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Character Profiles > Elle Robinson Pippa Black

Lucinda 'Elle' Robinson 2005-2009
Lived: 22, 26, 30 Ramsay Street
Born: c. 1985/'86 (originally 1989)
Parents: Gail and Paul Robinson
Siblings: Amy, Cameron, Robert and Andrew
Family Tree: Robinson and Lewis
Occupation: Co-Manager of Lucinda's Cafe and The General Store, Student, Employee/Co-Manager/Co-Owner of Lassiter's Hotel, Telemarketer, Erinsborough News Cadet

The slightly spoilt Lucinda Robinson, Elle for short, was one of the triplets born to Paul and Gail Robinson as a result of IVF. During the pregnancy, Gail left Paul and moved to Tasmania and, in the years that followed, the children had little contact with their dad. In 2005, 19 year old Elle lied to her mother, claiming she was going to Byron Bay with a friend, and paid her dad a visit in Erinsborough. She quickly had tongues wagging when she turned up in the Scarlet Bar and started chatting to a few of the locals, including Connor O’Neill, Toadie Rebecchi, Ned Parker and his brother, Stuart, without revealing her family connections. Connor’s girlfriend, Serena Bishop, then spent much of the night insulting hotel owner Paul, as did the boys. After leaving the bar, Elle surprised the boys by arranging a night staying in Lassiter’s hotel penthouse suite and quickly winning favour with the hotel staff. The next morning, when the group decided to cause some trouble by setting off the smoke alarm, Paul was called in and was stunned to see his daughter in the suite.

Elle quickly won her father over as she reminded him of all the time they’d missed out on spending together when she was younger. He invited her to stay at his house in Ramsay Street, but Elle was surprised to find that they wouldn’t be alone – his girlfriend, Izzy Hoyland, also lived there. The battle lines were soon drawn between the two women, with Elle doing everything in her power to get rid of the other woman. After only a few days in the street, Elle struck up friendships with Sky Mangel and Serena, and developed something of a crush on neighbour Ned. After finding out that Izzy was recovering from an addiction to prescription drugs, and spotting her throwing some in the bin, Elle retrieved them. She then allowed the pill bottle to fall from her bag and claimed that she’d found them on the shelf and was going to throw them away so that Izzy didn’t get in any trouble. Although Paul gave his daughter his old sports car and a trainee position at the hotel, he couldn’t believe that Izzy would lie to him. Elle threatened to return home if her father didn’t trust her and the plan worked, with Paul agreeing to let her stay on, but Izzy realised what was going on and warned Elle not to make any more trouble.

In a desperate attempt to get rid of Izzy, Elle started grinding up the tablets and spiking her food. Things quickly got out of hand when Izzy collapsed in the lounge room and agreed to have some tests to find out what was wrong. Izzy was confused when the drug tests came back positive and Elle realised that she’d gone too far and threw the bottle of pills away. However, when Elle began to suspect that something was going on between Izzy and Ned, having overheard only part of a conversation they were having, she angrily resumed her spiking of the food. Izzy’s suspicions were then raised when, one morning, Elle offered her a cup of coffee, which she refused. As Paul came in, he went to drink it instead and Elle quickly knocked into him, causing the coffee to spill. That evening, Izzy switched her plate of dinner with Elle’s and, when Elle refused to eat it, she announced her suspicions to a shocked Paul. Paul refused to believe it, so Izzy realised that she’d have to find proof, quickly tracking down a bottle of pills in Elle’s bag. She then put some in her dinner one night, a dinner prepared by Elle, and complained to Paul that it tasted funny. He tried some, before noticing a white pill in there. Elle pleaded innocent, but accidentally blurted out that she had been spiking Izzy’s food in the past. Paul decided that she’d have to go back to her mother in Tasmania, before having a change of heart and allowing her to stay on. With everything out in the open, Paul, Izzy and Elle agreed to make a fresh start and try to live as a family unit.

Meanwhile, rivalry was building up between Elle and another of Paul’s Lassiter’s trainees, Dylan Timmins. They had both been asked to come up with some kind of event to publicise the 20th anniversary of Lassiter’s. Although Paul liked both of their ideas, and tried to combine them, he was forced to tell Elle that Dylan’s plan – for a 40s-themed flight to the Lassiter’s casino in Launceston –was simply too good to ignore. She agreed and, after a few weeks of planning, the event took place, with many of the Ramsay Street residents on board. However, tragedy struck when a mysterious figure placed a bomb on the plane, which exploded as they flew over Bass Strait. In the water, Elle was rescued by Izzy and the pair finally started to bond as they recovered in hospital together in Tasmania. Back in Erinsborough, Elle’s attraction to Ned, which had been steadily growing for weeks, only got worse when she accompanied him to an audition for a musical, something he’d been trying to keep a secret from everyone else. As he sang on stage, Elle realised that she had to show him how she felt and, later that evening, back at number 22, she kissed him. However, she was disappointed when he failed to return the kiss and began to wonder exactly why he was holding out on her. Whilst listening to Ned going through his scripts, it suddenly dawned on Elle that he was having trouble keeping up and she confronted him about his reading problems. Although Ned was reluctant to admit it, and he lashed out at Elle for interfering, he finally apologised and admitted to her that he did have a problem.

As the play rehearsals continued, things took an interesting turn when director Gino Esposito turned it into a musical about Ned’s life in the country. As they spent time together going over the scripts, Gino asked Elle to help him do a run through with Ned one day. They rehearsed a scene in which Ned kissed Nell, the musical’s heroine, and Gino was surprised to realise that there was no acting involved. The couple finally got together, just before Ned went away for a few days, to spend Christmas in Oakey. Things had also settled down at home for Elle, after suspicions that the plane crash hadn’t been an accident, but rather a direct attempt to kill Paul. The prime suspect, Tony Corbett, had been found dead and Elle planned to return home and spend the festive season with Gail, Cameron and Robert. However, an airline strike saw her back in Erinsborough on Christmas Day and she had a pleasant day with Izzy and Paul, though she managed to spend most of her time on the phone to Ned. The following day, Ned returned from Oakey a few days early, but their happy reunion was shattered by the sound of an ambulance turning into the street. Paul had been found by Izzy, having been strangled in his own home. Although he quickly recovered from the attack, Paul became obsessed with his, and his family’s, security.

