Kyle Braxton
Kyle Braxton (2012-2016)
Nic Westaway
Episodes: 5578–6408
Parents: Danny Braxton (deceased)
Siblings: Darryl & Heath Braxton (both half)
Step Siblings: Casey Braxton (deceased)
Occupation: Restaurant Manager/Co-Owner; Gym Co-Owner
Originally known as Kyle Bennett, Kyle was first seen visiting Danny Braxton at the caravan park, giving him a package containing a fake passport and a gun, and briefly met Marilyn Chambers and Natalie Davison. He later followed Danny and Casey when they went to rob the Reefton Arms, waiting in a car outside, but drove off when he saw Brax and Natalie arrive.
After Casey had killed Danny, Kyle followed him around town in secret, seeing him going surfing with Brax and going out into the bush with Sasha. Convinced Casey didn’t regret Danny’s death, he followed him when he went camping with Brax and kidnapped him, driving him out to the desert where Danny had promised to take them. He chained Casey to a rusted car and revealed that he was also Danny’s son. Casey managed to call Brax when Kyle left him alone but Kyle knocked him unconscious before he could say anything, and then got him to call Brax to stop him getting suspicious. In fact, Casey managed to tip Brax off as to where they were. Kyle left Casey to die but as he drove away from the scene he ran into Brax and Natalie. After giving them wrong directions, he went back to Casey and found Tamara Kingsley helping him. He drove them off to a deserted spot but when he was distracted by Casey making a run for it, Tamara managed to create a makeshift bomb with a petrol tank. Kyle was injured in the explosion and fled the scene. Brax tracked him down and overpowered him but, after they’d talked about Danny, he let him go on condition he stayed away from his family.
Kyle took refuge in Melbourne with Mack Watson, an old friend, and got her to send Brax and Heath away when they came looking for him. Thinking they’d come to kill him, he wanted to leave town but Mack convinced him not to. He went to meet them with a trio of thugs but the police broke the confrontation up. Mack tricked him into meeting up with his brothers, who convinced him to come to Summer Bay, wanting him to testify that he had caused Casey to break his bail conditions. Once back in town, Kyle gave Heath the slip and spooked Natalie when they ran into each other on the wharf. He let Brax and Heath find him and told them he’d only testify if there was something in it for him. Brax and his friend Adam Sharpe offered to provide him with a lawyer to fight any charges he faced.
Kyle made a statement to the police but Senior Sergeant Emerson wasn’t sure of his credibility. He mentioned Tamara, who Brax and Natalie had assumed Casey had imagined, allowing them to track her down, although she wasn’t pleased to see Kyle was now living with the family. He gave an accurate testimony in court and also revealed Danny had set Casey up to take the blame for the robbery. He wasn’t entirely happy when Casey escaped with periodic detention so Heath took him to Danny’s grave and told him Danny had never cared about them. He was arrested for kidnap and attempted murder and Brax and Adam arranged his bail and a place to stay with Adam. He began to feel upset that he wasn’t considered part of the family, especially when Heath referred to him as a friend, and told Brax how he felt. After he confirmed Natalie’s story about Adam getting Bianca hooked on sedatives and letting his son Jamie terrorise Leah, Brax brought him to live with the Braxtons instead.
He joined Brax in confronting Jamie after they learned Heath had gone missing after supposedly going on a fishing trip with him. Jamie admitted that Adam had ordered him to leave Heath to die out at sea and the pair forced him to take them to where he’d left Heath, only to find no trace of him. Kyle’s gentle persuasion won out over Brax’s attempts to threaten Jamie and together they managed to find Heath washed up on a beach and get him to hospital, after which Brax sent Adam and Jamie packing. Kyle and Heath later warned Jamie to leave town as part of a ruse to trick him into going to a house in Mangrove River, where Kyle held him prisoner until Adam agreed to confess to the police.
Fed up of his lounging around at the house, Brax gave Kyle a job at Angelo’s. Liam was initially dismissive of the idea, being used to Heath treating the job as if he could come and go as he pleased, but Kyle surprised him by doing a good job. When Nelson Gregory, a violent ex-boyfriend of Tamara, turned up in town looking for her, Kyle denied knowledge. He warned Casey and Tamara but they refused his help. However, when Sasha Bezmel and Rosie Prichard admitted Rosie had told Nelson where Tamara was, Kyle phoned Casey to warn him then went to the house and knocked Nelson unconscious when he found him trying to force Tamara to go with him. They took Nelson to the police station where he was charged and Casey thanked Kyle. Kyle promptly received notification of his court appearance.
