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Guest Character Profiles > Addison Rutherford Florence Gladwin

Having found things left around the school when she arrived in the mornings, Erinsborough High principal Jane Harris arrived one day with fellow teacher Wendy Rodwell to hear the fire alarm going off. After finding the source of the problem - a toaster in the school common room - she was confused about what was going on after then hearing a door slam nearby. At the end of that day, Wendy was alone in her classroom when she noticed a blanket hanging out of one of the lockers, then found a pillow inside. Hearing a noise nearby, she went outside, where a young girl was inside one of the bins, searching, quickly pulling down the lid when she heard someone coming. As Wendy then began to put the padlock on the bin, the girl panicked and jumped out, causing the lid of the bin to hit Wendy in the face and knock her out.

Now certain that something was amiss, Jane searched the school that night, along with Susan Kennedy and Colton Keys - who worked at the adjoining retirement home Eirini Rising - and they soon found 16-year-old, year 10 student Addison Rutherford sleeping in one of the classrooms. Feeling terrible about accidentally hurting one of her favourite teachers, Addison explained to them that she and her mum had been evicted from their house and, whilst her erratic mum had gone off the rails, Addison had gone to stay with friends. When things didn't work out there, she'd been sleeping at the school and had been searching the bins for things to sell in order to make some money. Soon, Leila Potts from Child Protection Services arrived and told a grateful Addison that they would arrange emergency foster care for her.

When Jane found Addison at the school the following weekend, the young girl explained that she'd been looking for somewhere quiet to study and when another student, JJ Varga-Murphy, turned up looking for his charger, Jane asked him to talk to Addison and try to get her to open up. It seemed to be working, and JJ and Addison went to Harolds Cafe to talk about their complicated lives, but Addison was upset when cafe manager Nicolette Stone - who also happened to be Jane's daughter - tripped over her bag and, following an argument, threw Addison out. After catching Addison at the school again later, Jane realised that she wasn't entirely happy at her emergency foster home and arranged for her to stay at her house for the night whilst they came up with a new plan. However, when Nicolette then returned home and found Addison there, she was furious, though she softened when she found the young girl wandering around that night, unable to sleep and looking for something to help. Nic gave her some aromatherapy oils and, the next morning, it seemed like their relationship might be improving. Unfortunately, things quickly took a turn for the worse when Nic decided to try and find Addison's mum, Shannon, only to learn from Krista Tanaka that she was a drug dealer who recovering addict Krista used to buy from. Now worried that Addison couldn't be trusted either, Nic was voicing her concerns when Addison came in and overheard her and, despite Krista's attempts to comfort her, she packed her bags and moved out of Jane's house, claiming that she had a new foster home to go to, though she soon found out that there wasn't really room for her there either.

After Addison was then found sleeping rough behind the tram on Power Road, Krista was determined to help and decided to try and contact her old dealer. When Shannon didn't respond, Krista then decided to claim that she wanted to score drugs and this time, Shannon arrived, annoyed when she realised that she'd been set up and Krista wanted to talk about Addison. Though Krista thought that she'd managed to get through to Shannon and told Addison that she was going to meet them, the young girl was left disappointed when her mum sent a text apologising, having clearly taken something. With few options left, Krista then offered to take Addison in for a few nights and was surprised when, the next day, Shannon sent another text, this time revealing the name of Addison's father. Krista was shocked as she realised that they knew him - Clint Hendry, a school cleaner who Jane had dated earlier that day, before reporting him to the police when she realised he'd been stealing cleaning supplies to help pay for his mother's medical care.

Jane then asked Clint to meet her and told him about the situation Addison was in, and how she needed his help. Clint admitted that he knew about his daughter, the result of a one-night stand with Shannon when he was nineteen years old, but had only learnt of her existence when she was nine and Shannon had contacted him looking for child support money. At Shannon's request, however, he'd stayed out of Addison's life but was now very willing to meet her and be a part of her life. Having been told that her father had abandoned them when she was a baby, Addison was happy to meet Clint and to hear his side of the story and, with their first meeting going well, it was arranged for them to see each other again.

