soon found herself receiving more attention from Callum, who was desperate to win her over. But, after taking advice from Declan about how to woo a girl, he was humiliated when his chat-up lines were laughed off and he ended up giving in and asking her to share a milkshake with him, making sure to put it on Declan's tab.

Unable to say no to her mum's schemes, Tegan then helped out when Cass stole some dresses from Harold's Store, in order to get an invite to Libby and Dan's wedding. With Tegan distracting them, Cass took the dresses from the dry cleaning rail at the back of the store, then later went to the house, pretending she was just there to drop off a casserole dish, before offering to help make new outfits.

Her relationship with Paul on solid ground, Cass then turned her efforts to sorting out Tegan's love life. Realising that Tegan had a crush on Ringo, Cass encouraged it, knowing full well that it would never come to anything. She then shorted Tegan's school uniform, telling her it would attract attention from boys, when all it did was get her bullied by Kyle Canning. When Tegan then threw her uniform in the bin, she was unable to admit the real reason to her mum, and lied that it must have got in there accidentally. Cass then shorted Tegan's other uniform, leading to more bullying, but this time Tegan stood up to Kyle, telling him that nobody was impressed by him picking on a 14-year-old girl. In the mood to stand up for herself, Tegan then shortened her dress, before telling her mum that she didn't like wearing tarty clothes - like her mum - as everyone picked on her. When Tegan then turned to free-spirited neighbour Bridget Parker for advice, Cass was horrified to see her daughter wearing jeans and a t-shirt, rather than the revealing dresses she'd chosen for her.

Realising that their mum wasn't a good person to be around, the final straw came for Tegan when Cass asked her to help with a plan to get revenge on Paul's ex, Rebecca Napier. Bar manager Rebecca had accidentally given Cass a fake scratch card, meant as an April Fool's joke for someone else, causing Cass to go out and splurge $20,000 that she didn't actually have. Believing that the whole thing was payback for her stealing Paul, Cass arranged for Tegan to pick up an alcoholic drink from behind the bar, then claimed that she was going to sue Rebecca for serving a minor. As Tegan had second thoughts about getting involved, she and Simon realised that they had to get away, and decided to go to their nan's house for a while, despite Cass' pleas for them to stay. After being found sitting at the bus stop, Elle took the kids to say their goodbyes to Donna and everyone else, before giving them a lift to their new home.

Trivia Notes
• Chelsea scored the role of Tegan after auditioning through Dolly magazine's Neighbours' Next Big Stars competition
• Tegan doesn't like carrots

Episodes Featured
5605, 5607, 5609, 5611, 5612, 5619, 5620, 5622, 5624, 5627, 5630, 5634, 5635, 5637, 5640, 5641, 5645, 5647, 5649, 5654, 5655, 5659, 5660

Magic Moments
Episode 5605: Simon and Tegan's Arrival
Episode 5660: Simon and Tegan's Departure