Brody Morgan
Brody Morgan (2016-2019)
Jackson Heywood
Episodes: 6442–7127
Birth Name: Bartholomew Lee
Date of Birth: 4th August 1992
Parents: Koby & Kate Lee (née Harris) (both deceased)
Siblings: Justin, Tori & Mason Morgan (deceased); Raffy Morrison (half)
Marital Status: Ziggy Astoni (2018-2019, divorced)
Children: Mason Morgan
Occupation: Restaurant Owner/Chef
Brody was first seen trying to stop Justin having a go at Ash when he accidentally forced the three brothers off the road as they arrived in town. Reunited with sister Tori, the family soon moved into their new house, the latest of many moves. Brody was frustrated at having had to give up a good job as a chef for the move and upset Leah on his first visit to the Diner with his frank criticism of the food, prompting her to throw him out. He met Phoebe after she’d spent the night with Justin and invited her to stay for breakfast. He later found her having troubles managing Angelo’s, having just lost the chef, and volunteered his services when he found she could only serve charcoaled pizzas. He broke up a fight between Justin and Mason at the restaurant.
He and Tori talked about settling in Summer Bay and he used the family’s savings to buy the restaurant, telling Justin and Tori he wasn’t going to run again. He quickly clashed with Phoebe when she kept disappearing from her shift to check on Billie but eventually let her go. However, he was reluctant to continue employing Josh when he got out of remand after being charged with covering up Andy’s murder of Jake Pirovic. He began working with Phoebe on ideas to rebrand the restaurant but was quickly distracted when he thought someone was following him, unaware that it was Spike Lowe, who he had briefly met at the restaurant. The family, who were in witness protection after a drug syndicate murdered their parents, were told to stay in town.
Having accepted Justin’s suggestion of renaming the restaurant Salt, Brody supervised a successful launch only to be promptly told they had been discovered and had to leave town. He initially refused to go, with Tori having to talk him round, and even then continued trying to make plans for the restaurant despite being told he’d never see it again. They were taken prisoner by Blaine Varden, their parents’ killer, who revealed Justin had been aware of their father’s dealings. When the family fled, Brody was separated from the others and attacked by Spike Lowe, who pushed him down a slope. He was rushed to Northern District Hospital but soon discharged. Like Tori, he was angry with Justin for hiding things from them and ignored Phoebe’s attempts to make peace between them. When he and Tori did get talking to Justin, they began to forgive him until it appeared he’d been hoarding money. He also warned Justin off Phoebe when he realised they had slept together. He briefly feuded with Chris, who accused him of stealing his burger recipe, but ended up shaking his hand and ending the disagreement.
He went along on the plane trip to celebrate Tori’s birthday, ignoring Justin’s attempt to contact him. When the plane started to crash, Brody tried and failed to give Justin their co-ordinates and was thrown overboard, meaning he was nowhere to be seen at the crash site. He wandered around in the bush, hallucinating seeing his mother Katie and Tori and Justin as children, before the visions led him over a cliff edge. He was given emergency treatment by Nate and Tori before being taken to hospital where he came through surgery despite warnings he might need an amputation.
Brody began having flashes of seeing his mother arguing with a man when he was a boy. Like the rest of the family, he began to mistrust Decker, who had not taken Spike’s threat about the plane crash seriously. When he spoke to Decker and Decker used the same phrase as the man in his flashbacks, Brody realised it was him, meaning Decker had been around the family eight years earlier than they had thought. When Decker was run off the road, Brody tried to talk to him in hospital but all he managed to say before fitting was “Sparrow”. When Decker’s nieces Hope and Raffy turned up, Brody quizzed them but all they could offer was that it was Raffy’s nickname. He witnessed Hope smashing her phone in anger and backed Phoebe up when she told Justin Hope had lied about John doing the damage. Phoebe offered to let him set up a vegetable garden at the farmhouse and he ended up in a manure fight with Evelyn, which resulted in Mason, who had had a friends with benefits arrangement with Evelyn, finding them in a state of undress, jumping to conclusions and attacking him.