In an attempt to help out, Ned moved into number 22 whilst Paul recovered. Elle was thrilled to have him around and together, they got stuck into more rehearsals. When the lead actress was forced to pull out, Elle decided that she was going to audition, but was disappointed when her dancing skills didn’t come up to scratch and Sky got the part instead. Although she tried to contain her jealousy as Ned and Sky kissed in front of her on a daily basis, Elle couldn’t resist getting one over by lending Sky her pineapple lip balm, which Ned was allergic to. However, there were soon more important things to worry about as Paul’s paranoia got worse and he began to suspect that Ned was his stalker. Izzy and Elle tried to talk him around, but Paul was determined and he threw Ned out of his home. A shocked Elle told her dad that he was being unreasonable and, if he wouldn’t reconsider, she would move across to number 30 aswell. Within days, Paul had grudgingly made up with his daughter, but she’d barely stepped through the door when he was once again trying to convince her that she could find someone far better than Ned. Elle decided that, if her father was never going to approve of her boyfriend, they would leave town and go back to Tasmania.

However, on the morning of their departure, Elle was in for a cruel shock when Ned suddenly announced that he couldn’t go through with the move and ended their relationship. A distraught Elle decided that she would have to leave anyway as she couldn’t cope with seeing Ned in the street everyday, but was quickly won over by Paul and Izzy when they announced that their new boutique café would be named Lucinda’s and she would be given the job of co-manager with Dylan. Elle was thrilled to have the new opportunity and decided to stay, but was still upset over the situation with Ned and began to wonder if there was another woman in his life. What Elle didn’t realise was that the other woman was Izzy, who had been leading Ned on, and had sex with him, in order to split the younger couple up and stop Elle from leaving. Her rationalisation was that if Elle went back to Tasmania, Paul would fall apart again. Elle, however, continued to confide in Izzy about the situation and suddenly came to the conclusion that, following their kiss in the play, Ned had been cheating on her with Sky. When confronted, Sky pointed out that Izzy wasn’t exactly somebody to be trusted and suggested that Elle should look closer to home. It was then Izzy’s turn to be confronted and she sadly admitted that it was true – Ned was in love with her, but she hadn’t done anything to lead him on. Elle believed Izzy and decided that the best way to move on was to just be happy. Unfortunately, she found precisely the wrong person to be happy with – Ned’s older brother, Stuart. Although Stu was married and fiercely loyal to wife Sindi, who was receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital in New South Wales, he began to be tempted by Elle. But she ended up making a fool of herself, luring Stu to the Lassiter’s penthouse, then dropping her robe in front of him. After a chat, they agreed just to be friends but, one morning, after spending the night partying together, they ended up sharing a kiss, witnessed by Ned. Ned went nuts, and both Stu and Elle realised that it had been the wrong thing to do. Elle decided to concentrate her efforts on work and, as she and Dylan spent all their time working together, they started to grow closer, with a little help from Izzy.

Elle was in for a surprise when her brother, Cameron, suddenly turned up in Erinsborough. What she failed to realise was that it was actually her other brother, Cameron’s twin, Robert, masquerading as his sibling in order to quietly get revenge on his father. Robert had already planted the bomb on the plane – which had resulted in the deaths of the Bishop family – and put Cameron in a coma to keep him out of the picture. His evil deeds continued in Erinsborough, as he plotted to remove Dylan, Izzy and Elle from Paul’s life, before destroying his father completely. His first victim was Dylan, and Elle was shocked when things started going badly wrong at the General Store – which the two of them were managing after Paul had stolen it from under Lou and Harold’s noses. Robert engineered a food poisoning outbreak by planting bacteria in the fridges, and took money from the till to make it look like they’d been robbed. With Paul’s confidence in Dylan at an all-time low, Robert’s next act also put Elle’s life at risk, as Rob tampered with some shelves that Dylan had built at the store, causing them to collapse on top of her. Although she was uninjured, it was the final straw for Paul, who sacked Dylan. Elle then found herself feeling sorry for Dylan, particularly when Sky cheated on him with her art lecturer, JP. As Lou managed to con Paul into selling the store back to him – by arranging a fake building inspection – Elle suddenly found herself out of a job and decided to give up on her uni management course and take some time out to sponge off her father. And, after a brief spell working as a telesales girl, she soon realised that she much preferred buying to selling. Meanwhile, Elle’s attempts to be a friend to both Sky and Dylan, following their split, ended badly when he tried to kiss her. Elle had to push him away, despite having feelings for him, realising that he was simply looking for comfort on the rebound.

After framing Izzy by recording a conversation with her and then re-recording it to make it sound like she was coming on to him, Robert managed to get rid of Paul’s girlfriend. And when Elle announced plans to drive down to some vineyards, Robert saw his chance to dispose of her too. He planted a bomb in her car and watched as she set off on her journey. Soon after, however, Izzy arrived at number 22, with Robert’s MP3 player and proof that she had been set up. Paul suddenly realised how twisted “Cameron” was, and how eager he’d been to see Elle off on her trip. He quickly phoned her and told her to get out of the car, but it wasn’t until Izzy shouted down the phone at her that Elle got out and ran, as the car exploded behind her. Elle was extremely shaken by the experience and confused by Cameron’s behaviour as they’d always been so close. Meanwhile, at the hospice, the real Cameron had awoken, knocked Robert unconscious and done a runner. As a disoriented Cameron turned up in Ramsay Street, he was immediately arrested, pleading his innocence, while Robert got into the hospital bed. Elle couldn’t quite understand how Cameron could do something like this, but, when Gail arrived in Erinsborough and showed her daughter a mole on the arm of comatose Robert, she was forced to accept what had happened.

