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Character Profiles > Marco Silvani Jesse Rosenfeld

Marco Silvani 2007-2008
Lived: Silvani Family Retreat, Marco's apartment, Carmella's apartment, 24 Ramsay Street
Parents: Franco and Patrizia Silvani
Marital Status: Marisa (divorced), Carmella Cammeniti (2008)
Siblings: Mia
Family Tree: Silvani
Occupation: Fruit and Veg Wholesaler, Martin Winery Employee, The General Store Manager/Co-Owner
Died: 2008

The only son of Franco Silvani, a local fruit and veg supplier, Marco would often see Carmella Cammeniti, who ran her own produce delivery business, Celestial Fruits, at the markets. One day in Charlie's Bar, Marco got chatting to Carmella and her sister, Rosetta and found out that she was planning to take her business online, as she was four months pregnant and needed to cut down on the heavy lifting. Marco looked over her plans and admitted that he'd been trying to get his dad to take their business online, with little success, and Carmella explained that she needed another $10,000 before she could put her plan into action. Later that day, Marco saw Carmella struggling with some boxes outside The General Store and helped her inside, before proposing that he put forward the extra money she needed, and they become partners. Having been knocked back by the bank - due to the murky past of Cammeniti patriarch, Rocco - Carmella decided to accept.

As the pair started seeing more of each other, Carmella noticed the sexual tension between them and made it clear to Marco that this was just a business partnership, as she had her unborn baby to think about now. Marco told her that he would respect whatever she wanted, but Carmella then found herself disappointed when he didn't make a move on her. During their second business meeting, things took a turn for the worse when Carmella started suffering from crippling stomach pains and was rushed to hospital. Once there, she was assured that everything was fine with the baby, but Marco found himself stuck in the middle when the baby's father Oliver Barnes arrived and, worried that this new man in Carmella's life was a threat, asked him to leave. Marco obliged, but later returned with flowers for Carmella - pink for a baby girl. When Oliver then turned up and Marco explained his reasoning behind the flowers, there was an awkward silence, as Oliver had not known the gender of his unborn child, and this only gave him further reason to hate Marco. Meanwhile, following her scare, Carmella accepted an offer from Marco to use his family's country cottage for a few days, and headed there with Rosie. Once there, Rosie couldn't resist having a snoop around the cupboards but, after spending days telling Carmella how perfect Marco was, the sisters were stunned to find photos of his wedding. As Rosie headed back into the city, Marco arrived with some supplies for Carmella and she confronted him about the photos. He told her that he had once been married, but they were now divorced and it was a painful time in his life that he didn't really like to revisit. A guilty Carmella apologised but Marco furiously told her to stop messing with his head. He then accused her of fancying him, which she denied, so he leaned in and kissed her, immediately proving that they were more than just business partners.

Back in Erinsborough, the tension between them continued as Marco went behind Carmella's back to speak to her customers, asking if they'd mind cutting down on the deliveries as pregnant Carmella had to rest. She retaliated by hiring her cousin Vinnie to help out, but they soon had other problems when the company making their website went bust and they only got back half of the money they'd paid in. Carmella set to work on a new site, but was upset when Marco was less than complimentary about it and decided to get his cousin Frank to make them another one. The following week, Carmella had a meeting with Claudia Scanlon, a buyer for upmarket restaurants that she was hoping to supply to. When things went badly, Marco asked if he could contact Claudia and have anothergo at winning her over, and he proceeded to flirt with their new client, knowing full well that Carmella was watching from the other side of the bar. The next day, in his continued efforts to wind up Carmella, he pretended that he was meeting Claudia for lunch, only for Carmella to turn up to check up on them. It was then that he admitted faking the phonecall to Claudia, in the hope that it would bring Carmella to the bar, so he could find out how she really felt about him.

The following week, Marco was arranging a Christmas cocktail party at his apartment, and asked Carmella to co-host and invite all of their customers. The evening went well, but Carmella found herself receiving a hostile reception from Marco's big sister, Mia, who was best friends with his ex-wife, Marisa. As the evening came to an end, Marco and Carmella were left alone and she apologised for her inconsistent behaviour, before kissing him. After spending their first night together, Carmella was surprised to wake up and find that Mia had turned up, along with her mother, Patrizia, who was amused to see her son's new girlfriend walk into the kitchen wearing nothing but one of his shirts. Later, Marco assured his mum that he was certain that he wanted to be with Carmella and her unborn child, and made it clear to Mia that he had no plans to get back together with Marisa - Carmella was all he needed now. Concerned about his family's interference, Marco later caught Patrizia and Carmella chatting in the bar, wrongly thinking that his mum was warning her off, and furiously cut their conversation short, with an embarrassed Carmella running off. When Marco caught up with her, he asked her why she was running so hot and cold, and she admitted that she had no idea and wasn't sure what she wanted any more.