When Heath demoted Liam and made himself manager, Kyle briefly went along with Liam’s refusal to do any work without instructions until he saw just how much the business was floundering under Heath’s direction and stepped in, refusing to let Brax’s business go bust. He tried to help Heath get the accounts in order when Brax returned and convinced Brax to go easy on him by telling him Heath was having difficulty getting access to Darcy. He discovered Liam helping himself to money from the till and tried to tell Brax, but when Brax brushed him off he decided to keep quiet. When Brax offered to let Tamara sleep on the couch, Kyle gave her his room and slept on the couch himself. He found out Liam was still stealing and Tamara walked in on a confrontation between them. He told her what was going on and she retorted that he didn’t know what it meant to be a Braxton, prompting him to pack his bags. He was found by Heath and Bianca who brought him home. When Tamara had a go at him, he responded by pointing out she’d threatened to walk out on Casey if he didn’t take a deal that would get him out of prison. Brax tried to make him feel more like part of the family by telling him about their childhood. He refused to work with Liam which resulted in Brax finding out about the thefts.
He stopped Heath helping himself to money from the till and began to get on better with Tamara, confiding in her that he’d grown up in foster care and actually did quite well at school, resulting in her agreeing to him tutoring her when she returned to school. Heath realised he was attracted to Tamara and warned him not to act on it, as did Bianca. Both Casey and Tamara agreed not to testify against him and Brax made him manager of Angelo’s. As a result, he was let off with a good behaviour bond. Tamara realised he was attracted to her and insisted she didn’t feel the same way. He offered to throw Heath and Bianca an engagement party at Angelo’s. During the party, he met the other Braxtons’ mother Cheryl for the first time and ended up in an argument with Casey, during which Cheryl realised he liked Tamara, prompting Casey to punch him. He spent the night at the restaurant where he briefly encountered Tamara. The next day, he assured Casey that Tamara had done nothing.
When Tamara told him about Alexander Mullens raping Rosie and laying assault charges against Sasha, Kyle stopped her confronting Mullens in public, then privately threatened him into dropping the charges and moving schools. After initially being annoyed, Tamara eventually thanked him at which point he kissed her. When Brax overheard them arguing about it, he moved him out of the house into the caravan park, telling him he’d have to prove himself before he could be part of the family. He managed to aggravate the situation by claiming to Casey that Tamara was giving him signals and, after Brax had failed to broker peace, Casey forced Kyle to get into the gym vehicle with him and drove him out into the bush. There, Kyle admitted he was glad Casey had killed Danny but it was easier to hate him than admit it. The two brothers were left with a long trek back to town when Casey locked his keys and phone in the car. Brax told Kyle he could move back in but Kyle told him he didn’t know how to be part of a family and was better off staying away.
When he found out Natalie and Zac were looking for a new housemate, he put himself forward and, after initially rejecting the idea, Zac agreed. He tried to interest Brax in his plans for the restaurant but Brax ignored him. Ricky told him Brax was having money troubles and Kyle found $100,000 had been transferred from the restaurant account to Connie Callahan, Darcy’s grandmother. He asked Ricky to help find him some jobs to earn money for Brax. He collected a package on her behalf and was concerned when he suspected it contained a gun but Ricky told him not to ask questions. He deposited the $25,000 she paid him in the restaurant account. Heath then forced him to show him the accounts and learned about the transfer. When Kyle spoke to Brax, Brax claimed to know nothing about it. Kyle quizzed Ricky, who told him Brax would be embarrassed if people knew he had money troubles and he was right to say nothing. He denied it when Casey and Tamara accused him of transferring the money, then asked Ricky for another job, where he collected a large amount of money. Tamara saw him putting some of his payment in with the restaurant takings and he told her Brax had money troubles.
When Casey was arrested for armed robbery, Kyle realised the money and gun he had collected had been used to frame him and confronted Ricky, who claimed someone had threatened to kill Brax if she didn’t set Casey up. He managed to convince Heath what was going on, using Bianca as a go between, but failed to convince John to let Jett testify in Casey’s favour. They filled Brax in on the situation but everyone felt that Kyle going to the police wouldn’t help Casey. Kyle helped look for Tamara when she went missing but Brax learned someone had sent the police a photo of Kyle collecting the gun and sent him to hide out in the city. Kyle returned to find that Adam was demanding Brax choose who he released out of Tamara and Ricky and urged him to choose Tamara. He and Brax sneaked out to look for them and found Tamara unconscious. He took her back to the house where he was told to stay low since the police were looking for him. Instead, he went to the hospital to check on Tamara and, finding she had no memories of Summer Bay, tried to reassure her before the police turned up to arrest him.
He was released and found Tamara being discharged from hospital, joining April in taking her home but failing to jog her memory. He was angry when April accused him of taking advantage of the situation. He comforted Tamara and had to break the news to Casey about her amnesia and her not being comfortable with him staying in the flat with her. When Tamara helped him take some decorating materials back to Leah’s house, she found the place familiar and asked to stay there. During the night, she kissed Kyle and tried to seduce him but he pushed her away, believing that what she felt wasn’t real. He decided to move back in with his brothers to give her some space. However, he rushed to check on her when Casey turned up at her place drunk and then came to blows with him, admitting to Heath and Bianca what had happened. He intruded on a conversation between Casey and Tamara, prompting Tamara to decide to leave town. However, Kyle went after her and kissed her.