He was nervous when a critic, Richard Legrande, came to the restaurant but was left with a different problem when Richard wanted to do a feature on him. Even though he knew it would expose the family, Brody was upset at having to turn the offer down, telling Phoebe that the restaurant was a tribute to his mother, who had always wanted to do something similar. When Decker came round, Brody interrogated him again and Decker confirmed he’d had an affair with Kate while working undercover to investigate the syndicate. Brody then realised Raffy was Decker and Kate’s daughter on seeing her wearing Kate’s old necklace and Decker confirmed it. He shared the information with his siblings and he and Tori found evidence in the hospital records, then took a DNA test to confirm it. He was in favour of telling her and frustrated when Hope told Raffy not to trust them. When Justin employed Hope at Salt, Brody was willing to let her steal from the till if it meant Raffy, who now knew the truth, sticking around, until she stole the whole lot and Phoebe called the police on her.
After initially declining to take part in a charity volleyball game, Brody was smitten with one of the players, Jeannie Wood, and donated $1,000 in return for being allowed to partner her. They met up again shortly after and arranged to meet for a drink. When they both ended up at Salt, she accused him of following her and he had a hard time convincing her he was the owner. He gave her a job as a waitress only for her to announce she couldn’t date a work colleague. During her first shift, she gave him mixed messages, alternating between flirting with him and then shutting him down when he responded. When she finally pushed him into a table after he returned her kiss, he ordered her out. He allowed her to resign quietly but when Evelyn gave him the details of the youth centre where she volunteered he tracked her down and she agreed to both carry on working for him and date him, with them sharing a drink. He invited her round for dinner but she turned up with her bags saying her father had thrown her out. They ended up spending the night together but next morning her father Randall turned up in an aggressive mood. Brody managed to mollify him by claiming to have slept on the couch. Jeannie privately admitted to him that her parents were doomsday preppers and she had taken the job because she was hoping to save up and move out of home. Brody decided to keep on seeing her but Randall told him they were taking her away for a bit since she needed to be with someone who shared their beliefs and could protect her.
Brody tried to make Raffy feel like part of the family by teaching her Kate’s old recipes but ended up having to join the rest of the family in telling her about Kate’s murder and the witness protection. When Jeannie returned, he picked up where he left off with her but she had trouble breaking her old habits. Randall caught them kissing and Brody told him he needed to let Jeannie make her own choices. Randall agreed but Jeannie felt Brody had been rude. After they continued to clash over their different attitudes to life, they agreed to break up and Jeannie took another job in Yabbie Creek.
He rejoined the family in the aftermath of Decker’s murder and joined them in hiding out at the farmhouse until the syndicate were arrested, after which he pondered the chance to go public with the restaurant. He gave Justin a pep-talk about how he should treat Phoebe and had to put up with Salt being vandalised by locals when the press reported on their witness protection and made it sound like they were involved with drugs. His van was torched but he managed to serve food at the Summer Grooves music festival, where he convinced Mason to talk to Olivia and Phoebe to perform without Justin being there.
He left the festival to get supplies and returned to find road blocks set up because of a bushfire near the festival. When he learned Mason was missing, he went to look for him and was furious when he and Olivia turned up oblivious to the worry they’d caused. He scared off Mick Jennings when he went to see Irene and also helped Kat catch Ranae when she tried to kill Justin, dismissing her excuse that Koby had caused her father’s death by framing him for his involvement in the drug syndicate. He informed Phoebe of what had happened to Justin and pointed out to Justin that he was being pathetic when he relied on Phoebe and the family during his recovery. However, he then found out Phoebe was waiting for Justin to call so prompted him to do so. He helped Tori prepare a picnic for her date with Riley but began to grow uneasy when he saw Riley chatting to Evelyn at Billie’s wake, warning Tori that he may have been flirting with her. He was wary of Phoebe moving in, given that they worked together, but fell into line when the rest of the family agreed.