As Elle tried to cope with what had happened, she became closer to Dylan and the pair kissed. Following their first night together as an official couple, the relationship immediately faced its first test when Sky announced that she was carrying Dylan’s baby. Elle agreed to stand by Dylan, whatever he wanted to do, but wasn’t expecting to face the wrath of his mother, Janelle, who made her feelings clear and wanted Sky in and Elle out. Robert’s true colours were about to be revealed aswell. As he “awoke” from his coma, he came to stay at 22 Ramsay Street and quickly succeeded in pretending that he’d never been there before and still had a lot of resentment for his father. The only person who refused to believe him was Katya Kinski, who had been dating him, believing that he was Cameron. As Paul and Robert headed off on a father-son camping trip, Katya finally managed to convince Gail, Izzy and Elle that Paul was in danger. They headed off to the camp-site, where Robert had tied his father up in an old, disused mineshaft and left him to die. After some help from Gail, the rescue teams found him and pulled him to safety.

In the weeks that followed, as Gail returned to Tasmania, Cameron was released from prison and Paul dumped Izzy, Elle came to rely on Dylan for support, but started to realise that his feelings actually lay with Sky and their unborn child. Desperate to keep him in her life, Elle blackmailed his mother, Janelle, paying off a huge debt she owed for copyright infringement, after her husband, Kim, had been caught copying DVDs. Although this worked briefly, it soon became clear that Janelle only had so much influence on Dylan and couldn't stop him from going back to Sky if he wanted to. And so, Elle turned to her father, whose own emotions were already very confused, and he suggested faking a serious illness. After a quick look in the medical dictionary for some symptoms, and after Paul blackmailed a lab technician to alter the test results, everything was in place. Elle broke the news to Dylan that she was seriously ill and he, who had been on the verge of dumping her to get back together with Sky, promised to stand by her. As more people in Ramsay Street learnt about Elle’s illness, she found herself showered with sympathy and was unsure how to react. When Cameron found out, his insistence on helping his sister with day-to-day activities almost broke her, and when he put himself in charge of her medication and she had to swallow a chemo tablet in front of him, Paul rushed her to hospital where she had her stomach pumped, lying to the doctor that she’d taken one of her cousin’s tablets, believing it to be a vitamin. After surviving that drama, Elle replaced her tablets with placebos and began to wonder if the whole lie was really worth it, but Paul encouraged her to keep going. With Dylan away on a cookery course, Cameron again started trying to help Elle and presented her with two tickets for them to travel on the Orient Express. This generous act was too much for Elle and she admitted everything to her stunned brother, who immediately disowned her and their father. However, tragedy struck later that day when Max Hoyland ran his car into Cameron, wrongly believing him to be Robert, escaped from prison and threatening Katya.

After a few days in intensive care, Cameron died, after making ‘Porky’ promise that she would look after Paul, and speaking to his good friend, Sister Mary Catherine, about keeping an eye on Elle. On that same day, Dylan returned to Erinsborough, and, as he tried to comfort his girlfriend, she broke the news that she had lied about her illness. She told him how sorry she was, and that he should leave her and be with Sky. Soon after, Elle and Paul headed to Tasmania for Cameron’s funeral. Upon their return, Elle was shocked as Paul decided to forgive Max, who was charged with manslaughter then released on bail. She decided to get her revenge, but first, had to pretend that she too had forgiven him for killing not only her brother, but her best friend. She then proceeded to make Max think that he was losing his mind, first by stealing some football tickets he’d bought for himself and Boyd, and replacing them with cardboard then by moving baby Charlie’s pram into the road, when Max left it outside Grease Monkeys one day. With the Hoyland family starting to worry, Elle agreed to take over one of Boyd’s shifts at the bar, then changed some of his orders. It was this act which aroused Max’s suspicions, but he only made himself look more unstable as he started throwing wild accusations at the Robinson family. Elle then managed to sneak into the Hoyland house one day and, with Steph off to work and Max preparing food in the kitchen, she walked out with Charlie. As a worried Max noticed the cot was empty, he raced off to the garage, fearing that Steph didn’t trust him and had taken Charlie. Whilst the house was empty, Elle placed the baby back inside, then told Paul and Lyn Scully - her father's PA, who, along with her son, Oscar had moved into number 22 as lodgers, that she could hear Charlie crying, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else home.

Although satisfied with the results of her actions to begin with, Elle slowly began to feel more and more guilty about what she was doing. Nevertheless, she couldn’t resist when Max started talking about his new car, bought to replace the one he’d hit Cameron with, and she stole the keys. But as she got in and moved the car across the car park, she noticed that she was being watched. Max had set the situation up and hired private investigator Ray McQueen, but Elle was one step ahead and, after catching Ray in the act, she paid him off. As Max received the report from Ray and was all ready to gloat, he realised that it proved nothing and, completely bewildered, admitted himself to the psychiatric ward of Erinsborough Hospital, fearful for the safety of his family. After seeing the effect she’d had on Max, and in turn, the way his illness was affecting his family, Elle started to feel ashamed of herself and eventually went to see Max to confess everything. By this stage, Max was heavily medicated and unsure of what was happening and, later that evening, he walked out of the hospital and disappeared into the night.

Meanwhile, Elle decided on a fresh start, even turning down her father’s offer of a trip to New York with free run on the credit card, and assisting in the bar when it was busy. She also grew closer to Dylan again, as the pair attempted to get over their past, twisted relationship and build a new one, and Dylan coped with the news that Sky’s baby had been fathered by his brother, Stingray. When Dylan was given a 9% share of Lassiter’s by his grandmother, Loris, it gave the pair more excuses to spend time together, as they planned a new wing of the hotel, an upgrade designed by Dylan and, eventually, they fell back into bed. After a night spent together in a room at Lassiter’s, the pair were shocked to be caught by Sky, who had come looking for Stingray, who’d also been staying at the hotel. The shock of seeing Dylan and Elle together sent Sky into premature labour, a labour during which part of the hospital burnt down and, by the time mother and daughter had been moved to another wing, newborn baby Kerry had been snatched. Believing that Dylan was away at a hoteliers conference, Elle was stunned to realise that he was actually holed up in a hotel room with Kerry. He explained that he had found the baby in the bushes, with Stingray, who had snatched her, then passed out, and he had felt a strong fatherly connection. Elle was shocked by his actions, reminding him that he could go back to prison, and so, as Dylan put Kerry in the car, she quickly jumped in and drove off, before leaving the baby on the Bishops’ doorstep. But Dylan was still adamant that he was the child’s father and risked going back to prison by telling Sky what he’d done. Sky decided that she wouldn’t report him to the police, but agreed to have a DNA test performed to get to the truth.