Kyle and Tamara spent the night together, establishing them as a couple. They initially tried to keep it secret, but when Casey thanked Kyle for convincing her to stay, Kyle admitted the truth. The news received a hostile reaction from Casey and Brax, the latter of whom punched him, but Kyle refused to give her up. He told Tamara the full story about their first meeting but it wasn’t enough to put her off. Casey contacted Tamara’s parents, Patrick and Joanne, and she considered going back with them, with Kyle doing his best not to influence her decision. He waited until after she’d chosen to go with her parents before telling her he loved her, after which she changed her mind and chose to stay with him. He tried to get Casey to accept their relationship but they just ended up in a fight which was split up by John. He was initially unable to tell Tamara he was serious about her but after talking with Brax told her she was more important than keeping the peace with Casey.
When both he and Tamara were called to give evidence at Ricky’s trial, he objected to Tamara’s memory loss being exploited and argued with both Brax and Ricky. He was even more annoyed when Tamara hid the fact from him that some of her memories of the kidnap had come back, and he overheard her talking about it with Ricky. He was worried about losing her but they agreed to look on the bright side although they were worried about Casey finding out. When Brax refused to testify, Kyle used the money Ricky gave him to pay Brax’s fine for contempt of court, saving him from jail. He was left out in the cold when Tamara’s memory returned fully and she wasn’t sure how to react to him and Casey. He re-bonded with his brothers by organising a stag night for Heath for all of them in Melbourne. He tried to take them to a posh restaurant but the boys turned up in casual clothes and the maître d’ refused them admittance. He had more success getting them into an exclusive club and managed to make his peace with Casey. When he returned, Tamara again chose to stay with him.
He was among the first to learn Heath had cheated on Bianca during the trip, after she had rung him to say she’d had doubts. Prior to the ceremony, Casey roped him into helping Jett serenade his girlfriend Nina Bailey. Cheryl returned for the event and was furious to find Tamara with Kyle. When Cheryl had a go at Tamara at the reception, Kyle blamed Casey. When Casey was badly injured in a car accident, Kyle saw Tamara still had feelings for him and ended their relationship, ending up on the outside of the family again. He insisted on joining Brax and Heath when they broke Oscar and Evelyn, Zac’s nephew and niece, out of the cult their father Ethan had taken them to. He went to the hospital to try and talk to Tamara but was upset when he saw how close she and Casey were becoming again. Despite this, he told them he wouldn’t stand in their way, although he then took Brax’s ute to get out of town for a while. He didn’t get far since he found Evelyn hitch-hiking out of town and took her to Ricky. Afterwards, he and Tamara accepted that their relationship had meant a lot to them both and decided to remain friends.
He readily helped Dexter hide in Heath’s room to give him a scare and struggled when Brax turned himself in to the police for accidentally killing Johnny Barrett, an old associate of Danny’s, years earlier. Tamara offered to support him but instead he had a one night stand with Robyn Sullivan, only to be left embarrassed when John and Jett turned up at the house the next morning. Shortly before Brax’s hearing, he learned Casey and Tamara were back together and did his best to stay friends with them. With Brax in jail, Kyle convinced Heath to keep the restaurant going and encouraged him to keep up with his fitness instructor’s course. When Robyn suggested he invent a dead relative to get Tamara to feel sorry for him like she had, he tipped Indi and Chris off to what she was up to. He worried about Nate spending time at the house and warned him off Ricky. When Ricky found out, they ended up in an argument that saw Kyle quit the restaurant. He soon returned but ended up fighting with Casey when Ricky assumed he was having a hard time seeing him with Tamara, and told Casey to tone it down. Afterwards, Ricky agreed to help at the restaurant more and convinced him to apologise to Casey. He warned Brax about Ricky spending time with Nate.
When he saw Casey and Tamara at April and Dexter’s joint stag and hen party, he realised they’d broken up and were keeping it quiet but didn’t want to say anything to them, instead tipping Heath off. He was the first person other than Ricky and Nate to learn of her pregnancy and felt they should tell Brax, but instead had to watch as Brax turned first Ricky and then the rest of the family away after being transferred. He helped Tamara organise a concert to try and bring the warring Summer Bay and Mangrove River students together, and was delighted to be reunited with Phoebe Nicholson, an old flame, letting her open the festival and singing on stage with her and her band. However, when Phoebe came onto him he turned her down. Heading back to the festival, he saw Oscar and Evelyn being kidnapped by Ethan and tried to intervene but was knocked unconscious by one of Ethan’s henchmen and locked in a shipping container with the pair. The trio were abandoned with no food, water or fresh air but Kyle managed to stay conscious and attract the attention of Casey, Tamara, Zac and Hannah when they came looking for them.