He arranged a night at Salt for uni students but it came to an abrupt halt when he caught Lena Ascot dealing drugs. However, when Lena came back the next day, he agreed she could keep coming in if she left the drugs behind. He advised Justin and Phoebe over the former’s proposal. He employed Lena at Salt when a staff member let him down and, while he initially blasted her for taking drugs at work, not only did he turn a blind eye later but he took some cocaine that she gave him. With a reviewer due in, he used drugs to stay up all night doing work and had sex with Lena in the store room but was then snappy when Justin asked him about an engagement party for him and Phoebe. Wired when food critic Terry Diamond visited, he ended up insulting Terry when he claimed there were too many flavours in his over-prepared dishes, then spent the night with Lena. Justin confronted him about the drugs and he insisted they were a one-off. He sacked Lena when a girl came into the restaurant looking to buy drugs from her, but continued to buy from her himself. He yelled at Mason and Raffy to stay out of his room when they were setting up the house for the engagement party and ended up having to take drugs to get through the party.
When Mason unknowingly caused him to drop his stash, he called Lena for more drugs and instead she sent William Zannis to supply him. Before he could take them however, he had to give Raffy a lift. When he saw Kat doing spot checks ahead, he sped off in the other direction. Although Raffy convinced him to pull over, he hid his drugs in her bag. He managed to pass a drug test but admitted the truth to Justin, who got rid of the drugs. However, he continued trying to contact Lena, resulting in Justin, Tori and Mason staging an intervention. When he refused to listen, Justin cancelled his credit card and deleted Lena’s number from his phone. However, he stole the money from Zac’s bill and got the number off Hunter. Since he didn’t have enough money for cocaine, Zannis gave him ice instead, while he played the reformed character with Justin and Tori.
He then stole money from the tips jar and went to Zannis, who gave him a large quantity of drugs and told him to either use it or sell it and give him the money later. However, most of them ended up being eaten by Buddy. When Raffy found the wrapper, Brody insisted it was an old one. Desperate for money to pay Zannis back, he tried to sell the Xbox but was caught by Raffy, then stole money from the backpackers staying at the caravan park and claimed to be looking to book a van when Roo came across him ransacking the house. However, it still wasn’t enough and Zannis took him for a drive, before dumping him in the bush beaten up. He went home and tried to act normal but Mason realised something was wrong and took him to hospital. When a test for cocaine came back clear, Tori gave him the money to clear the debt but he asked for $100 more than he needed, which he used to buy more drugs.
He convinced his family to give him back his cards, but when they failed to show up, he stole Raffy’s necklace and tried to pawn it. The pawn shop owner, Tony Stoilov, only offered him $10 so he began smashing up the shop with a hockey stick, demanding more. Tony locked him out of the store and called the police, so he jumped into Scarlett Snow’s car and told her to drive. She pulled over, gave him her bag and asked him to leave her alone. When Mason promptly gave him his new credit cards, explaining Raffy had hidden them, Brody tried to return Scarlett’s bag but she knocked him out and tied him up. He explained the situation and had Zannis pretend to be Mason in order to convince her his family were helping him. Zannis gave him drugs and told him he owed him a favour.
However, Kat identified him as the one who vandalised the pawn shop from CCTV and he was arrested. Tori and Justin found out about his ice addiction and Justin threw him out of the house. He refused to go home with Tori and was found by Scarlett sleeping on the beach. He agreed to stay at her house and handed over his drugs to her. When he began to feel ill, he insisted it wasn’t withdrawals and he wasn’t an addict but then he began to hallucinate Kate and ran out of the house. He was found by Mason and Raffy and accepted he was having withdrawals after all. Justin offered to let him move back in but he told him it was the pressure of the family that caused him to turn to drugs so he needed to stay away from them for a while.
Zannis told him to move a shipment of drugs he had coming from abroad through Salt but Brody refused. He convinced Mason to let him start back at Salt, then learned Zannis had poisoned Tori so accepted the shipment. He bluffed his way through a visit from Kat and afterwards Zannis gave him a free sample. It was found by Scarlett and Justin locked him in a bedroom when he became aggressive. After Justin and Scarlett had gone, he apparently called Zannis to let him out, then stole money and a bracelet with a locket from the house. He turned up at home and told his family and Kat that Zannis must have done the robbery. He then disappeared, abandoning his phone along with the bracelet for Scarlett to find.