Meanwhile, with his old friend Doug returning from Zagreb, Marco found himself forced to move out of the apartment he'd been watching for almost three years, and so he started looking around for a new home, noticing that number 26 Ramsay Street had just gone on the market. And with things finally starting to work out with Carmella, she decided to be completely honest with him, and admitted that the reason for her apprehension about using drugs during the birth of her child was due to a drug addiction in her past. Marco completely understood and thanked her for her honesty, but their lunch then took a dramatic turn when Carmella suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach. At the hospital, Carmella was told that she had gone into premature labour, but they were confident that the baby was big enough to be delivered now, and everyone watched as she tried to struggle through without any drugs. An argument between Oliver and Marco quickly broke out, with Marco unable to watch his girlfriend in such pain and trying to convince her to have an epidural. Eventually, however, the decision was taken out of their hands when the baby started showing signs of distress and Dr Olenski informed Carmella that she would need an emergency C-section. Though the operation was a success, the baby - who Carmella and Oliver decided to name Chloe - was rushed to the neonatal unit, suffering with severe breathing difficulties. As everyone waited for news, Marco did his best to be there for Carmella, but she felt that Chloe's illness was her fault, as she had worked through the pregnancy and spent so much time worrying about her love life, so she told Marco that it was over.

With nobody able to change Carmella's mind, a devastated Marco asked his sister Mia to take over the day-to-day running of the family business, and accepted a job on a winery in Western Australia. When Rosie and her husband Frazer found out, they did their best to convince him to stay, but it seemed that, if he couldn't be with Carmella, he needed to be as far away from her as possible. Working on Cathy Martin's vineyards out in Western Australia, Marco soon forgot his troubles by burying himself in work, and Cathy was impressed. After making sure that he wasn't on the run from the law, she offered him a 12-month contract with her winery, but warned him to think things through before signing. Deciding that things were over, Marco deleted a photo of Carmella and Chloe from his phone and was on the verge of signing when he impulsively decided to call her. After a long conversation, Marco told Carmella about the contract and she begged him not to sign - so he boarded a flight home that evening.

Back in Erinsborough, Marco, Carmella and Chloe made a happy little family as she asked him to move into her apartment, but they quickly realised that it wasn't quite big enough. Marco started looking at using his savings to buy them a house, though Carmella was worried that it would mean giving up on his dream of buying a restaurant. Claiming that their future home was more important, Marco decided to bid on 26 Ramsay Street, which was being auctioned the next day. They didn't win, but when Harold Bishop from number 24 mentioned that he might be interested in selling, having started looking into buying a campervan and touring Australia, Carmella and Marco kept it in mind. Meanwhile, things grew complicated when Mia, who had taken over his duties in the family business while he was in Australia, started spending more and more time with Oliver. Though she promised nothing was going on, Marco was concerned that Oliver was only pursuing the relationship to annoy him. As Mia continued to press Marco about his marriage to Marisa, he was also forced to finally come clean to his sister about the real reason for the split - he was infertile. Mia promised to drop the subject, but couldn't keep her promise to stay away from Oliver, and soon they were having a secret affair, which was revealed when Marco and Carmella walked into the flat, where Oliver had been babysitting, to find him and Mia kissing on the sofa. Worried that Oliver might find out and tell Carmella, Marco confessed his infertility to his girlfriend and, although surprised, she had no hesitations in standing by him.

Though Mia again insisted that she would follow her brother's advice and stay away from Oliver, Marco was furious when the couple turned up, hand in hand, at Chloe's Christening. The day only got worse when Oliver overheard Rosie talking to Carmella, mentioning that this would probably be the only time Carmella would have a child Christened, and he worked out the truth. As Oliver confronted Marco, accusing him of being sick for going after a woman just to get his hands on her baby, a fight broke out. Disgusted by Oliver's behaviour, Mia walked out of his life for good, while, believing that they were unsuitable parents, Oliver vowed to fight for custody of his daughter. There was some good news on the horizon for the young couple, however, as Harold, after dithering over the decision for several days, finally decided that Marco and Carmella could have his house, though only to rent.

Trivia Notes
• Marco has always dreamed of owning a restaurant

Tenure
5325-5492

Magic Moments
Episode 5325: Marco's Arrival

Biography by Steve

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