Caroline Alessi

Caroline Alessi is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Gillian Blakeney. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 18 January 1990, alongside her twin sister Christina Alessi, played by Gillian's real-life twin, Gayle Blakeney. Both sisters reprised their roles in June 2019, and returned on 6 September.

In 1989, twins Gillian and Gayle Blakeney were cast as sisters Caroline and Christina Alessi respectively, after they wrote to the show's producers at Grundy about making an appearance. The pair almost went to fellow Australian soap Home and Away, but they preferred Neighbours as a programme and they wanted to stay in Melbourne, where it was filmed. They began filming their first scenes seven months after signing with the show. The Blakeneys had an interest in twin psychology and they worked with the scriptwriters to make sure their characters were portrayed as authentically as possible. Gillian told Hilary Kingsley of the Daily Mirror that for a joke, she and Gayle swapped places during one scene and no one noticed. Gayle also revealed that cast members would sometimes say hello to one twin twice, as they could not tell them apart.

The character's fictional backstory was detailed in Anthony Hayward's The Who's Who of Soap Operas book. It stated that Caroline and her identical twin sister Christina were born to an Australian mother and a second-generation Australian father, whose parents had emigrated from Italy. When they were younger, the twins were "very close" and played pranks on their teachers and boyfriends. As they grew older, they kept "a mischievous sense of humour" and often shared similar thoughts.

Caroline is portrayed as the more academically gifted sister, and she is more "socially adept". She is characterised as being confident and outgoing, as well as organised and tidy. Lorna Cooper of MSN TV also found that Caroline was the more career-minded and confident twin, in contrast to Christina, who was quiet. Before moving to Erinsborough, Caroline worked in several hotels and restaurants, eventually moving up to a more managerial role. Caroline has a brief romance with Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) when he separates from his wife.

In April 1992, it was announced that Blakeney had decided to leave Neighbours to concentrate on her music career. Producers created an infidelity storyline which threatened to destroy her sister's marriage to Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). Writers had developed an attraction between Caroline and Paul which later became an issue when the pair share a passionate kiss. The kiss occurs during a time that Paul and Christina had been having marital problems. Paul had briefly abandoned Christina and upon his return tries to meddle in Andrew's upbringing. Gillian told a TVTimes reporter that Caroline is "really drawn to Paul" but "terribly close to Christina". On-screen, Christina makes Paul sleep on the sofa to give her space. Caroline leans over Paul to tuck in his blanket and Paul awakes. He mistakes Caroline for Christina and kisses her. Gillian that "she would never want to do anything to hurt her sister." However, Caroline still could not deny her feelings. Caroline feels relieved when she finally confesses her love for Paul. Blakeney added that Paul and Christina seemed to be failing so "Caroline would really be kicking herself if she stepped out of the picture and Paul and Christina split up anyway."

Paul had been pondering his feelings for some time but the kiss confirms that his feelings are reciprocated. After the kiss, Caroline feels the burden of guilt and flees to Italy to escape her feelings. Gillian told Chris Twomey from What's on TV that "Caroline feels terrible about what's happened and yet she's frightened by her feelings for Paul." She also found the storyline inconceivable because she would never betray Gayle like Caroline had Christina. Christina struggles to understand why her best friend and twin sister would leave without an explanation. She is left feeling "confused and bewildered". Gayle told Twomey that discovering the truth would destroy Christina emotionally. She explained that "she would go off the rails, she'd be deeply hurt that her husband and her sister had betrayed her." Despite his growing attraction to Caroline, Paul decides to lie to Christina to save his marriage. Dennis added that for Paul is desperate to hide the truth because another failed marriage would "make him look stupid". The storyline formed Blakeney's departure after Caroline was written out of the series.

Blakeney chose to leave Neighbours in February 1992. She planned to record another single with her sister and study in Paris for a month. Of her decision to leave, Blakeney stated "While I love the character and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself on the show, I feel it is time to move on as an actor. It was my first acting experience and it's been a great grounding." She added that she would miss her character and her fellow cast members. Blakeney filmed her final scenes on 3 April. Gayle was contracted with the show until July 1992 and was happy to stay for longer, as she felt there would be "plenty of life" for Christina after Caroline leaves.

On 1 June 2019, it was announced that both Blakeney sisters had reprised their roles for three episodes to air in September. They filmed these during the same week, before returning to Los Angeles on 7 June. Of their return to the serial, Gillian Blakeney stated, "Strangely enough it feels so comfortable and familiar despite the obvious changes. The cast and crew have been so welcoming."