Natalie Nash

Natalie Nash
Home and Away character
Portrayed by	Angelica la Bozzetta (1998) Antoinette Byron (1999–2000)
Introduced by	John Holmes
Duration	1998–2000
First appearance	18 February 1998
Last appearance	11 October 2000
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Home	Queensland
Occupation	Teacher
Family Husband Joel Nash Sons Tom Nash Connor Nash Daughters Gypsy Nash Granddaughters Lily Smith Rachel McGregor

Natalie "Nat" Nash (née Collins) is a fictional character from the Australian Seven Network soap opera Home and Away, played by Antoinette Byron. She made her first on-screen appearance on 18 February 1998. Natalie was originally played by Angelica la Bozzetta until her departure in 1998. In 1999, Bozzetta quit the role of Natalie and Antoinette Byron was cast in the role.

Character history

Natalie arrived back in Summer Bay in early 1998 with her husband Joel and teenaged children Tom and Gypsy. Joel and Natalie had left the area for Hong Kong shortly before they married, after Natalie had been sexually harassed by Joel's father, who had been her swimming coach. Despite this she seemed not to be acquainted with Joel's brother Travis but quickly became friends with him and his wife Rebecca.

Natalie was still a keen sportswoman and entered a local rowing club but an injury forced her to stop competing. She made up for it by training Tom and disapproved of his rivalry with Vinnie Patterson, telling him the object of a competition was to do the best you could, not just to beat one person. She was less disapproving than Joel of Gypsy's relationship with Will Smith but displayed a similar attitude towards Tom's girlfriend Sugar.

When Joel decided to quit his job as a PE teacher at the local high school in order to go back to the police force, Donald Fisher asked Natalie to take his place and she soon fitted in to her new role. She also asked Joel to try for another baby but although he agreed it was later discovered he had a low sperm count, meaning it was unlikely they would be able to conceive. Natalie felt hurt when she later learned Joel hadn't been as keen as her after all. She also struck up a friendship with Jesse McGregor, who began giving her lessons in car maintenance.

Soon after, Gypsy was kidnapped by David DiAngelo, a criminal who had spent fifteen years in prison as a result of a chance encounter with Joel in Hong Kong. Although she was eventually rescued, DiAngelo then set fire to the family home before kidnapping Natalie. She took him to Jesse's place to try to find a getaway car and then managed to make a phone call to Joel and Travis, who arrived in time to rescue her and capture DiAngelo.

With their house burnt to the ground and DiAngelo having emptied their bank account, Joel, Natalie and their family were forced to move in with Travis and Rebecca at the caravan park. The stay became increasingly permanent with Natalie becoming a second mother to the couple's foster children. She still had problems with her own children after the fallout from the DiAngelo incident: Gypsy developed an alcohol problem which Natalie was unaware of until Will alerted her. Then Tom ran away with his girlfriend Justine Welles, who was facing a false manslaughter charge, and Natalie only just managed to stop Joel calling the police. Fortunately they returned after only a few hours.

When Travis and Rebecca decided to leave the area, they gained permission from Pippa Ross for Joel and Natalie to take over the caravan park and also asked them to look after Justine, their one remaining foster child. The couple ended up applying to be credited foster parents and also took in Peta Janossi, who had been staying at the house on a temporary basis. Later, when Pippa decided to sell the caravan park, Natalie and Joel teamed up with Alf Stewart and Colleen Smart to buy it.

When Gypsy started dating Jesse, a series of misunderstandings led to many Bay residents, notably Alf and Marilyn Fisher, mistakenly believing that Natalie and Jesse were having an affair. When Natalie finally found out about the rumours, she found the idea hilarious.

Natalie was puzzled when Jesse asked her to babysit his daughter Rachel and then left her enough stuff for several days and a note asking them to look after Rachel permanently. Jesse had become involved in a stolen car racket and was going on the run. When Rachel ran away to look for Jesse not long afterwards, Jesse, who was secretly still in contact with Vinnie, found her and took her back to Natalie, who failed to persuade him to give himself up. Joel was furious when he found out Natalie had had contact with Jesse and insisted on making a full report to his superiors.

Shortly after Natalie had been to visit her mother in Queensland, she discovered she was pregnant. Given Joel's earlier diagnosis, Colleen began spreading rumours that he wasn't the father. This time Natalie didn't laugh it off, throwing Colleen out of the house and telling her she was no longer welcome there.The reason soon became clear: the rumours were true. While in Queensland, Natalie had had an affair with an old friend, Glen Tanner, who then followed her to the Bay. Although Natalie wasn't interested in picking things up, Gypsy saw them holding hands in a cafe and quickly put two and two together. The incident probably contributed to Gypsy being involved in a car crash, in which her boyfriend Charlie Nicholas was killed.

Gypsy reluctantly agreed to keep quiet but Natalie couldn't handle the secrets and told Joel the truth, leading to him walking out. Gypsy and especially Tom, who had always been close to Natalie, felt betrayed. Joel and Natalie tried for a reconciliation but in the middle of an attempted reunion dinner Joel reacted badly when Natalie felt the baby kick. Fearing he would never accept her or the child, Natalie packed her bags and moved into a motel before making arrangements to move to Queensland with Rachel. She managed to part on at least partly good terms with Joel, Tom and Peta before sharing a teary rain-soaked goodbye with Gypsy.

Natalie was later reported to have given birth to a baby boy, Connor, and Joel was angry when she gave him the surname Nash. Some months later, when Joel had his leg partially crushed during a landslide, Natalie returned to the Bay with Connor. Even though Joel was dating Judith Ackroyd, Natalie offered to care for him in Queensland during his recovery. He refused and Natalie was on the verge of leaving town when Judith drove an unknowing Joel to the house, having realised where his heart really lay. Joel and Natalie were reconciled but she felt people in the Bay would have a hard time accepting her and Connor so persuaded Joel to go back to Queensland with her. She extended a similar offer to Gypsy but she decided to stay in the Bay, being among the group waving her parents off.

References

Episode guide at Home and Away.org

Character profile at Back to the Bay