| Cathy Alessi | |||||||||
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| Neighbours character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Elspeth Ballantyne | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Don Battye | ||||||||
| Duration | 1992–93 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 29 July 1992 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 4 August 1993 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Home | Sydney | ||||||||
| Occupation | Daphne's Owner and Manager (1992–93) The Hungry Bite Cafe Owner and Manager (1993–94) |
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Catherine "Cathy" Alessi is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Elspeth Ballantyne. She made her first on-screen appearance on 29 July 1992 and remained until her departure on 4 August 1993.
Cathy was born to Irish parents and she married her childhood sweetheart, Benito Alessi (George Spartels), when she was sixteen as she had fallen pregnant. Cathy's Catholic parents forced her to put her daughter up for adoption. Cathy and Benito went on to have two sons, Marco (Felice Arena) and Rick (Dan Falzon), but Cathy did not forget or forgive herself for giving her baby away.
Benito's niece, Christina (Gayle Blakeney), and her husband leave Number 22 Ramsay Street to him and Cathy. They move in and settle down well in the community. Cathy takes over the Coffee Shop lease from Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) and employs a pregnant Phoebe Bright (Simone Robertson) to help out. Phoebe's pregnancy makes Cathy's regrets over giving her daughter away resurface and she tells Benito that she wants to try for a baby. Benito is initially against the idea as he had a vasectomy after Rick was born. However, he decides to get it reversed. Cathy is devastated to learn from the doctors that she is not able to carry a child to full term due to her age. Phoebe asks Cathy to be godmother to her daughter, Hope.
Cathy's spaghetti sauce recipe catches the eye of a sauce manufacturer and they ask Cathy to sell the ingredients to them. She initially refuses to consider the offer as the recipe had been passed down from Mama Alessi in Italy. The manufacturer also wants to add extra flavourings, which Cathy believes would ruin the taste, but she agrees to the deal as the money is too good to turn down. Marco and Rick are told about their older sister and Marco finds her. Lindsay agrees to meet Cathy and Benito, but only if Marco does not tell them she is their daughter. He brings her to the house and Cathy and Benito believe she is Marco's girlfriend. They are shocked when Marco reveals that Lindsay is their daughter. Cathy meets Lindsey, but she becomes upset when Lindsay tells her that she wants to get on with her life. Cathy gives her some knitted booties that she had kept and Lindsay agrees to keep in touch.
Benito is offered a job in Sydney and Cathy leaves the Coffee Shop in the hands of Phoebe and her husband, Stephen (Lochie Daddo). Cathy is not happy that Rick wants to stay behind, but she gives him her blessing. When Phoebe and Stephen leave town, Rick takes over the Coffee Shop until Cathy comes back to terminate the lease. Cathy tries to persuade Rick to come to Sydney with her, but she eventually arranges for Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver) to take Rick in.
The BBC said that Cathy's most notable moment was "Meeting her adopted daughter."[1]
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