.
Guest Character Profiles > Sebastian Metcalfe Rarmian Newton

After holding a lavish party at Yorokobi Vineyard, the birthday boy disappeared, having given owner Leo Tanaka a cash deposit and fake details, and leaving Leo with the bill of almost $20,000. When Leo told his girlfriend Krista Sinclair about the problem, he explained that his only hope was that they handed out polaroid cameras during the party and that the mystery man was in one of the photos that had been left behind. As he showed the photo to Krista, she immediately recognised the man and, whilst Leo was distracted on the phone to the police, she hid it. As Leo then searched for the missing photo, Krista took out her phone, where there were photographs of her with the man - her oldest friend, Sebastian Metcalfe.

After quietly leaving an envelope containing the cash for the party at Yorokobi, Krista was happy when Leo decided that it was no longer worth pursuing with the police. But when Melanie, Krista's flatmate, overheard Krista talking about Sebastian on the phone, she reminded her of all the trouble he'd caused in the past, as he'd been responsible for getting Krista kicked out of her boarding school in Sydney and sent back to the UK many years earlier. Melanie also reminded recovering addict Krista that Sebastian had enabled her drug problems in the past, but Krista was worried that Seb needed her and that him not paying for the party had been a way to get her attention. She explained that she and Seb had done similar things in the past, leaving her father to pay their bills, and she was taking it as a sign that he wanted to get in touch. When Seb then turned up at Krista's flat and asked if he could stay with her, she was conflicted - although she had the space, as Melanie was moving out that day, she also knew that his influence might not be good for her. After trying, and failing, to tell Leo the truth about Seb, she met with her old friend again and, after an evening spent reminiscing, Seb managed to manipulate her into letting him stay.

Before Krista then had a chance to tell her boyfriend what was going on, Leo walked into her apartment to find a half-dressed Sebastian emerging from the bathroom. When Krista walked in, she was forced to explain everything to Leo, telling him that she'd been waiting until she knew exactly what was going on with Seb and why he needed her help. When Leo's business partner Byron Stone then spotted Seb in the Lassiters grounds, seemingly buying drugs from someone, he reported back to Leo, who then went to Seb and told him what Byron had seen. Seb insisted that Byron was mistaken, and warned Leo that he'd be making a mistake if he tried to interfere in his friendship with Krista, as she'd never taken kindly to past boyfriends who didn't like the fact that her best friend was a guy. Leo then decided to back off, but told his dad, Paul, the whole story and said that he was sure that someone like Seb would mess up eventually, and he'd be ready to support Krista when it happened.

As Krista did her best to support, and defend, her friend, Seb continued to push his luck. When Byron and Sadie found him drinking at the Back Lane Bar, the centre of attention, they contacted Leo, and he and Krista went to the bar to try and get him to leave. When Seb refused, the others left him there on his own, but when Byron returned to get his jacket, he saw a man threatening Seb. Byron attempted to intervene and Seb insisted that the tense conversation was because the man was coming on to him and he wouldn't take no for an answer. However, when Leo and Byron saw the man threatening Seb again the next day, Seb admitted to Leo that Joe was actually a loan shark who had followed him down from Sydney, looking for the money he was owed. When Krista then walked in on their conversation, Leo decided not to say anything, fearing that Seb wanted her to find out and bail him out. Leo then pointed this out to Seb, saying that he felt that Seb was just using Krista and had no intention of getting clean. He told Seb that he needed to get out of Erinsborough, both for Krista's sake and to avoid Joe, warning him that his life wouldn't be worth living if he stayed. Realising that he had no other option, Seb then skipped town and Krista was worried to find all of his stuff gone from her apartment.

Leo kept silent as Krista started to worry about Seb, admitting to Leo that she felt responsible for setting him down the path of drink and drugs, and now wanted to do everything she could to help him. As she struggled to work out where he'd gone, she was relieved when she received a message from him, claiming that he'd found Erinsborough boring and had gone back to Sydney, with Leo also relieved that his secret seemed to be safe. When Seb's bag was then found in some bushes at Lassiters, Krista grew worried again and Leo was forced to confess what he'd done. Krista turned to the police for help, but, after finding Seb, they told Krista that he didn't want her to contact him. Becoming more and more concerned that Seb was in serious trouble, Krista tracked down Jordan Masciulli, the drug dealer Seb had been seen with shortly after arriving in Erinsborough. She insisted that she might have met him briefly but had no idea where he was, though once alone, she made a call to Seb, telling him that Krista was worried and looking for him.