After Dylan was found to be the father, Elle agreed to stand by him, but soon found herself pushed to the sidelines and was hurt when she overheard Dylan and Sky agreeing that they couldn’t leave Kerry alone with her. After then finding out that Dylan only saw their relationship as a bit of fun, they split up. At home, Elle was finally finding some stability as her father and Lyn planned their wedding, only to cheat on her with new Ramsay Street resident Rosetta Cammeniti. Elle was horrified when, only hours after the wedding, Paul dumped Lyn and she set off on the honeymoon alone. Unable to watch her father self-destruct any more, she decided to leave and spend Christmas in Tasmania with Gail.

A couple of days later, Elle was back, having realised that Erinsborough was her home now. As she headed back to Ramsay Street, she stopped off at the mall, only to spot Max in the car park, loading up his car with shopping and joined by a woman and two young children. Ever since Max’s disappearance, Elle’s guilt had been eating away at her and, despite her hiring a private detective to find him, he had all but vanished. Boyd, meanwhile, had realised what Elle was up to, and gave her a taste of her own medicine by stealing her credit card and sending texts from her phone. But, having spotted Max and followed him back to a house in Waratah Park, Elle realised that this was her chance to make things right and reunite the Hoylands. After calling in at the Hoyland house, Elle told Boyd’s wife, Janae, what she’d seen and the pair headed over to Waratah Park, where Janae came to the startling conclusion that perhaps Max had been keeping two families for years and the truth would destroy Steph. In the end, it was left to Janae to talk Max into returning to his family and Elle could only watch as the Hoylands tried to repair some of the damage that she had caused. With the pressure of finding Max finally off her shoulders, Elle started having some fun, making sure that Dylan could see what he was missing. But as he started to beg to get her back, Elle’s attention moved to Will Griggs, a young guy who had moved into Ramsay Street and whose real identity was Sebastian Barnes, the heir to a multi-million dollar hotel fortune.

When Will disappeared from town, his older brother, Oliver, arrived to pick up the pieces, and Elle wasted no time in planning her pursuit of him. However, Dylan wasn’t prepared to give up and Elle saw an opportunity to win him back, by challenging him to walk into a Lassiter’s board meeting in the nude. He rose to the challenge and Elle took him back, much to Paul’s disgust. Paul, already furious that the Timmins family owned 49% of the hotel after Janelle’s mother-in-law Loris bought it for them, told Elle and Dylan that they weren’t welcome under his roof. Elle moved in with Dylan at the Timmins house, but Paul wasn’t quite ready to give up on her. After conning Ned, who was developing a gambling problem, into losing big at a poker game, Paul agreed to help settle the debt, if Ned would do a few things in return. When several Ramsay Street couples – including Oliver and Carmella, and Elle and Dylan, went on a Valentine’s retreat to the country, Ned tagged along. He then proceeded to get Dylan and Carmella drunk and put them in the same bed together. When Elle and Oliver found them, they were horrified, but despite Dylan’s protests that he couldn’t remember going near Carmella, she dumped him and ran straight home to daddy, just as Paul had planned.

Desperate to get back at the Timmins family for Dylan’s apparent deceit, Elle was only too willing to listen as Paul suggested a plan. He pointed out that if Elle could win over Oliver, they could help him get his hands on his inheritance – including a 2% share in Lassiter’s, which would give them 51% to the Timmins family’s 49%. But Oliver had forgiven Carmella for supposedly cheating on him with Dylan, so Elle needed to find a way to split them up first. After finding out that they were facing problems running their fruit and veg supply business, as Carmella’s Uncle Ray was trying to destroy it, and that Oliver was uncomfortable with Carmella’s newfound ruthless streak, Elle hit upon an idea. She attempted to sabotage their order sheets, but when this only led to them gaining new business from the General Store, where Harold sympathised with their teething problems, Paul had to step in and come up with something bigger. He and Elle planted a bomb in Carmella’s delivery van, knowing full well that Ray would be prime suspect. But instead of exploding while Carmella and Oliver were away from the van, the faulty bomb blew up seconds later, as they were walking towards it. Elle was horrified, but quickly relieved when, at the hospital, she found that both Carmella and Oliver had survived with minor injuries. Elle then delighted in making Oliver believe that Carmella was still out for revenge and had gone after Ray with a gun. Carmella’s determination to find out who planted the bomb was too much for Oliver and he accepted an offer from Elle to get away and use the Robinson guest house. She then pretended to have had an argument with Paul and, before long, Elle and Oliver were heading off to the country together.

Once there, Elle proceeded to sabotage Oliver’s phone, to make sure that no reconciliation with Carmella could happen, and admitted how upset she was about Dylan cheating on her. Oliver fell for every word and, as he provided comfort, the pair ended up kissing, only to be interrupted by Carmella, who had driven down their with Rosetta, to find Oliver. Elle was pleased when he sent Carmella home, telling her that they were finished for good, before falling into bed with Elle. Later that evening, she phoned home, telling her dad that the plan was working perfectly. Around the same time, Elle had started a casual relationship with Ned, not realising that he’d also been secretly helping her father. When the two Robinsons found out about the other’s involvement in Ned’s life, Elle was stunned and finally started to listen as Ned told her that Paul was a terrible influence on her and destroyed people’s lives by using them. He convinced her to leave with him, for a new life away from Erinsborough and from Paul, but as they left, she started to have second thoughts, having seen how upset her dad was at her leaving. To make Elle realise just how cruel her dad was, Ned filled her in on the truth behind the events at the Valentine’s Day retreat. She maintained her plans to go home, but with a new reason – to get revenge on her dad and make him see that, if he continued to use people, he would end up alone.

