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Guest Character Profiles > Monte Jones Dennis Coard

As retirement home Eirini Rising attempted to turn around its fortunes by selling off their remaining apartments, operations manager Susan Kennedy began the search for new residents. Whilst giving Monte Jones a tour of the facilities one day, she was convinced that she knew him from somewhere, though he seemed reluctant to talk about it. Two other Eirini residents, Vera Punt and Moira Tohu, quickly realised that he'd been quite a big star in the 1980s, thanks to appearing in television adverts for coffee brand, Betta Beans Instant Coffee. As Susan also worked out where she knew him from, Monte was suddenly delighted with all of the attention, even performing his famous catchphrase "There's nothin' better" for the women. After signing a contract for one of the studio apartments, Monte was then disappointed when Eirini owner Terese Willis arrived and completely failed to recognise him, despite several hints.

Having only been at Eirini for a few days, Monte found that all was not well at the retirement home, as it faced financial problems, with Susan and Terese having to swap excursions for cheaper options, as well as switching the biscuits and coffee in the recreation room for lower price brands. Though Vera added her voice to those who were upset with these developments, particularly as her good friend Gino Esposito raised concerns, she was very taken with Monte and was also willing to listen to him as he said that he was sure that management were doing their best in the face of a challenging economy. He then came up with a suggestion of his own, explaining that, as their spokesman, he'd been given a free lifetime supply of Betta Beans coffee and would be happy to share it. Unfortunately, the instant coffee did nothing to help with the unrest and soon a petition had been drawn up and the residents were preparing to revolt. This led to Terese accepting a partnership from Sunset Retirement Group, giving them half of the business, which would provide a cash injection to give the residents back their creature comforts.

A few weeks later, Taye Obasi and Sadie Rodwell were attempting to come up with their own line of face masks and they asked some of the Eirini residents to test them out. Vera, Monte, Moira and Gino then headed over to 32 Ramsay Street for a day of pampering, but Colton, who had recently returned to work at Eirini and had just moved into no. 32, was worried that something would go wrong and wouldn't be covered by the company's insurance. As Taye managed to calm Colton down with a chamomile face mask and a low-alcohol cocktail, the gang from Eirini were enjoying the freebie, but Moira and Gino were quickly becoming irritated by the constant flirting between Vera and Monte. After Monte then paid Moira a compliment, a jealous Vera decided to make her move and asked him out on a date to the upcoming Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew.

A couple of weeks later, the Eirini Rising residents attended a make-up show at Lassiters, where Sadie and Taye were getting closer to launching their new face mask, SATAYE. As she prepared for her big date with Monte, Vera asked Taye for one of the face masks, so that she could glam herself up for the date. Whilst Monte, Gino and Moira - who Gino had noticed was also enjoying more flirting with Monte - attended the show, they waited for Vera to come and join them. Things quickly descended into chaos, however, as Vera arrived with a bright red face and a very public accusation directed at Taye and his face mask. As Jane and Nicolette, who were modelling for the make-up show, had also used the masks, they found their faces starting to sting too and Taye was left horrified as his brief foray into the skincare industry ended in disaster.

The love triangle only worsened, with Monte unaware that Moira and Vera were fighting over him and things bubbled over during games night at Eirini - as the two women tried to get his attention, Vera accused Moira of wearing too much perfume and started splashing her with water, so Moira retaliated by tipping a vase of water over Vera's head. With the other residents growing frustrated and Susan failing to calm everyone down, Colton snapped and sent Vera and Moira to clean up. When they returned, he'd set up a pottery class, hoping that they would bond over helping each other, but it ended in disaster when everyone ended up covered in clay. However, as Vera and Moira then chatted about their behaviour, they realised that neither of them was actually that interested in Monte and that they'd rather have their friendship. They then told Monte that they were no longer interested in him and he responded by asking Hilary - the woman he'd been interested in all along - if she'd like to go out for dinner.

Episodes Featured
9306, 9312, 9320, 9331, 9342

Biography by Steve

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