As she began to feel safe and settled at the penthouse and was excited to start spending time with her father, Addison was upset when she next met with Clint and he told her the truth about his past relationship with Jane, and that he'd been caught stealing cleaning supplies. Seeing that she was upset, Leo then mentioned that he'd spoken to Clint about her moving in with him, but after realising that it was Leo who brought it up, Addison concluded that Leo didn't want her around. As Krista managed to reassure her, Addison then met with Jane and Clint the next day to get the full story, realising that things weren't quite as bad as she'd believed, as Clint had been stealing to pay for his mum's medical bills. When Addison mentioned her interest in becoming a chef, Clint arranged for them to go to a pastry making class, and invited Jane along to join them. A very excited Addison was disappointed when the class was cancelled at the last minute, but Jane then offered to take her and Clint back to her place where she could teach them what she knew about baking. The afternoon proved to be a huge success, with Addison getting on well with her dad and also noticing the obvious attraction between him and Jane.

After having a pleasant day with Clint and Jane, Addison returned to the penthouse to find Krista and Leo arguing over their family plans. Krista had changed her mind over the couple's original plan to have a baby and co-parent with Nicolette Stone, admitting that, after a traumatic miscarriage the previous year, she'd realised that she couldn't care for a newborn baby. As she admitted that she'd prefer to foster someone older, like Addison, the teenager walked in with Clint, with them both surprised to hear this. Krista then explained to them that, although she wouldn't rule out the possibility of fostering Addison, she didn't want to get in the way of her building a relationship with Clint. As Addison then officially met her grandmother, Clint's mum Fiona, for the first time, his thoughts turned again to her moving in with him. With Fiona about to go and stay in a care home, Clint told Jane that he was planning to talk to Addison about her living arrangements in the next few days.

When Clint and Addison then planned a trip the National Gallery of Victoria, Addison decided to invite Jane along, then didn't turn up, claiming that she had school work to do. She then admitted to Leo that she thought that her dad and Jane could use some time along, before admitting that she was worried that Clint didn't want her to live with him, as he hadn't yet asked, despite many opportunities to do so. Leo assured her that, if things didn't work out with her dad, she would always be welcome to stay with him and Krista but they were all in for a surprise when Shannon then got in touch, having completed a stint in rehab and wanting to see Addison. When Shannon explained that she had a new flat and a job and that she wanted Addison to live with her, Clint was left disappointed when his daughter decided to give her mum another chance, although she admitted that she was almost expecting to be let down again. Now aware that she had her dad, as well as Krista and Leo, to support her if anything did go wrong, Addison packed her things for a fresh start with her mum.

A few days later, JJ went missing after being kidnapped by Eric Linwell, who had escaped whilst being transferred to prison and was out for revenge against the Varga-Murphy family. When a note reading 'Where is JJ?' was left for JJ's mum, Cara and Remi, they started asking around to work out when he was last seen in the area. Clint contacted Addison, who said that she'd seen him at the pavilion a couple of hours earlier. As JJ's family and friends searched for him, Addison found his phone thrown in the bushes, leaving them convinced that he'd been taken without his consent, though there were still no clues as to where he was. The following day, however, Holly Hoyland raised the alarm after seeing one of the Linwell family's henchmen, Ricky Denham, getting into an ambulance and realising that JJ was inside. When the ambulance then turned up at Lassiters, where Eric was trying to get his wife Tania to hand over some money so he could go on the run, it was spotted and JJ's dad, Felix, jumped in front of it, allowing the police to apprehend Eric and Ricky, and for JJ to be reunited with his relieved family.

Meanwhile, as Clint and Jane finally decided to give their relationship another go, Addison got in touch and asked to meet her dad. She explained that she was getting on well with her mum, but they had someone else staying, Shannon's sober companion, and the flat was feeling very crowded. Clint was delighted when Addison then asked if she could have a room at his place too, so that they could spend more time together and to give her a break from her mum's place.

Episodes Featured
9328, 9329, 9332, 9333, 9336, 9337, 9338, 9339, 9341, 9342, 9347, 9348, 9352, 9357, 9358, 9360, 9362

Biography by Steve

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