Her plan started by filling Oliver in on – almost – everything that had been going on, choosing not to tell him that she and Paul had been behind the bombing. Oliver was stunned and agreed to go along with the plan, pretending that he and Elle were a happy couple and, shortly afterwards, they managed to get Oliver’s rightful inheritance signed back over to him. It wasn’t long before Oliver and Elle were announcing their engagement. Paul was thrilled, believing that his plan to get Elle married into the Barnes wealth was working, but Oliver and Elle had other ideas and convinced Paul that they had an idea to get the Lassiter’s shares back from Janelle, by getting her to sell them to Oliver, who could then immediately sell them back to Paul. However, they actually went to see Janelle and filled her in on the entire plan. They then told Paul was Janelle didn’t trust them, and was concerned about Paul still owning half of Lassiter’s, so Elle talked her dad into signing all of his assets over to her, just until the deal was done. A few days later, at a lavish party at Lassiter’s to celebrate their engagement, Oliver and Elle revealed everything to Paul, as the guests listened intently. Elle warned her father that she had done this to save him from himself, and, as he called at the house later, she had him arrested for trespassing. But guilt slowly crept in for Elle and she tried to talk Oliver into giving Paul a job at the hotel as an event co-ordinator. Paul’s pride stopped him from accepting, while Elle had something else to worry about. With their fake relationship having served its purpose, Oliver had returned to Carmella, but Elle realised that she had fallen in love with him for real. And when the pair managed to secure a deal with the local hospital to provide some of the accommodation for the maternity wards, they ended up celebrating with a kiss, only narrowly avoiding being caught by Carmella, but making them both admit their feelings for each other.

But Elle’s relationship dramas took a back seat when she went to the apartment where her dad was staying, and found him fighting with thin air. Paul was claiming that a kid named Fox was there with him, and was alarmed as Elle told him that there was nobody else in the room. She managed to convince Paul to go with her to the hospital, worried that he was having some kind of nervous breakdown, but was alarmed to learn from his specialist, Dr Demi Vinton, that he’d been diagnosed with a brain tumour some weeks earlier, and his visions of Fox had been preventing him from returning for the life-saving neurosurgery. As Paul finally had the operation, Elle started to rely on the support of Oliver, which left Carmella uncomfortable and she stepped in to offer her support instead, staying with Elle as she waited for her dad to wake up. When Paul did finally regain consciousness, Elle was alarmed when he didn’t recognise her, believing that he was still married to Gail and living on Ramsay Street near his dad and gran. Elle had to break the news that his dad and gran had both died, and his marriage to Gail had been over for more than fifteen years. However, realising that her dad also had no recollection of any of his evil deeds from the last few years, Elle decided to keep that information to herself, pleading with his neighbours to do the same.

Worried that Elle was keeping things from him, Paul went behind her back and got in touch with Gail in Tasmania, pleading with her to listen to him and alarmed to realise that he must have hurt her deeply. But when Gail turned up in Erinsborough, she also struggled to tell Paul the truth about his past exploits, and Elle was grateful to her mum. But as they discussed whether they’d ever be able to tell Paul that his own son tried to kill him – twice – they were unaware that Paul was listening to their conversation. He demanded to be told everything and so, as Gail told Paul about his appalling treatments of many of his friends, family and neighbours, Elle went around to each of them and invited them to a barbecue at number 22, marking Paul’s release from hospital and his plans to apologise to, and make a fresh start with, each of them. Though sceptical, most of the residents of Ramsay Street turned up and were slightly taken aback by the new nice guy Paul. With things looking up on the family front, and Oliver now single after ending his relationship with Carmella, Elle was finally able to be with him and they ended up giving in to temptation and having sex in a hotel room at Lassiter’s, but later agreed to keep it between themselves for now, so as not to hurt Carmella. Then, as that part of her life fell into place, Elle was forced to say goodbye to her mum again, as Gail left, realising that her presence in Paul’s life wasn’t going to help with his recovery. Elle was then thrust into another family drama when Alan Napier, the long-time assistant to Oliver’s mum and dad who was seriously ill in hospital with heart problems, revealed that he was actually Oliver’s grandfather and the Barneses weren’t his real parents. With his parents dead, and Alan slipping in and out of a coma, Elle helped him out by taking a lock of his hair from his jacket, then sneaking into Alan’s hospital room for one of his, before having a DNA test done. This proved positive and so Elle hired a private detective to track down the Napier children – Marcus and Rebecca. With Rebecca’s whereabouts unknown, Elle accompanied Oliver to meet Marcus, who insisted that he wasn’t his dad and warned Oliver that if Rebecca was his mum, then trouble was ahead.

This proved to be true as, a couple of weeks later, Oliver came face to face with Rebecca and she apologised for giving him away to the Barnes family, but told him that this was all too difficult for her and she couldn’t be a part of Oliver’s life. She then had second thoughts, after looking at the newspaper clippings about her son that she’d kept over the years, but when she failed to arrive for another meeting with Oliver, Elle went to Rebecca’s house and confronted her over her behaviour. Unfortunately, this only made Rebecca more determined to put her younger son, Declan, first and left Oliver worried that he might lose his newfound mum and brother completely. After Rosie and Frazer’s wedding day ended in disaster, when the minibus carrying guests back to Ramsay Street crashed, Rebecca got in touch to check that Oliver was OK, but left Elle and Oliver confused once again when she walked out on them suddenly, after seeing a photo of Elle and Paul and finding out who he was. The reasons for her odd behaviour were revealed when she told Paul that he was Oliver’s father – meaning that Elle was dating her half-brother. Elle refused to believe it and arranged for a DNA test, which proved that Rebecca was mistaken and left Elle unable to trust the woman.