Phoebe asked to stay at his place and he agreed but she once more tried to seduce him. When he rejected her, she had a go at Tamara, prompting him to tell her to find somewhere else to live. He confided in Tamara when he heard Ricky had had a miscarriage but declined her offer to go home with him. He wasn’t happy to find Nate looking after Ricky and sent him on her way. He was even less happy when Casey sheltered Andy and Josh from Sean Green, who was trying to stop Andy testifying against him, especially when it became clear Casey didn’t have a plan. He stopped Sean kidnapping Maddy and tried to pay him off, but when Sean refused to leave and taunted him, Kyle beat him up. Feeling bad about the re-emergence of his dark side, he went round to Phoebe’s caravan and tried to sleep with her. Even the news Sean had been arrested didn’t comfort him, since his actions had resulted in Sean taking Irene, Sasha, Spencer and Chris hostage, and he asked Phoebe for help.
Tamara agreed to cover at Angelo’s so he could spend the day with Phoebe. He invited Phoebe back to his place for a music session but she left when he tried to kiss her. He later found a CD of one of Phoebe’s songs, All or Nothing, in her caravan and she was furious when he took it and played it. He asked her if the song was about him, then left her a CD where he sang about how hard it was to leave her behind, prompting her to run to the house and passionately kiss him. They spent the next few days loved up, but when Phoebe offered to move to Summer Bay to be with him he told her she needed to know the truth about what his life was like first. He then discussed plans to get Brax out of jail with Heath and Casey in front of her, but she agreed to stand by him. Heath confided in him when Jess Lockwood, his one night stand from Melbourne, turned up pregnant and it was left to Kyle to explain to Jess that Heath was now married to Bianca. He accidentally let slip to Andy what Casey was trying to do and Phoebe demanded that he tell her everything or she’d leave. When he explained everything he had done, including trying to kill Casey, she was horrified and refused to stay around and watch him destroy himself, instead wanting him to return to Melbourne with her. She told him to meet her at the Diner at midday if he wanted to go with her. He planned to go with her but when Brax was released from jail he asked for a week to sort things out. Phoebe refused and left without him.
Tamara and Maddy talked him into putting on a concert at Angelo’s to raise money for Gina’s memorial. He was left behind when the rest of the Braxtons went to London, expected to look after the gym for them. He was soon overworked, snapping at Maddy when she asked for a guitar lesson. When Tamara found out what was going on, she took charge of Angelo’s so he could concentrate on the gym, then convinced him to tell Phoebe he wanted her back. When Phoebe refused to take his calls, he decided to head to Melbourne to get his life back. He returned not long after, since Phoebe had refused to see him, but then she showed up in Summer Bay and agreed they should go back to Melbourne together. Kyle was annoyed to learn Brax was in hospital in London after being hit by a car and no-one had bothered to tell him. Phoebe suggest they stay around until his brothers returned and then that they stay in Summer Bay. However, he was shocked when she decided she wanted to work at Angelo’s with him. She proved a disaster, messing up orders, taking breaks all the time and trying to turn the restaurant into a nightclub. Kyle confided in Tamara, who suggested he make things difficult for Phoebe so she quit. However, Phoebe then started lounging around at home when she was meant to be at work and, when Ricky told him she was trying to get fired and Phoebe refused to back down, Kyle went ahead and fired her.
When he witnessed a fight between Casey and Andy, Kyle learned Casey was Johnny Barrett’s son and tried to convince him it didn’t matter. He was initially awkward about Phoebe reporting a fight at Angelo’s to the police but ended up defending her to Brax. When Phoebe tried to smooth things over by inviting Josh and Maddy to lunch, Kylt was aghast and instead suggested the four of them go on a picnic. However, he did reassure Josh that he’d be accepted in time. When Josh considered leaving town with Andy, Kyle initially thought it was for the best but later convinced Josh to stay by telling him real families don’t test each other.
Kyle teased Phoebe about being reliant on hand-outs from her father Mark and Phoebe responded by putting on an impromptu concert outside the surf club to raise money but Kyle ended up punching Bazza Douglas, a crowd member who pinched her bottom. He apologised, then found out Mark was in town and wanted to meet him. They seemed to get on well when they all met at the restaurant but then Mark decided to stay on for a bit. Mark found out about Kyle’s criminal past and offered him $50,000 to leave Phoebe, forcing him to take the money which Kyle ended up hiding. When Brax, Casey and Ricky discovered it, he admitted the truth and also told Phoebe, who was angry he’d kept it from her. However, she came round when she heard Kyle telling Mark that no amount of money would make him leave her. Mark then arranged a search of the Braxtons’ home and businesses, and Kyle was disappointed that Phoebe expected the police to find something. He encouraged her to smooth things over with Mark who later turned up and apologised to him.
