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Character Profiles > Serendipity Gottlieb Raelee Hill

Serendipity 'Ren' Gottlieb 1994-1995
Lived: 30 Ramsay Street
Parents: Dave Gottlieb and Sally Dawes
Siblings: Stephen and Mark
Family Tree: Gottlieb
Occupation: Nanny, Coffee Shop Assistant, Jewellry and Fashion Designer

Serendipity (or Ren as most people found it easier to call her) arrived unexpectedly in Erinsborough after a spell working as a nanny in Amsterdam. The last time she had seen her family was at her mother’s funeral but Mark was thrilled to have his little sister home. Over the years, Stephen and Mark had built up an intriguing picture of their sister, Dippy the hippy. While the two brothers had escaped their bohemian roots as quickly as possible, even changing their names from Freedom and Cosmic, Ren had chosen to embrace the hippy lifestyle that the three siblings had grown up with.

Ren’s arrival in Erinsborough couldn’t have been timed better. Mark and Rick had been looking for a housemate since Annalise moved out of Number 30 and only days before they had almost had all their possessions stolen by a con artist who they’d innocently offered the room to. Ren moved in straight away, but her relationship with Mark quickly became strained. Ren would borrow Mark’s van without asking, eat all the food and generally leave the house in a mess. She didn’t see any problem with any of this – she was constantly amused by those around her becoming stressed about every little thing, while it all simply washed over her.

One resident who quickly hit it off with Ren was Sam Kratz. They got quite close and for a while it looked like romance could be on the cards, after all, they were both free spirits who didn’t want to be tied down in Erinsborough forever. Sam’s nose was put out of joint when Ren’s childhood friend, Paulo Cechero, arrived in town, just in time for the murder mystery weekend, which saw Julie Martin’s fatal fall. When the Willis family left Erinsborough, Paolo took one of their roles at the party, spoiling Sam’s hopes of spending some time alone with Ren.

Soon after, another man came between Ren and Sam. Sam met Chip Kelly through the Erinsborough Emus footie team and soon Ren and Chip began a relationship. Chip wasn’t exactly the perfect boyfriend, his mood swings and tendency not to show up for dates soon began to take its toll. Karl also noticed Chip’s bad moods and wondered whether he was abusing steroids. Ren came to the same realisation when, after a date at his flat, she tried to rebuff his advances and he started to get violent, Ren only narrowly managing to escape without injury. Lost and upset in an unfamiliar part of town, Ren was helped out by a Salvation army warden and when she got home she recounted the entire story to Sam, Mark and Annalise. Sam went and took his anger out on Chip using his fists, something which Ren strongly disapproved of. However, the incident also led to Ren and Annalise starting up self-defence classes for the residents of Ramsay Street, taught by Helen.

While her own love life was a disaster, Ren always seemed to find time to repair other people’s relationships. During her time in Erinsborough, she acted as a go-between for Rick and Cody, Libby and Luke and Mark and Annalise, with varying degrees of success. Her hippy background also proved useful for Brett when she helped him make a love potion to win over Lata Chatterji.

By the time Ren agreed to be one of Annalise’s bridesmaids at her wedding to Mark, Sam had moved his affections on to Annalise herself. Ren proved to be a friend for both her brother and Annalise after their wedding day disaster.

Soon after, Ren and Danni Stark began making jewellery and selling it through Marlene’s bric-a-brac store. As demand began to grow, they built their business up and Ren began seeing the grandson of Helen’s fiance Reuben White. Kingston White was not the kind of man that Ren would normally look for romance with, but Ren was beginning to change. Over the course of a few months, she had started to become very driven by business and making money. As Ren and Danni go involved in the fashion world and thought all their hard work was beginning to pay off, they were in for a nasty shock. Their clothes were being created in an illegal sweat shop. Ren was horrified and from then on, things began to go downhill for her, culminating in her breaking down, ripping her designs to pieces and collapsing in tears. Mark proved to be a great support for Ren at this time, as did Luke Handley, the brother of Philip Martin’s girlfriend, Jen, who had moved into Number 30.

Ren soon realised that she wasn’t cut out for the cut-throat fashion industry and went back to being her old, chilled-out self. She struck up a friendship with the newly returned Lucy Robinson and the two of them underwent hypnosis regression, learning about their past lives. But while Ren was busy becoming obsessed with her past lives, she missed what was happening in her present one. Luke and Ren began a tumultuous relationship, both finding it difficult to take the step from housemates to lovers.

Meanwhile, Ren’s brother Mark was becoming more and more obsessive about his religion. His belief that he was indestructable led to him lying in a coma after falling from the roof of Number 22. This tragedy reunited Ren with Luke and while they led a bedside vigil for Mark, Luke took the opportunity to propose. Ren was shocked, but, after thinking it over, she accepted. However, fate dealt the couple a blow when Luke was offered the job of a lifetime, tutoring English in Japan, meaning he would have to leave Erinsborough. Ren decided she didn’t want to lose Luke again and together they left Ramsay Street to start a new life. Despite the happy ending, the relationship didn't last. Though Ren easily took to a new life in a foreign country, Luke struggled and the pair went their separate ways, with a depressed Luke eventually making his way back to Erinsborough.

Tenure
2224-2469

Biography by Steve

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