When Elle found out that Rebecca was refusing to let Oliver get to know his real father, she decided that this was unfair and, after giving Declan a job at Lassiter’s and finding out the name from his birth certificate, she tracked Richard Aaronow down through the internet. Elle went to the private boys’ school where Richard was principal and pretended to be looking for somewhere to send her younger brother, Benji. Richard quickly saw through her lies and she pretended that her parents knew nothing about her enquiries before rushing off, dropping her Lassiter’s ID in the process. Back at Lassiter’s, Elle started talking to Oliver once again about finding his real father and Oliver was forced to tell Elle the truth – that Richard had raped Rebecca, resulting in Declan’s conception – so that she would drop the matter. Thinking that she’d had a narrow escape, Elle’s attitude towards Rebecca changed completely and the pair headed off for a girly night of Tom Cruise movies, unaware that Richard had been watching them both from his car. The next day, Elle was horrified to be confronted by Richard at Lassiter's, as he handed her ID badge back to her and started questioning her about Rebecca. Elle gave nothing away, but quickly gathered Oliver, Paul and Rebecca to explain the terrible mistake she'd made. Rebecca was all ready to leave town once more, but Paul convinced her to move in with him, while Oliver struggled to deal with what his girlfriend had done, despite her good intentions. Things then got worse for the couple when Carmella broke the news that she was expecting Oliver's baby. Having seen how torn Dylan was when he found out that Sky was pregnant, Elle wasn't about to go through that again and ended the relationship.

Feeling increasingly out of place at number 22, as Paul helped Rebecca, Oliver and Declan deal with the presence of Richard in their lives, Elle found herself a new friend in the shape of new neighbour Riley Parker, Ned's nephew. As the pair drank together and shared stories about their problems at home, Elle soon had something new to worry about when Paul started talking about flashbacks he was having to a fire at Lassiter's. As he tried to find out more, he learnt of the Lassiter's fire at the end of 2004, in which Gus Cleary had died, and he became convinced that he was a murderer. Worried about losing her father, only months after he'd become the dad she'd always wanted him to be, Elle tried to stop him from going to the police and having hypnotherapy to uncover the truth. But she was too late to stop him from reporting his crime to the police, but relieved when they struggled to believe him, given his recent brain surgery, and refused to re-open the case. Ramsay Street policeman Adam Rhodes told Paul that he would do some digging of his own, but Elle managed to put him off that, pointing out that he'd be risking not only his job, but his residency in Australia if he were to be found out. As Paul continued to look for ways to find redemption, Elle agreed to help him track down Gus' family, and went to see Riley, who was working as a cadet at the Erinsborough News. When Riley couldn't help, Elle lied to newspaper editor Brad Jordan that she was a criminology student looking at the effects on the relatives of murder victims. Brad quickly realised who she really was and sent her packing, though she managed to get hold of his address book and found details for Gus' sister, Laura Davidson. Elle's visit to the newspaper had piqued Brad's interest, however, and he found out from a police contact that someone had admitted to the Gus Cleary murder and printed a front page story. Elle promptly forced Riley to help her write a follow-up piece, explaining how a high percentage of admissions to serious crimes were false, and an impressed Brad agreed to run it, telling Elle that if she ever decided to get out of the hotel business, she'd make a good journalist.

Having put Paul in touch with Laura, Elle was shocked when her dad started helping the woman, offering her a room at Lassiter's, mistakenly believing that she was being abused by her boyfriend, Nick Thompson. As Nick and Laura became more involved in Paul's daily life, Elle grew suspicious and accessed the hotel room when they were out, only to get trapped in the bathroom when they returned suddenly. Quick thinking Elle set off the fire alarm, causing the hotel to be evacuated, and later reported back to Paul that he was being conned. Still refusing to believe that Laura could be so underhand, Paul found himself in a nightmare situation when Declan was kidnapped, with Nick and Laura demanding money from Oliver. Elle, meanwhile, had been spending a few days at a conference and returned to find her family in turmoil, but it was a call from Riley that had brought her back to town. His younger sister, Bridget had been knocked down in a hit and run accident and was in a coma. Over the days that followed, Riley became determined to get revenge on Susan Kinski, the neighbour who'd been behind the wheel and had fallen asleep, causing the accident. He printed a story - along with a picture of Susan unloading shopping, including a bottle of wine, from her car - implying that she had been drink-driving, leading to a brick being thrown through Susan's window. After Elle told Riley the story of Cameron's death and her attempts at revenge toward Max, he realised what he was doing was wrong, and printed a retraction. A couple of weeks later, with Bridget on the mend, Laura and Nick in jail and everyone moving on with their lives, Elle attended the Erinsborough fun run, of which Lassiter's was the main sponsor. She was horrified, however, when the race came to an end, to see Oliver and Riley fighting, later realising that the brawl had been over her, and she made it clear to both of them that she wasn't a prize to be fought over.

After Sebastian, who now owned a majority share in the hotel, demanded that one of the co-managers, either Oliver or Paul, be fired, Elle was torn, eventually decided to make a fresh start herself. After announcing her resignation, Elle spent some time at home, trying to work out what to do next, but quickly found herself bored. It was during a horse-riding trip with Rebecca that Elle accidentally stumbled upon her new career, when she found some neglected horses and contacted the RSPCA. Before long, Elle was helping Riley to write a story about Gary Allen, the farmer responsible, only to learn that his wife had recently died and circumstances beyond his control had led to the situation. Before long, Elle was pitching a new idea to Brad Jordan - a series of articles on the ways in which the recent droughts had affected farmers. Brad turned her down, so wily Elle told him that she was taking her articles to the West Waratah Star, and she followed through, leaving Brad surprised when the rival newspaper published her submission. Realising that he'd been beaten, Brad offered Elle a cadetship alongside Riley, but she turned him down, only later realising that perhaps she was cutting off her nose to spite her face. After accepting the position, however, Elle's first day as a cadet got off to a shaky start when she parked in Brad's space, and things went downhill when she started trying to get her hands on a big scoop straight away, and plotted with Riley to get the story on some local underground raves.