When he found out someone had shot through the house window, he encouraged Mark to take Phoebe away. However, Phoebe returned after only a few days and ignored Kyle trying to get her to leave. Kyle found an intruder, Morgan Woodley, in the house and was knocked off a bridge while pursuing him. He was found by Casey and quickly recovered in hospital, with Phoebe continuing to stand by him. He then saw Morgan with Mark and realised he was responsible. He told Brax but was unable to bring himself to tell Phoebe. He tried to get Mark to leave by threatening to tell her but Mark realised he was bluffing and it fell to Brax to get rid of him. Kyle kept it a secret from Phoebe but ended up telling her when he realised she was still scared and knew he was hiding something. He was concerned that she wanted to tell the police and enlisted Casey’s aid to talk her out of it. He also talked her out of selling everything Mark had bought her in a garage sale.
He gave Matt a trial shift at Angelo’s and was annoyed when Phoebe began making plans to move out without consulting him but acknowledged it was a good idea. Phoebe asked him to lie about his criminal record on their application forms but checks uncovered the lie. Brax offered to help but Kyle said he needed to handle it himself. He was suspicious when he saw Phoebe talking with a man and accused her of flirting with him. He then found Phoebe had stolen money from the business but told her he trusted her to keep it and she explained she was trying to arrange a flat for them under the counter. He found himself included with the other brothers in Heath’s farewell. Afterwards, Phoebe tried to move them into Heath and Bianca’s flat but Brax and Ricky had already earmarked it. Kyle convinced Phoebe to back down. He was annoyed when Casey promptly moved Josh in without telling them and it was a while before Casey explained he was protecting him from drug dealers Andy was mixed up with.
He was furious when Brax took money from the restaurant to pay Andy’s debts and expected him to cover up the shortfall, and bought the restaurant expensive sound equipment with business money to show he could make decisions too. Brax confided in him that he and Ricky were trying for a baby to show he respected him and Kyle decided to return the equipment, although Phoebe made sure he couldn’t. He began treating Ricky with kid gloves and was forced to admit to both her and Phoebe what Brax had told him. This resulted in Brax and Ricky arguing until he and Phoebe smoothed things over.
Phoebe wanted them to write songs together but Kyle had to work. He was angry to come home and find her writing songs with Matt instead. He was then angry when he heard Matt dismissing Phoebe’s work and attacked him. Although he apologised, Phoebe told him he needed to control his temper. When he learned Phoebe had a gig that he couldn’t attend because of work commitments, he worried about her going on her own and was relieved when Denny went with her. However, he still snapped at Josh and Evelyn when he found them kissing in the house. He organised pizzas for Matt’s market day school fundraiser and received a lesson in being jealous when Shandi gave him her number.
He agreed to play with Phoebe at the school formal but Brax appeared and dragged him off to help Casey and Andy rescue Josh from Jake Pirovic. When they arrived, the pair had already freed Josh but then Jake shot through the window and hit Casey. Kyle took charge of the situation, sending Josh and Andy away and calling an ambulance, but could only watch, with Brax refusing to let him near Casey as he died. He then concocted a story for the police that Casey had summoned them there and they didn’t know who fired the shot. He took charge of the funeral arrangements while Brax dismissed his grief and obsessed about revenge. After the funeral, Ricky and Phoebe let Kyle know that Ricky was pregnant. Brax asked him to help track down Jake and he initially agreed but when Phoebe asked him to stay and he saw the effect losing Casey had had on Denny he decided to stay. When Brax was released after trying to kill an injured Jake in hospital, Kyle took him home instead of letting him go after Jake again and convinced Ricky to tell him of her pregnancy. He was questioned by the police when Jake was murdered in hospital and realised Andy was responsible, stopping him from turning himself in. Phoebe was unhappy to realise he was covering up a murder though and moved out.
When Phoebe was offered a touring job in Melbourne, Kyle felt it was over between them. However, Matt encouraged him to make the effort, so he sang with her at open mic night and asked her to come back after the gig instead of going on tour, offering to buy a house for the two of them. He helped her organise another open mic night on her return, forgetting John was showing a movie the same night. He escorted Gray Page from the event when he turned up drunk. When Phoebe complained about the lack of profit from the restaurant, Kyle asked Brax for a 25% share but Brax refused to discuss it and, when Kyle questioned Ash’s presence in the household, attacked him. Brax later apologised and offered Kyle the share.
When Phoebe was approached by record producer Neive Devlin, Kyle warned her the contract she was being offered gave her no say in anything. He tried to negotiate with Neive but she refused so he gave Phoebe pointers on how to handle the negotiations. He was frustrated when, despite getting a better contract giving her more say, Phoebe returned from the city with Neive with a new pop princess look, having recorded a generic pop song. Kyle nevertheless buried his feelings to organise a celebratory barbeque but blew up again on finding out her website had been redesigned and all the content he had added removed. He tried to be supportive by spending the day with her but everything he planned was disrupted by her commitments to Neive.
