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Character Profiles > Terese Willis Rebekah Elmaloglou

Terese Willis 2013-
Lives: 22 Ramsay Street
Parents: Estelle Petrides and Unknown
Marital Status: Brad Willis (1996-2016; divorced) and Paul Robinson (2019-)
Siblings: Nick
Children: Joshua, Imogen, Piper
Family Tree: Willis
Occupation: Lassiter's Hotel Manager

The second wife of Brad Willis, Terese had three children with him, twins Joshua and Imogen and, three years later, another daughter named Piper. Though she loved her family a lot, Terese also had a great mind for business, and quickly worked her way up the ranks at the Lassiter's hotel in Perth. It was there that she was spotted by head office and selected to become the new manager of the hotel's branch in Erinsborough - Brad's old stomping ground. After being told she had the job already, Terese flew across the country to meet the hotel's owner, Paul Robinson and take a tour. Terese quickly realised that Paul had no idea she'd already been given the job, and he believed that he was interviewing her, but she went along with it, meeting several of the locals in the process, and seeing the house on Ramsay Street that came with the job. At the end of the day, Paul offered her the job, and she admitted that the Lassiters managing director - Paul's sister Lucy - had already offered it to her and she'd wanted to be sure that she and Paul would work well together. She told him that she was going to take the job and, within a year, he'd be wondering how he'd ever got by without her.

The following week, Brad and Terese, along with their twin 17-year-old children, brainy Imogen and aspiring swimmer Joshua, moved into 22 Ramsay Street. Brad was in for a shock almost immediately, when he realised that Lauren, his ex-girlfriend and the source of many dramas twenty years ago, was now back living on the street with her family. Though Terese was secure in her marriage, and had no problem accepting Brad's old flame living across the street, Lauren found it slightly more difficult to deal with, failing to tell her husband Matt about any of it. Although Lauren asked Terese not to say anything to Matt, Brad soon put his foot in it, mentioning it to Matt and causing tension in the Turner marriage.

Terese quickly had problems to deal with at work, when she and Paul fell out over him using the hotel reception to advertise the new Eclipse Apartments development, and they were soon clashing again, over hotel receptionist Caroline Perkins. Paul had developed a soft spot for her, allowing her to charge things to the hotel account at the bar, and buying her gifts, and even attempting to get her to give false evidence in court after the hotel was robbed. Terese, however, could see how lazy Caroline was and after giving her a warning for slacking off, she was forced to sack her when she caught her being rude to guests and realised that she'd been drinking during her lunch break. Paul was furious, and things then spiralled out of control when Caroline decided to sue the hotel, claiming that Paul had sexually harassed her. When Paul turned down Caroline's request for a settlement, Terese was quick to step in and arranged for Caroline to be paid off - and it emerged that Terese had once been in a similar position with an old boss, but she'd almost taken things too far with him, believing that it would help to advance her career. The incident had caused Brad and Terese to separate temporarily, and it was still on Brad's mind when he found out from Sheila Canning that Paul had been responsible for ending the Kapoors' marriage next-door, and that he'd been coming on strong to Terese during some role-playing at a sexual harassment refresher course at the bar. When Terese and Paul then had to work all night to get the hotel ready for an inspection, hopeful that it could regain its five star status, Brad spent the night stewing on what Sheila had told him. He then went to the hotel the next morning, only to find Paul and Terese sharing a hug, having just managed to pull off a good inspection, and ended up verbally attacking Paul, accusing him of stealing other people's wives and bringing up the sexual harassment claims - all in front of the hotel inspector. Terese was furious with him, as the hotel failed to gain its five stars, and she told him that nothing was going on with Paul, and that he needed to move on from the incident with her old boss. Brad admitted that he'd been struggling lately, as Josh had dumped his father as his swimming coach, and with no job, he wasn't sure where he fitted into the family anymore.

Things were soon back on track for the Willises, however, when Josh realised that Don, his new coach, was lying to him about his times. Brad returned to coaching his son, part-time, and also took on a job as the new manager of the Dingoes Den gym. But as things improved for Brad and Josh, Imogen was still struggling with her feelings that her parents were neglecting her. Brad and Terese weren't very impressed when she went out and spent her savings on a car - which then turned out to need a lot of work done on it - but they failed to realise that this cry for attention was actually masking a much more serious problem where Imogen was concerned. When school principal Susan Kennedy mentioned to Terese that she was concerned about Imogen, as she'd skipped a class and her marks were slipping a little bit, Terese wasn't overly concerned, feeling that it was normal for teenagers to act up from time to time. But later, Susan tried talking to Terese again, this time mentioning her concerns that Imogen had an eating disorder - Terese was furious with Susan for questioning her parenting skills, and later asked Brad if he'd noticed anything odd going on with Imogen. Neither Willis parent could remember any unusual behaviour, and agreed that if Imogen did have a problem, she wouldn't be shy about speaking out.

