Simon Fitzgerald (Home and Away)

Simon Fitzgerald is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away.He was portrayed by Richard Norton, who had just left a regular role as Ryan McLachlan on rival show Neighbours.He was a regular on the show for just under a year, from late 1991 to mid-1992.

Storylines

Simon was a Summer Bay High student who befriended Blake Dean. When Blake's guardians Alf and Ailsa Stewart were away, Simon persuaded Blake to use the empty house to entertain two girls from school, Sharyn and Annette.However, the girls decided to play a trick on them by planting a bra down the back of the sofa for Alf and Ailsa to find when they got home.The pair ended up in trouble until Simon persuaded the girls to admit to the joke.

When Simon's father Bill attempted to cheat Alf and Ailsa, Simon admitted to Blake that he had a history of dodgy dealings.Despite Simon asking him not to, Blake told Alf and Ailsa, who pulled out of the deal. Angry at the betrayal, Bill hit Simon.He then decided to leave town and asked Simon to come with him but Simon accepted an offer to stay with Alf and Ailsa instead.

Simon was attracted to Sophie Simpson and persuaded her to come out on a date with him.She went to a concert with him in the city but he lost the train tickets home and they ended up having to pay a fine. Despite the setback, Sophie eventually agreed to keep seeing him. However, she then learned she was pregnant by her late boyfriend David Croft.She tried to keep it secret from Simon but her friend Finlay Roberts told him the truth.Simon agreed to stand by her and even offered to pretend to be the baby's father.However, David's sister Lou saw through the deception and forced Sophie to admit the truth.

Sophie ran away to the city but Simon managed to track her down and bring her back to the Bay.Even though they were no longer a couple, Sophie still leant heavily on him and he was unable to get a date with another girl because he was spending time with Sophie.He admitted to Lou that he was finding it difficult and she let it slip to Sophie, thinking she already knew.Sophie was angry at first but eventually admitted she'd put too much pressure on Simon.

Simon received a shock when he heard his father had been arrested for fraud.Convinced of his innocence, he was prepared to leave town to support him only to hear he'd been jailed.He then supported Blake, whose girlfriend Meg Bowman had terminal leukaemia, and was there for him when she died.

Simon and Blake both entered a fun run but became extremely competitive and started training heavily.They had a bet over who could win a race between them and Simon managed to win by cheating.Blake found out but decided to make Simon feel bad by refusing to let him return the bet, only for Simon to rip the money up.

The pair helped out Finlay's younger brother Damian when he was being bullied by threatening the bully Tug O'Neale into letting Damian beat him in a fight, although Damian ended up dealing with Tug without their help.They provided some unwitting assistance in Ryan Lee's attempt to win Lucinda back by flying a nude painting Lucinda had done of her fiance Nick Parrish over the fun run.

When Simon found Adam Cameron's "little black book", he persuaded Adam to set him up on a date with one of his old girlfriends.Adam agreed but told the girl in question to come on strong in order to give Simon a fright, resulting in him being caught out by Alf and Ailsa.The incident brought out the fact that Blake was still depressed over Meg's death so Simon decided to cheer him up by arranging for him to go on a student exchange trip.

Simon's kindness was rewarded when a miscommunication meant that, in exchange, Toni Bryant, an attractive farm girl, came to stay with Alf and Ailsa instead of the boy they expected.Alf wasn't comfortable with the pair staying together under his roof but the resulting holiday romance wasn't serious and Simon helped Toni come to terms with her father Philip becoming engaged to Marilyn Chambers, who was closer to their age than Philip's.

Shortly before Toni went back, Simon received a letter from his father, who had been released from prison and wanted Simon to live with him. Deciding to give Bill a second chance, Simon made a quiet exit from town, leaving behind a note for Alf and Ailsa.