Phoebe told him Neive had agreed to record one of her songs but Kyle was angry to find Neive had sampled one of his songs from one of Phoebe’s CDs and felt exposed. He refused to sell the rights to Neive and learned Phoebe had refused Neive’s directive to break up with him. After Denny had had a go at him, he agreed to Neive’s deal. He threw a party at Angelo’s to celebrate when Phoebe’s song was played on the radio for the first time. When he heard that Phoebe was going on a tour to Asia, he told her he couldn’t go with her because of his parole but encouraged her to go without him; however, he admitted to John that he would regret missing her professional debut. Phoebe tried to cancel the trip but Kyle learned the contract could only be ended by mutual consent and suggested she buy her way out. The experience left Phoebe wanting to give up music but Kyle reinvigorated her with a song about her being a star. He was pleased by the news Brax and Ricky were expecting a boy. When Neive arranged a launch party in the city, Kyle asked Matt to be her support act and Andy to go and keep an eye on her, while he arranged a trip to support her. However, the coach the party was travelling in then crashed. Kyle was among those worst hurt, being trapped and in danger of toxins flooding his body. He went into asystole while the emergency services were trying to slowly free him and had to be resuscitated at the scene before being stabilised in hospital. He recovered consciousness after a few days but was confined to bed.
Kyle then received the news Brax had been arrested on suspicious of killing Dean Sanderson and discharged himself from hospital, wanting to join him in tracking down the real culprit, Sam Kennedy. Instead, he helped smuggle Brax and Ash out of town. He found he was having trouble singing and Nate discovered that being intubated had damaged his nodules. As a show of solidarity, Phoebe decided to stop singing until he recovered. He tried to stop Kat reporting Brax for skipping bail by uncovering the fact she had been involved in a fit-up that saw an innocent man die in jail, then went to the city for an operation on his throat. When he returned, he learned Phoebe had been menaced by Ryan Kelly and tried to attack him when he saw Kat keeping him away from the bar, earning himself a telling off from Phoebe. With Brax planning to accept a deal that would see him serve eight years for manslaughter, he signed the restaurant and gym over to Kyle and Ricky. He insisted on informing Cheryl prior to the trial and Brax asked him to look after Ricky and the baby. He also promised Cheryl she’d be looked after. Brax got twenty years.
Kyle returned home after going to explain to Heath to find Phoebe missing and alerted Kat. Kat and Ash managed to work out that Ryan had planted a security camera in Phoebe’s room and it was being received at the motel, and the three of them went there just as Phoebe had got the better of Ryan. He was concerned that Phoebe still seemed scared and harrassed Kat into telling her what had happened to Ryan. He advised Ash to go for it with Denny despite Brax’s wishes and put pressure on Andy to qualify as a fitness instructor, since without one the gym wouldn’t be licensed. He gave Josh a trial shift at Angelo’s when Matt didn’t turn up and convinced Phoebe to perform at the Colour Run, then joined in with her, revealing he could sing again. He followed it up by publicly proposing to her but she walked away and he ended up spending the night in Angelo’s to avoid her. Phoebe revealed that seeing her parents’ marriage disintegrate meant she wasn’t interested in doing the same, and as they continued arguing Ricky suggested Phoebe stay with her for a bit. When he talked with Phoebe, she revealed she wasn’t interested in children, so they decided to put things on the back burner. However, when she saw him comforting Ricky, she realised how much family meant to him and broke things off, moving out.
Ash told him that Brax was in solitary, which they initially kept from Ricky, and they learned Brax was being threatened by Trevor “Gunno” Gunson, an old enemy of Ash’s. Kyle helped Ash hide a bag of money that Gunno’s contact gave him in return for staying away from Brax. He invited Phoebe back to work at Angelo’s but they ended up bickering, so he decided to replace Ash on the run for Gunno, saying he had less to lose. He came back but was in a sullen mood and ended up threatening Phoebe when he saw her talking to Kat. When he learned Gunno wanted them to do more jobs, he went on his own without telling Ricky or Ash. Ash disrupted the deal, resulting in Kyle being pushed off a cliff by his contact. While Kyle only suffered minor injuries, he accused Ash and Ricky of dooming Brax. However, after Brax had sorted Gunno out himself, Ricky reminded Kyle that Brax had told him to look after her and the baby.
