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Character Profiles > Lori Lee Michelle Ang

Lori Lee 2002-2003, 2004
Lived: 26, 28 Ramsay Street
Marital Status: Cameron (2012-)
Children: Madeleine
Family Tree: Lee
Occupation: Nanny, Student

Brash, and some would even say obnoxious, Lori grew up with her family in New Zealand. She met Jack Scully in London where she was working as a nanny. After 18 months together, Jack was dropped from the team but couldn't face telling his parents, so they decided to go to New Zealand and stay with her family for a while. When Jack decided to go home to his family in Australia, Lori followed a week later to surprise him. Within a few hours at Number 26, Lori had managed to reveal the truth behind Jack's return and generally insult everyone she came across. She even bought a coconut cake from the coffee shop after being told that Lyn didn't like coconut.

Lori is completely devoted to Jack and when he announced plans to stay on in Erinsborough, she decided to stay as well. Her father had offered Jack a job at his furniture-making company, but Lori contacted her family and told them she wouldn't be home for a while. Lyn was particularly unhappy about the idea of Lori staying as the two of them had never really hit it off. Lyn's nose was particularly put out-of-joint one evening when, having cooked dinner, Lori barged in with scollops and insisted on making them there and then, leaving Lyn's meal to become leftovers.

As the two of them struggled to find work, Jack decided to go back to school and complete year 12, something he regretted not doing earlier. Lori hadn't finished school either, and decided to join him at Erinsborough High.

Relations between Lyn and Lori continued to deteriorate as Lyn attempted to make Susan Kennedy's wedding dress for the renewal of her vows. Lyn was upset when Susan rejected her early designs and when Lori tried to offer advice, Lyn bit her head off, calling her a 'know-it-all'. Afterwards, Lyn apologised and the two of them sat down for a proper discussion of their differences. Lori explained to Lyn that she felt a bit like she was always being watched, and was used to a bit more independence. Lyn told Lori that she was sometimes a bit thoughtless and needed to try to think before she spoke. After this, the two of them found it a lot easier to get along and together created a dress design that Susan loved.

Jack and Lori accompanied the rest of the teenagers on their end-of-year trip to the beach. Lori had been worried for a few weeks that Jack was being quite distant with her and during the trip, she asked him if he still loved her. He promised her everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

Lori continued to believe this upon their return to Erinsborough and decided they should look for their own place. Lori was shocked, however, when Jack announced that he didn't want to move out of home and if she wanted to, she could go on her own. They managed to patch things up, with Lori giving Jack more space. She also got involved in the community play - writing steamy scenes for Nina and Jack to act out, unaware that they were falling for each other.

On her first day at Erinsborough High, Lori quickly made an impression by wearing trousers instead of the regulation dress and was sent to see the principal, Ms Barkham. Lori declared war on the woman who stopped her from expressing herself. Lori found herself in further trouble when Taj took an embarrassing photo of Ms Barkham adjusting her underwear and the two of them plastered copies of it all over the school. Libby forced them to take the photos down, while Lori continued to rebel by wearing trousers to school.

Lori also found herself facing problems with Jack. As she helped with the community play, she found her boyfriend becoming more and more distant. Little realising that her boyfriend and best friend were cheating on her, she walked in on them 'rehearsing' a kiss, but thought little of it. However, she couldn't hide her jealousy when she witnessed the kiss between Jack and Nina during the play's debut public performance.

Not long after, Lori found herself comforting a surprised Taj when he was dumped by Nina. As she hung out with him at the swimming pool, a moment of messing about led to Lori slipping and landing hard on her back. After waking up in hospital, Lori quickly realised something was very wrong when she couldn't move her legs. Karl informed a terrified Lori that she had seriously damaged her spine, and there were no guarantees that she would ever walk again.

Lori was confused, but asked Lyn and Joe not to contact her parents in New Zealand. She attempted to remain as optimistic as ever, but was confused as neither Taj nor Nina came to visit her in hospital. When Nina eventually came, Lori asked her if she knew what was wrong with Jack. An awkward Nina denied noticing anything and Lori also learnt that Taj refused to visit as he held himself responsible for the accident. When Lori was finally allowed home, she decided to contact her parents, but was shocked to learn that her father was in hospital and she realised she couldn't break the news to her mother. After remaining positive for many weeks, Lori finally broke down when she spilt the milk while trying to make breakfast; she admitted to Lyn how scared she was. However, a glimmer of hope appeared that day when, after a massage session with Dee, Lori had a sudden feeling in her big toe and she realised that she was finally making some small progress.

Lori realised that something was wrong with Jack as his mood swings got worse and she finally confronted him - shrewdly asking if Nina was involved. His admission of an affair led to her packing up her stuff and leaving, with Susan offering her a room at number 28. Lori kept her spirits up throughout the whole thing, but it became too much when Nina came to see her and she explained that she wouldn't be able to forgive her right now. Lori's friendship with Taj developed, however, and he was the first to see her when she managed to stand up by herself. Her progress then came on in leaps and bounds, as she moved on from her wheelchair to a walking frame.