After Imogen's car was involved in a hit-and-run accident that left Robbo Slade dead, the stress of covering up the events of that night left Imogen ever more stressed than usual, and she eventually collapsed in the garden, coughing up blood. At the hospital, Karl told Brad that he suspected Imogen might have bulimia, despite her denials, and at home, Terese was horrified to hear what had happened, but admitted to her husband that Susan had mentioned similar suspicions the week before. Unsure how to handle the situation, and with Imogen still denying that anything was wrong, Terese spoke to Susan again, who suggested that she should open up about her own fears, and make Imogen realise how this was affecting other people. Terese decided to tell Imogen something she had never shared with anyone else - not even Brad - that she had also suffered an eating disorder, in the wake of her parents' divorce. Imogen listened, but said that their situations were nothing alike, and later continued to rant at her mum, eventually storming out of the house. When Terese then found her daughter's sports bag, with lots of empty food wrappers stuffed in the bottom, she realised that she needed to find Imogen and talk to her. She eventually tracked her down at the men's shed, where she'd been binging, and Imogen broke down in Terese's arms, saying that she hated herself and didn't know how to stop. Terese soon took matters into her own hands and found Imogen a counsellor, attempting to make sure she got the help she needed, without smothering her with too much attention.

Soon after, Brad and Terese were shocked to learn just how deeply their kids had been involved in the incident that had left Robbo dead. Josh and Amber were soon banned from seeing each other as punishment, but when they started to sneak around and see each other anyway, Brad and Lauren agreed to lift the ban and find a different punishment. Josh was given a month's gardening duty instead, but Terese was furious when she found out that Brad had changed things without consulting her. With Brad, Terese and Lauren struggling to find common ground on the issue, it was Josh who came to his own decision when he announced that he couldn't cope with his studies, swimming, his relationship and now his punishment, so he'd decided to leave school. Though upset at first, Terese agreed to go along with the idea, but made it clear that, if anything else changed, he would have to go back to school and complete his education. Josh and Amber were soon causing more problems for their parents, as the Willises and Turners disagreed on how to handle the issue of their offspring sleeping together. Whilst Lauren and Matt were deeply concerned with Amber entering into another sexual relationship so soon after Robbo, Brad and Terese weren't sure that they could police their son's sex life, with Terese feeling particularly awkward about the issue. With even Josh and Amber struggling to stay on the same page about what they wanted - Amber wanted to wait for a few months, whilst Josh believed it would only be weeks - there was more tension between the two families, and Matt accused Josh of pushing Amber to have sex when she wasn't ready. Josh defended himself, making it clear that he loved Amber and wouldn't treat her like that, which Amber overheard. Matt was embarrassed, Brad and Terese were proud of their son, and all four parents realised that they needed to give their kids some space to make their own decisions in their own time.

Things at work then took an interesting turn for Terese, when Paul offered her the job of Head of Operations for the entire Lassiter's Complex. Though suspicious of Paul's motivations, particularly as he seemed to have been making a lot of secret plans, she decided to accept the job and the terms of the contract. It was only after she'd signed the contract that Paul unveiled his latest scheme - paid parking across the hotel. This soon annoyed Lauren and Sheila, who felt that the businesses would suffer as a result, and they protested to Paul, who told them that, as Head of Operations, it was Terese who they needed to speak to. She realised that she'd been set up, and things got worse when Paul then announced that he was going to be running for Mayor of Erinsborough, using Terese and the paid parking as his platform, promising that it would be the first thing to go if he were elected. As Paul pointed out that Terese couldn't get rid of the parking, as she needed the extra revenue to meet the targets in her new contract, she proved that she was more than a match for him, when she decided to up the maintenance rates for the Eclipse Apartments tenants - meaning that she could scrap the paid parking, and Paul would be helping to make up the shortfall. Relations continued to be very strained between Paul and Terese as he started a new campaign platform of turning the men's shed into a childcare centre. Terese quickly learnt that Paul's dodgy developer was doing the job quickly and on the cheap, in return for having his own developments rushed through once Paul became mayor. Unable to expose Paul, as it would breach her contract and bring the hotel into disrepute, Terese instead told Karl, Paul's election opponent, leaving Paul furious. When Paul then took over the conference room with a mayoral function, on the day that Terese had planned to throw the staff Christmas party, she was furious, but he warned her that she was dangerously close to failing the targets in her contract once again, so she would soon be out of a job. Unable to cope with Paul's threats any more, Terese decided to contact Lucy, hoping that she would be able to talk some sense into her big brother. After hearing everything that had been going on, Lucy was shocked, and warned Paul that he needed to stop playing games with Terese, or she'd be forced to remove the hotel from the Lassiter's chain. Paul, however, wasn't about to back down, and told his sister that he'd already decided that he was going to take the hotel independent, so he'd no longer have to answer to her.