That night, Ash’s sister Billie, who Ricky had invited to stay at the house, approached him and kissed him. They spent the night together but Kyle felt awkward afterwards and told her no-one could know. When he learned that Ash had suggested Andy move out so Billie could have his room permanently, Kyle tried to dissuade Andy from moving out and also told Billie not to move in, but she insisted she wasn’t going to just obey orders. He ended up sleeping with her again, but when she referred to him as her boyfriend he took a shift at Angelo’s to avoid spending time with her, only for her to turn up there with Ash. She told him she was happy just being casual and Ash walked in on her trying to seduce him. Ash seemed ready to give Kyle a beating but Billie stepped in and Kyle later apologised to them both. He agreed to Billie working at the gym and Billie encouraged him to make up with Phoebe. He oveheard her talking to Hannah and Ricky and learned she knew about him and Billie; when he asked to get back together, she rejected the idea. He went to Phoebe’s gig but mainly served to distract her. She agreed to speak to him afterwards but refused to get back together. Billie told him Phoebe was seeing Chris, then made a pass at him. He rejected her and aggressively confronted Chris, who told him it wasn’t true. Billie apologised for making it up and Kyle agreed she could stay on.
Kyle was at Ricky’s side when she gave birth to her and Brax’s son and encouraged Ash and Denny to make up. He was pleased when Ricky told him they were naming the baby Casey. Brax asked Kyle and Ash for help in breaking out of jail by ambushing his escort when he was transferred. Ash eventually decided he would go on his own, leaving Kyle to look after Ricky and Casey if necessary. When Ash’s old contact with Gunno, Bob Harmsworth, started hanging around, Kyle had to let Ricky in on the plan. He was devastated when the news arrived that the vehicle had been run off the road and Brax declared dead, with Phoebe talking him into staying with Ricky and Casey instead of leading the River Boys in a search. He went to tell Heath, Bianca and Cheryl, leaving Phoebe to spread the word around town. He wanted to go after Gunno but was stopped by Ricky. He asked Phoebe about getting back together and she agreed, and came up with the idea for a simple memorial for Brax. He tried to help Ricky with Casey and offered to have him overnight, resulting in him falling asleep and failing to realise Ash and Phoebe were locked in the storeroom overnight until he released them the next morning.
He was frequently called upon to look after Casey, then found out Ricky had run away. He followed her to a cabin where he was furious to hear her telling Ash a part of her was relieved Brax was dead, and ended up arguing with Phoebe. Denny told him Phoebe had feelings for Ash so he broke up with her. He learned she had got together with Ash straightaway. He ended up in a fight with Ash at work and then went out drinking with Denny who had to stop him going home with a random girl, Tania Jones. Ricky asked him to be Casey’s godfather but he told her he was leaving straight after the ceremony. She convinced him to stand as guardian anyway. He asked her not to tell anyone he was going but Phoebe chased after him to say goodbye.
Kyle ended up in a high stakes poker game which left him owing $5,000 that he couldn’t pay. He was attacked by a thug and ended up on life support in hospital after being beaten and stabbed. When he recovered, he was charged with illegal gambling and insisted on discharging himself and going back to Summer Bay, where he overheard Phoebe saying she was pregnant. When she admitted it might be his, Kyle threatened to get lawyers involved to stop her having an abortion. Nate treated him at home but he refused to go back to hospital, only to collapse not long after. He was found by Ricky and rushed to hospital. He ended up on antibiotics and was buoyed briefly by the news that Phoebe was keeping the baby, but then had a fit and discovered he was in renal failure: His only options were permanent dialysis or a transplant. His spirits were buoyed again when Phoebe brought in a DVD of her ultrasound but he then suffered an allergic reaction to dialysis, meaning a transplant was his only hope. He learned that Ash was a match and they were both taken into surgery, coming through okay.
He learned that Phoebe wanted him to be the father but assured Ash he wouldn’t make a move on her. However, he was angry to be excluded from Phoebe’s next appointment and an attempt to discuss the issues descended into an argument until the stress caused Phoebe to suffer stomach pains. He was delighted when tests showed that he was the father but he accepted that Phoebe no longer loved him and helped her and Ash reunite. He and Ash worked well together when they had to look after Casey while the girls were out saying goodbye to Denny and assembled a cot together. When Phoebe revealed she had miscarried one of a set of twins and the other one had a number of defects, Kyle vehemently argued against an abortion. Hannah told him to support Phoebe’s choice but Phoebe ended up agreeing with him. They went for a hospital appointment where signs looked promising but then Phoebe miscarried.
After Phoebe refused to see him, Kyle picked a fight with Ash and then smashed up the cot. When he did finally see Phoebe, she blamed him, saying he’d forced her to go through with the pregnancy. He took it out on Maddy, who was doing a trial shift at Angelo’s, and implied she should sleep with him to get the job, making unwanted advances on her. Ricky tore a strip off him and told him to apologise. He had a calmer conversation with Phoebe, who suggested they have a memorial ceremony, where he sang a specially composed song. He panicked when Casey seemed unwell while he was looking after him and called Nate, only to learn he was only teething. He showed signs of being attracted to Ricky after watching her take part in a beach wear photo shoot. He queried her having lengthy conversations with Nate then considered moving on but Ricky convinced him to stay. He kissed Ricky but she backed off. He later admitted to her that he’d just been trying to hold onto the one solid thing in his life. He found her kissing Nate and was accepting.