Krista was then surprised to receive a text from Seb, claiming that he was on a burner phone and needed $35,000 to get him out of trouble. Though Leo felt that it was a bad idea to send the money, Krista decided to do it anyway, but Seb then went quiet again. When the next message came, he was asking for another $20,000 and Krista worried that she was now being taken advantage of. As she debated what to do, Leo secretly hired private investigator John Wong to find Leo, receiving an address in a town called Winterton. As Leo set off, Seb then turned up in Erinsborough, looking for Krista. He was soon spotted by Paul, who explained that Leo had gone to Winterton looking for him and Seb quickly became worried, saying that it wasn't safe for Leo to go there. As Seb then disappeared again, Paul and ex-wife Terese headed to Winterton to try and catch Leo before he headed into danger.

After Leo returned unscathed and Krista realised that Seb had been lying about the level of danger, she was furious, pointing out that if he'd lied about that, he could also be lying about all the money he needed for the loan sharks. Seb then told about how he'd found himself in a lot of debt after he first returned to Sydney and that he still needed another $20,000 to pay off the men who were looking for him. Still not entirely sure, Krista agreed to give him the money but said that, if he was going to stay, he had to promise to get clean. Seb was unable to promise this, admitting that he'd scored drugs only the day before and that he couldn't guarantee that more trouble wouldn't make its way to Krista's home if he stuck around. It was then agreed that Krista would send the money and they would never see each other again.

Seb then packed his things and left, but rather than leaving Erinsborough, he found the old builder's yard on Power Yard and hid out in the office there. However, Seb was spotted by teenager Dex Varga-Murphy, who told Leo, asking him to let Terese - the owner of Power Road - know about the squatter. But when Leo then ran into a man named Chips McApline at Harolds, Chips claimed to be Seb's cousin, saying that he'd come down from Sydney to spend Christmas with him. Already frustrated with Seb, Leo told Chips where to find him and, later that day, Chips' accomplice was sitting in his car, watching, as Seb came out of Grease Monkeys restaurant. As Seb crossed the road back to the builder's yard, he dropped some money, which was returned to him by a passing Sadie Rodwell. However, the pair soon found themselves straight in the path of the car as it sped towards them, with Max Ramsay spotting what was about to happen and leaping in to try and push Sadie out of the way.

While Max and Sadie escaped with minor bumps and scrapes, Sebastian was left with a fractured collar bone. With the driver of the car left unconscious, the police confirmed that they had found photos of Seb on his phone, confirming that he was the target. Surprised that the loan sharks had continued to target Seb after she gave him the money to pay them off, Krista was shocked to realise that he'd actually returned the $20,000 to her account, deciding that he didn't want to continue to sponge off her. With both Krista and Leo feeling bad about everything that had happened, Seb was upset to learn that they were now engaged, but accepted Krista's help as he realised that things would have to change.

Increasingly paranoid that the driver would wake up and come and find him, Seb desperately wanted to get out of the hospital, so it was arranged that he could stay at the hotel under a false name and that Krista would return the money to him so that he could be free of his debts. As he found himself leaning on Krista more and more, Seb found it difficult to be alone in his hotel room, still sure that the loan sharks were out to kill him and worried that the stress would make him relapse as he tried to get clean. Leo was upset as Krista then offered Seb the spare room in her apartment and he refused to go to rehab, instead wanting Krista to support him, in the same way that Leo's late brother David had helped Krista a year earlier when she was trying to get clean. Leo did his best to support Krista as she helped Seb, and arranged to visit a restaurant with her as they looked for a potential venue for their wedding reception. However, after finding Seb on the floor, claiming that he couldn't remember how many of his painkillers he'd taken, Krista cancelled her evening with Leo in order to keep an eye on her friend.

After agreeing to attend his first NA meeting, Seb was disappointed when Krista was unable to join him, as she and Leo were having lunch at a possible wedding reception venue. He attended on his own and, as he chatted to another member of the group, Deanna, he admitted that recent events had made him see Krista as more than just a friend. As he tried to come to terms with these feelings, Seb got some shifts at Harolds Cafe, thanks to Krista, who felt that he needed something else to focus on. When Paul made sure that Seb was working during a engagement party brunch for Leo and Krista, Seb found another way to spoil things by phoning her during the party, telling her that he was overwhelmed at the cafe. Krista rushed down there and ended up hitting Seb's injured shoulder with the fridge door. Feeling terrible, she offered to stay and help him, ending up missing most of her own engagement party in the process.

Trivia Notes
• Sebasitan was shown in photographs in episode 9148 but was only credited from episode 9149 onwards

Episodes Featured
9149, 9150, 9153, 9163, 9165, 9166, 9167, 9168, 9169, 9170, 9173, 9174

Biography by Steve

Back