The atmosphere between Paul and Terese only got worse, and when he angrily accused her of losing a major client for the hotel, she decided that enough was enough, and she quit her job, effective immediately. Though Paul tried to act like he didn't care, he soon found the hotel was in chaos without Terese's leadership and decided to sue her for breach of contract. Not to be outdone, Terese then counter-sued him for defamation, as a video of his earlier angry outburst was online and damaging her reputation. She demanded a severance package and enough time at number 22 for the family to find somewhere else to live, and Paul reluctantly agreed. However, things only got worse at the hotel and Lucy returned, telling Paul to rise above his ego and convince Terese to come back. However, Terese was enjoying being with her family, and turned the offer down - but when he then changed the terms, giving her an assistant to take some of the workload, and allowing her to keep 50% of her severance package, she agreed to return to work. Terese was soon grateful for her more flexible working conditions, when Josh was seriously injured in an abseiling accident. Having only just qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it looked like an injury to his shoulder would stop him from ever swimming again, and as Mason had been responsible for the abseiling gear, he soon found himself blamed, and the target of a lawsuit from the Willis family. But it wasn't long before Mason found proof that the equipment had been faulty and that he wasn't to blame and, although Mason hadn't signed the forms - which meant that Josh only got a very small compensation settlement - Brad agreed to drop the lawsuit. But Terese was then in for another surprise when, after a little detective work, she realised that Imogen and Mason had been secretly seeing each other and when Josh and Brad found out, all hell broke loose in the Willis household. However, with the relationship out in the open, Imogen began to realise that her feelings for Mason weren't as strong as the ones he had for her, and so she ended things between them. Needing a fresh start, Mason then decided to accept a job with Lassiter's in Darwin.

Matters between the Willis and Turner families then grew even more complicated, when Brad found out that Lauren had been pregnant with his baby when she'd left Erinsborough 20 years earlier. Lauren had always believed that the baby had been stillborn and was left stunned when her mother Kathy finally admitted that she'd had the little girl illegally adopted out. Terese was furious when Brad told her, and she immediately made it clear that she didn't want Josh or Imogen to find out, as things had been difficult enough for them lately. With Josh turning to drugs to try to return to training and ultimately causing more damage to his shoulder, he was told that he'd never swim competitively again, leaving Terese more certain that he didn't need to know about his half-sister just yet. Unfortunately, the Turner kids had picked up on the family problems, and Kathy told them everything - and it wasn't long before Bailey told Imogen. With everyone then informed and the initial drama having died down, they all had to decide whether to try to trace Brad and Lauren's daughter. With both Kathy and the people who'd adopted the child in danger of going to prison if the truth came out, they decided that the best way forward would be to hire a private investigator.

Terese struggled to hide her discomfort with this new threat to her happy family set-up, secretly pleased when Lauren decided that she didn't want to continue the search, after a difficult experience with young Lisa Tucker, who was found on an internet message board which reunited adoptees with their biological parents. However, Terese was in for a shock when Brad revealed that he'd been making some extra money from yoga classes, in order to go back to the original plan and hire private investigator Tracey Wong, and that she'd found a lead in Adelaide. Lauren and Brad then headed to South Australia where, after a difficult day, they ended up sharing a kiss that night at their hotel. Feeling overwhelmed, Lauren returned home - surprised to find that Matt had made arrangements for them to renew their wedding vows - and Brad stuck around, determined to follow through on their lead. He found Ethan Smith, who he believed was living in the house owned by John and Mary Smith, the people who'd adopted his daughter, but Ethan claimed that Brad had the wrong Smiths. As a disappointed Brad returned home, Ethan contacted his adoptive sister Paige and told her that her real parents were looking for her. Paige then went straight to Erinsborough, deciding that she needed to get to know Brad and Lauren, and figure out whether she wanted them in her life.

With the Turners and Willises unaware that Brad and Lauren's daughter was living and working amongst them, Terese focused on fixing everyone else's lives - helping Paul through his depression as he realised that he'd been responsible for Kate's murder, getting Josh and Imogen back on track as they each rebelled at school, and forcing Brad to return to teaching when his trip to Adelaide and yoga classes got him sacked from his job at the gym. Believing that things were slowly returning to normal for the Willises, Terese was in for a massive shock when Paige's true identity was finally revealed, a couple of months after she'd first turned up in Erinsborough. Terese was disgusted with Paige's deception and incredulous as Brad and Lauren accepted their daughter without question. Feeling that Paige couldn't be trusted, Terese tried to find out more about her, and was surprised to learn from one of the Lassiter's staff that Paige had been spotted running from Harold's Store on the same night that it had been trashed. Paige admitted to the crime, explaining that she'd felt rejected by Lauren, who had unwittingly sent her away from the Turner house one evening. As Paige was questioned, it emerged that she had other minor criminal convictions, her impulsive nature having caused problems in the past, and Terese saw this as proof that the newcomer would be nothing but trouble.

Tenure
6642, 6646-