He befriended Charlotte when she was sacked as a teacher and offered her work at Angelo’s. When he found her in his house, he readily allowed her to seduce him. He stumbled across an argument between her and Trystan Powell, and overheard Trystan calling her a murderer. She told him Trystan had witnessed her accidentally killing a man who had tried to assault her and was blackmailing her. Kyle beat Trystan up but Charlotte angrily told him he had just made things worse. However, he continued to support her and they were soon in a relationship. When she deliberately ran over and killed Trystan, he advised her on how to handle the police, despite Kat warning him Charlotte was trouble. However, he turned against Charlotte when he learned she had been meeting Gunno. He threatened to go to the police but she retorted that he was an accessory. He found Kat collapsed after being drugged and realised Charlotte was responsible, angrily confronting her. He tried to help Josh deal with his blindness. Charlotte tried to threaten him into giving her money but he refused. Phoebe told him Charlotte had turned up at Zac and Leah’s wedding reception threatening to reveal everyone’s secrets. Instead of joining her performing, he went to tell Andy and Josh. He then ran into an enraged Oscar, who had just learned Charlotte had killed Denny, and was later seen sitting on his own by the beach.
He was informed by Ash and Phoebe that Brax was still alive and convinced Ricky that they should go and look for him. He took her to follow up a lead from an eccentric surfer, Bluey, but it was a dead end and they returned to find Casey ill. Kyle blasted Josh, who was meant to be looking after him, and was briefly reunited with Brax when he paid Ricky and Casey a visit. He was questioned by the police over Charlotte’s murder when they found Charlotte had called him shortly before her death; he claimed she had asked him to meet her but he hadn’t gone. However, a search found her phone hidden in his house. He was questioned and admitted he had gone to meet Charlotte but had refused to give her the money; she had thrown the phone at him as he left.
He got on well with Isla Schultz, a customer at the bar who claimed to be a sales rep, until he learned she was working for Dave Morgan, the man who had organised his beating in Melbourne and who still wanted his $75,000 from the poker game. He convinced Ricky to sell the gym only to realise it would only earn him $25,000, then confided in Billie, who talked him out of burning down Angelo’s for the insurance money and convinced him to go to the police. He also revealed the truth to Ricky, but felt bad about reporting Isla when he found out she was trying to get custody of her two daughters. Isla warned him that Dave was after them both but as they tried to flee together they were kidnapped by Bambi O’Neil, who had beaten up Kyle before. Dave and a henchman took them out into the woods and told them to dig their graves, but Kyle managed to overpower them both with some help from Isla. Both Dave and Isla were arrested but Kyle promised to help Isla.
When he found her staying at the caravan park and considering taking more jobs for Dave’s men, he moved her into the Braxton house and offered her the money from his share of the gym for a lawyer before sleeping with her. He accompanied her to meet her ex-husband Harry and their daughters, where Harry warned him not to expect Isla to change. He also realised Isla was only sleeping with him because she thought he wouldn’t help her otherwise. When Isla promptly ran off with her daughters, Kyle asked Harry to delay calling the police and let him look for her. He eventually tracked her down to a strip club and convinced her to hand the girls back. He then took her back to Summer Bay with him where they resumed their relationship.
He promised to help out when Harry planned to take the girls interstate and deny Isla contact, and offered her a job at Angelo’s but then realised she was going to rob the golf club. He went there to try and stop her, convincing her to release the hostages and talking her out of trying to fight her way out, but was found at the scene by the police and arrested. He denied being involved but also refused to implicate Isla, who had disappeared. Ricky tried to talk him into telling the truth but he insisted Isla deserved a chance to have a family. He was released on bail but told Ricky that even if he told the truth he’d still go to jail as an accomplice. Isla reappeared and they spent the night together; she offered to turn herself in or go on the run with him but Kyle refused and sent her away. Ricky moved her wedding to just before his trial so he could give her away and he escorted her to the wedding, eventually having to run to the service with her and Casey when the car broke down.
Kyle’s trial began, with Ricky and Phoebe and later Andy there to support him. He pleaded not guilty but did himself no favours by failing to explain why he was at the golf club or who the other person present was. That night, Isla came to see him and told him she was going to hand herself in along with the gun and money from the robbery. However, Kyle took them and left them outside the police station, having wiped Isla’s fingerprints off and left his own on. With this new evidence, he was quickly found guilty and, with his previous convictions, given thirteen years with a non-parole period of ten. He said goodbye to Ricky and Phoebe before being taken to jail.