When Elle found out that older reporter Ken Smith had been given the task of reporting the raves, she was furious, and, determined to prove her worth to Brad, started researching where the next dance party was going to be held. She and Riley then attended the event at a warehouse, sneakily taking photos to prove that it was overcrowded and full of underage kids. As they were gathering their evidence, they had a narrow escape when organiser Grant Stevens almost spotted them, and they pretended to be in an embrace, which almost became real until Elle backed off. Things then took a shocking turn when the roof of the warehouse collapsed, leaving many people, including Elle and Riley, trapped. With Elle seriously injured and struggling for breath, Riley realised that she had cracked ribs and tried to keep her awake as she slipped in and out of consciousness. The pair were eventually rescued and Elle spent a few days in hospital after undergoing surgery for a collapsed lung, where she received a visit from Brad, furious with her actions and giving both her and Riley 48 hours to prove that they were worth keeping in employment. After checking herself out of hospital, Elle returned home, where she immediately started work on an article about her recent experience, despite suffering crippling flashbacks and finding Paul trying to force her to give up journalism, as it was too dangerous. Ignoring her father's pleas, Elle continued work on her article, and was visited by Riley, who'd had the same idea, though Elle was stunned when she saw his final draft with the tagline 'Trapped with the girl I love'. Unable to be around Riley, as he only reminded her of her traumatic experience, Elle rejected his attempts to tell her about his true feelings.

After her time off, Elle returned to work, claiming to be refreshed and ready to face new challenges, but clearly still suffering with sleepless nights following her ordeal in the warehouse. When Elle found out that Riley was already beating her in the race to become the new cadet by writing a follow-up to the warehouse story, she was only too happy to let him continue with it, not wanting more bad memories dragged up, and instead concentrated on the story of 16-year-old neighbour Rachel Kinski, who was having an affair with her teacher, Angus Henderson. When Rachel's stepsister Libby found out, she visited Brad and tried, with no luck, to convince him to drop the story. Brad gave Elle his permission to continue with it, also warning her, after witnessing an argument between her and Riley, not to mix her work and love lives, as it was impossible for a journalist to have both. Having taken Brad's advice, Elle tried to focus on her work, coming up with ideas for new stories, but Brad told her and Riley that he wanted them to return to the site of the accident and interview Evelyn Wallace, whose daughter Jessica was one of the three people to die. As Riley took photos, Elle spoke to Evelyn about a memorial she was hoping to get council approval for, but Elle struggled with being back at the scene of her ordeal and had to take a few steps away to compose herself. Later, as Riley told her that he was going inside to get a few more photographs, Elle couldn't bring herself to walk over to the door and collapsed, suffering a panic attack. Paul insisted that Elle resign from her job, but when she wouldn't listen, he went to see Brad, threatening him into sacking her. Though Brad only put her on sick leave, Elle was appalled by her dad's interference, but ended up suffering another panic attack as they argued. Paul then tried to talk her into getting some trauma counselling, a suggestion that Elle laughed off, until Rebecca mentioned that she had spoken to Karl, informally, about her own problems, and it had really helped. The same proved true for Elle, who discussed the pain she'd felt when trapped in the collapsed building, and admitted that she still had abandonment issues surrounding her father, which had left her unable to form normal relationships with men.

Elle felt she was finally getting somewhere by discussing her feelings with Karl, saying that she felt she could talk to him without being judged. Still appalled by her father’s interference in her life, she spent some time not speaking to him. Karl advised Elle that learning to trust people again is part of the recovery process. Elle eventually began talking to Paul again, but, having seen him looking quite close to Kirsten in her new role at Lassiters, she said that he had been a totally different father altogether over the past year, and warned him not to stuff up what he had with Rebecca.

After her time spent talking to Karl, Elle and Rebecca helped to clear Steph’s name when she was framed by the mayor, Jackie Jones, for being responsible for supporting the removal of security from the warehouse where the roof collapsed. Rebecca, annoyed with Toadie for having a go at her after she accused him of having a conflict of interest in the class action, told Elle certain facts about the case for Elle to print in the newspaper, thus returning from her enforced break from work with a big story. Rebecca did not know at this stage that Steph had given Toadie a document proving that culpability for the roof collapse lay with Jackie and the council; this paperwork was their only chance of winning the case. By the time they got to Elle to stop her it was too late – Brad had already decided to run the story. Elle said she believed the evidence she had, leaked by the council and verified by council secretary Lydia O’Brien to show Steph as the guilty party. Rebecca, however, believed in Steph’s innocence and asked for Elle’s help to prove it.

Elle and Rebecca were considering breaking into the council offices to obtain proof, when they spotted Lydia leaving for the night. As toys fell out when she opened her car door, Rebecca realised that Lydia was a mother, and decided to try reasoning with her, arranging to meet her at Charlie’s Bar. Although she refused to speak out, the next day it seemed she had relented and gave Rebecca the password to Jackie’s computer. After breaking in to the council offices, Elle and Rebecca were confused to find that the computer had been completely wiped, then, moments later, Jackie and Lydia appeared in the doorway. Rebecca had been the victim of a set-up, but Jackie said that she would not press charges, provided they ended their pursuit of the matter. Rebecca and Toadie were set to give up, until he had a brainwave and turned up at a council meeting, along with many of those affected by the accident. Though Jackie continued to protest her innocence, the fact that she'd been so quick to blame Steph and the emptying of her hard drive seemed to suggest otherwise. When several of the others, including Ringo and Bridget started talking about how the accident had affected them and Elle said that she thought she was going to die and if it hadn't been for a very good friend of hers she probably would have, Lydia finally spoke up, announcing that perhaps there should be an enquiry. Jackie Jones realised she had been beaten and resigned later that day.

