Melanie’s love life has always been a bit turbulent. When we first saw her in 1987 she arrived as a potential love interest for Henry Ramsay, but she left the street in 1991 married to Joe Mangel.
Fast forward to the 2020s, Melanie comes back and is quickly exposed as having affairs with previous bosses and ends up dating (And eventually marrying) her new boss, Toadie Rebecchi.
That all went sour (we are not explaining flash back week all over again) and heartbroken Melanie recently decided to get back into the dating game, but her first attempt in online dating ended badly, finding out she had been catfished by a group of local youths.
Things looked up for Melanie in today’s episode of Neighbours, when she decided to go on a date with The Drink Diva’s fruit wholesaler, Santo Oliviera. While he may be a potential new love interest for Melanie, he is a very familiar face to Neighbours fans.
Santo is played by David Serafin and this is his 4th role on the show. His first appearance was a 1-episode role back in 2005, Barry Dundis, an accountant who was Carmella’s stalker.
He popped back in 2006 in an equally disturbing role, Rex Colt, a garage owner who offers Janae Timmins a job, only to force himself upon her.
The actor’s most notorious role on Neighbours was the recurring character of gangster Dennis Dimato in 2015 and 2016. The dodgy businessman involved Tyler Brennan in a scheme stipping stolen cars for parts and also bribed policeman Matt Turner, when he fell on hard times. He later framed Paige Smith for a series of burglaries and almost became Paul Robinson’s partner in buying the Erinsburrow Motel. Whilst many gangsters have passed through Erinsborough over the years, the Dimato era (Often referred to as the Tomato era) is well-remembered by fans.
David’s newest character seems to be a million miles away from dodgy Dimato. Whilst he may not have perfect chemistry with Melanie, he seems like a good guy. We will see a little bit more of Santo next week ass Melanie drags him into her lies to Terese and Toadie.
David has another big connection to Erinsborough, as his real-life wife is actor Jane Allsop. Best known for her long-running role of Jo Parrish in Police drama Blue Heelers, Jane has also played 4 different characters in Neighbours.
In 1995 she played Samantha Spry, a schoolfriend of Brett Stark’s. She returned in 1998 and 1999 as Shelley Harris/Shelley Hanson who had eyes for Drew Kirk. In 2007 she popped up again, this time as Barrister Diana Murray, who briefly worked with Toadie and Rosie Cammeniti at their law office.
Jane is best remembered for her recurring role in 2020 and 2022 as Lisa Rowsthorn, ex-wife of Pierce Greyson and mother of Hendrix.
Between the two of them, they just love Erinsborough! They have four children together, so it’s almost inevitable that their children will come to Ramsay Street one day.