When Karl and Libby returned to town, Lori began to feel slightly out of place at number 28, but Susan insisted she was welcome there, telling her she could move in on a more permanent basis. Meanwhile, Lori found a good friend in Connor, as the two of them started designing their own t-shirts and selling them.

The t-shirt venture eventually developed into Lori and Connor offering their services to Harold Bishop at the Coffee Shop, planning an ad campaign as part of the Afro Harold promotion at the shop. Working together so much led to Connor and Lori becoming closer, and they were of huge support to each other when Connor learnt Michelle had met someone else in New York and Lori found out Jack and Nina were officially dating. They leaned on each other so much, in fact, that they ended up in bed together one night, although both Lori and Connor regretted the event the next morning. After an initial awkward period of avoiding talking about what had happened, they eventually admitted to each other that neither wanted anything other than friendship, and they happily put the incident behind them.

But the events of their one night stand were to be more far reaching than Lori or Connor could have imagined - Lori fell pregnant as a result. Despite being on the pill, it seemed Lori wound up pregnant because the medication she was on for a persistent cold had cancelled out the effects of the pill. Ironically, it was Jack who Lori told first about what had happened, and Jack even waited with her while she took a pregnancy test to determine for certain that she was pregnant. When it was confirmed, Lori faced the difficult task of telling Connor he was going to be a father, and she was shocked by Connor's reaction to the news. Connor was appalled at the prospect and attributed the blame to Lori, which made the situation even worse for her. Connor's reluctance to accept the pregnancy and come to terms with it increased the anxiety Lori was experiencing over things, and she decided to have an abortion. Although Karl tried to talk her round, Lori was adamant that she had made her final decision, and even after Connor started to show signs of dealing with the pregnancy, she pressed ahead with her plans. Connor drove Lori to the clinic for the procedure, and clearly sensing that she was uneasy about the abortion, he told Lori before she went in that she didn't need to go through with it and they could handle the baby.

Lori refused to reconsider her position with Connor and went on into the clinic to have the abortion. Connor tried to go in with her, but Lori refused to let him, and he was forced to sit outside in his ute. However, Lori had second thoughts as she filled out her personal details on a form, and decided not to have the abortion. But as she came out of the clinic, she opted to avoid Connor and not let him know she hadn't had the abortion. Instead, Lori went to Jack and revealed she had decided to return home to New Zealand to the comfort of her family. Jack helped Lori pack her things and waited with her on Ramsay Street for her taxi to arrive. Suggesting that she had never stopped hoping that she and Jack would get back together, Lori gave Jack a knowing look when he asked her why she had stayed in Erinsborough. And as her taxi arrived, Lori hugged Jack goodbye before getting into the car and mouthing "I Love You" to Jack as the cab pulled out of Ramsay Street. Lori left behind a letter to the Kennedys thanking them for everything they had done for her, and a note to Connor, in which she asked him not to try and contact her and simply let her deal with things in her own way.

After giving birth to a baby girl, who she named Madeleine, Lori found herself struggling with motherhood. Her parents made her feel inadequate and so she decided to escape for a while and visit Erinsborough, primarily to introduce Connor to the child he wasn’t aware he had. Checking in to Lassiter’s Hotel, Lori bumped into Connor sooner than she had planned to, as he was just checking out with his girlfriend Michelle. She introduced Connor to baby Maddy, but it seemed that the new father wasn’t quite ready to accept the new role that had been thrust upon him, particularly as he and Michelle were only just working out their renewed feelings for each other. However, once Connor began to spend time with Maddy and Lori, he realised that he had responsibilities. Lori spoke to Michelle, who was beginning to feel left out of the equation, and told her that when she’d learnt of her pregnancy, Connor had practically offered to marry her. Michelle realised that she could no longer rely on Connor, and so decided to return to New York.

Meanwhile, there was someone else Lori was eager to catch up with – Jack. The former couple still obviously had feelings for each other, but Jack was incredibly uncomfortable seeing the new bond that Maddy created between Lori and Connor. Lori was impressed when Jack proved himself to be very good with her daughter, a lot better than his own father. Lori and Jack began to spend a lot of time together, and Jack told her that he wanted them to get back together, so that the three of them could be a real family. Lori was moved by this, and agreed to give things another try, but one person who wasn’t convinced by this new arrangement was Lyn. She had seen her son flit from one ‘true love’ to another and was well aware that he would probably move on from Lori and leave her high and dry. She expressed her fears to Lori. Lori realised that what Lyn said probably had some truth in it. When Gino then offered her the job of PR manager and receptionist at his new hair salon in Lorne, Lori agreed to think seriously about it. When she then put this to Jack, he said he couldn’t leave his father’s business. When Lori then lied that Gino also wanted some male models to go to Europe, Jack jumped at the chance, until Lori explained that it was just a test to see how important their relationship really was to him. And so, the following day, Lori bid farewell to Lyn, Jack and Connor and set off to make her fresh start.