When Paul took on Kirsten Gannon as a trainee manager at Lassiter’s when she blackmailed him about their affair, Elle was suspicious of her sudden leap into management. This was fuelled further when she saw Paul treating Kirsten harshly in the hotel, wondering why he would promote her then give her a hard time. She then saw Paul showing her a necklace. Paul pretended it was for Rebecca but then later gave Rebecca a different necklace. Elle asked him if he was cheating on Rebecca and he denied it, saying he put the cheaper necklace in a fancy box to make Rebecca happy without spending a fortune.

Something did not quite add up for Elle, however, and she went to see Kirsten. When she asked Kirsten, she also denied it – but then Elle saw the necklace she was wearing and her suspicions were confirmed. She told Kirsten to leave town or she would tell Ned and Mickey what she was really like. Later she caught the two of them in a hotel room; although they were dressed it was obvious what had been going on. She told Paul that she was going to tell Rebecca what sort of man he really is. When she saw Rebecca though, the legal team had just won the class action and she was so happy that Elle couldn’t tell her. Paul thanked her and they agreed that he didn’t want to lose Rebecca and that she would keep his sordid secret.

In the meantime, Oliver had moved back in so his mum could support him through his decision to apply for sole custody of Chloe. He began to flirt with Elle over the course of a few days. She returned home one day to find a shirtless Oliver shaking a cocktail in the kitchen. He said it was good to see her and, when she was on the verge of telling him about her day, Ollie made it obvious that he had other things on his mind, moving in for a passionate kiss. She was not convinced given their past history and they were interrupted, almost being caught by Rebecca.

Not content with just her role at the newspaper, as well as still having a say in the running of Lassiter’s, Elle offered to invest in The General Store as well, when co-owner, Frazer Yeats, left for Italy with his wife Rosie. Marco Silvani was looking for an investor and Elle, impressed by Marco’s cooking skills, saw a good investment opportunity. She made Marco an offer on condition that he dropped his plans for a liquor licence, which would have provided further competition for Lassiter’s and Charlie’s. He decided to agree on the condition that she remained hands-off and reviewed the licence issue in six months.

On her return from visiting relatives in Italy, Carmella was not impressed to discover that Marco had gone into business with her former friend. She asked her why she wanted to get involved in their lives and said she did not like it. Elle pointed out that the arrangement was purely financial and that as long as there was a return on her investment, she would be happy.

Lawyer Sam Fitzgerald helped Elle to put her contracts together for the deal. Unfortunately, Oliver overheard them talking and told he felt betrayed, wanting to know where this left their friendship. Elle explained that by making things easier for Marco, she had made it easier for Carmella and Chloe so that Oliver didn’t have to worry about them as much. When he realised she did it for him, they kissed again. Rebecca walked in during this and was concerned that Oliver would hurt Elle, after several recent conquests. Oliver said a relationship with Elle was right as long as they took things slowly. Elle, however, feeling guilty about her knowledge of Paul and Kirsten’s affair, decided against a relationship, much to Ollie’s disappointment.

Elle was soon to get a shock, as she discovered that her father’s affair with Kirsten was not over and she had in fact joined him in Paris on his business trip. When Elle called Paul in Paris, she was shocked to hear Kirsten answer the phone, after her father had told her that the affair was over. When Kirsten tried to claim that she and Paul were not just having an affair but something more meaningful than that, Elle angrily told Kirsten to end things with Paul, or she would make sure Ned and Mickey found out what had been going on. Kirsten agreed, tearfully, to end the affair as soon as she got back to Erinsborough.

Elle, distressed by the whole situation, started to pack all of Paul’s clothes into bin bags and said he was ‘pathetic’. Oliver overheard her and thought that she meant he was pathetic. As he tried to calm her down, she kissed him passionately. The next day, Oliver tried to seduce Elle by dropping his towel in front of her. Despite this, their relationship continued to be on then off then on again, largely as Elle struggled with her secret about Paul and Kirsten, unsure about returning to a relationship with Oliver given what she knew.

On her return from Paris (without Paul), Kirsten went to see Elle to tell her she had ended things for good with Paul and was going to tell Rebecca everything. Elle tried to convince her otherwise, but when that didn’t work, she offered Kirsten a promotion to complete her diploma in hotel management – in Queensland – or involuntary redundancy. Kirsten was happy with neither and later, while having dinner at number 22 on Rebecca’s invitation, revealed she has just been sacked. Oliver realized that Elle was responsible, but believed her actions to be borne out of jealousy. He reminded her that he was in charge of hiring and firing and reinstated Kirsten.

On discovering Carmella’s massive credit card debts from her post-natal shopping spree in Italy, Marco asked Elle to buy his share of the General Store. Elle refused to accept but instead offered Marco a loan when she heard he needed twenty thousand dollars. Marco was adamant that he could not accept the loan and refused Elle’s offer. Elle, however, argued that she was just protecting her investment and that, despite what Carmella may think, she is not a monster. Having accidentally ripped up the cheque while bickering with Marco about whether to accept it or not, Carmella asked what the loan conditions were and Elle reiterated that it was truly just a loan. Carmella was not hugely grateful for help from her former friend, though, saying she would buy Elle out of the General Store. Elle replied that she might have difficulty given her current financial situation and that Carmella and Marco were lucky to have her there.

Oliver and Elle were now getting on better again and he told Elle that, having dropped the custody battle and made up with Carmella, only one thing would be needed to make his life complete. Elle decided that she could make that happen and the two of them were officially reunited with a kiss.

Trivia Notes
• Although only born in 1989, Elle was aged slightly, from 16 to 19, upon her arrival in 2005 to allow her to be involved in more adult storylines
• Cameron's childhood nickname for his sister was Porky
• Elle was named Lucinda after her aunt, Paul's sister Lucy Robinson
• Elle eats left-handed
• Elle has free facials under the name of Angela Bowers in the Lassiters Spa
• Elle is a big Tom Cruise fan
• Although Elle left in episode 5812, she made her final appearance in episode 5834 in a video message to Lucas
• In 2010, Elle's e-mail address was shown as elle.robinson@nynews.net
• To read our interview with Pippa Black, click here

Tenure
4811-5812, 5834