Justin and Mason found him in a drug den and forcibly took him home but he refused to take any responsibility for his actions and, paranoid, insisted they were trying to control him not help him. Justin called the police and Brody was arrested. Forced to move back in with his family as a result of his bail conditions and knowing they’d lose Salt if he did a runner, he initially resented them but eventually told them he wanted to change. He tried to go to Salt but was stopped by Alf and ended up scuffling with him, with Kat having to step in. Justin convinced him to go to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in the city but he felt uncomfortable and showed more interest in hiding Ziggy Astoni from her father Ben. However, when Tori was angered by his attitude, he went to another meeting and confessed to being an addict.
He was angry when he found that Justin had kept Ava being in town a secret from him, then started hallucinating Kate again. She urged him to contact Zannis and he messaged him then went to sleep in his van. He woke up to find Ziggy had stolen it and, with his bail sign-in due soon, he refused to drive her to the city or leave her out in the bush, missing the sign-in by staying around to convince her to go back to town. He made up an excuse with Kat but told his family about the hallucinations. He pulled out of the deal with Zannis when Ziggy invited him for a swim.
He spent time with Ziggy during her stay but was disappointed when she told him she had a boyfriend and had no interest in staying in Summer Bay full-time with her family. She asked him to drive her to the city and he complied but immediately took her back after she found out her boyfriend Jarrod McGregor was cheating on her. As a result, he missed another meeting with Zannis, only for Zannis to turn up at Salt, give him drugs and ask him to do some work for him. However, he failed to pass drugs on to Zannis’ courier when Kat came into Salt and told Zannis to leave. Zannis responded by threatening his family again and he confided in Tori and Mason. He asked them to let him handle it and arranged for the police to interrupt his returning the drugs to Zannis and arrest them both so Zannis wouldn’t realise he set it up.
He tried to confess to Ziggy but she told him she didn’t care about his past and kissed him. However, when she did find out the truth she began keeping her distance. Finding out that Zannis was out on bail, he took the drugs Zannis had given him. Mason found him and tried to drive him to rehab but Brody saw Zannis in the car behind them and grabbed the wheel in a panic, causing them to crash. Mason ended up on life support with a neck injury and Brody had a hard time convincing his family he hadn’t imagined Zannis. He began looking into rehab centres but the only one with a place cost $30,000. Justin and Tori convinced him to sell Salt to fund it, since it was losing money because of his absences.
His counsellor was concerned that he wouldn’t discuss his parents, then Lena turned up at the clinic and asked him to break out with her. He went along with it but left her when she produced some drugs. He was found by Justin and Scarlett and admitted he had witnessed their parents’ death from his bedroom window and been trying to distract himself ever since. Justin advised him to tell the counsellors. On his return to town, he tried to visit Mason, who was having to have rehab to walk again, but Mason rejected his apology. Irene took him in, confiding in him about her alcoholism. He admitted to Ziggy that he’d been using her as a crutch. With Ben still opposed to them spending time together, Ziggy suggested they meet up in secret and Irene advised him against it. Ziggy called for him to come to a motel where it turned out she was being held prisoner by Zannis who captured Brody too. He planned to kill them both with drug overdoses and make it look like an accident but they were rescued by Kat and Robbo, although it left Ziggy wanting nothing to do with him.
Brody was pushed away by Ben when he tried to help Ziggy while she was distressed. However, Ziggy then met up with him by the beach, where they kissed and then consummated their relationship in her car. Irene told him to put a stop to it but when he went to see Ziggy they slept together again and he had to sneak out of the house when Ben and Maggie came home. When Mason was discharged from hospital, Brody tried to talk to him but an enraged Mason ended up trying to throttle him. However, Justin helped alleviate the tension by taking them to see their parents’ grave for the first time, then found out about Brody and Ziggy.
Brody told Ziggy they needed to tell Ben, then found out his trial was in two weeks. Scarlett agreed to represent him when his old lawyer turned out to be on holiday. He was frustrated when Ziggy put off telling her parents but they found out anyway and Ziggy ended up on his doorstep after an argument. Brody let her stay the night and then made an impassioned plea to Ben but he was still convinced Brody would hurt her whatever his intentions. Not wanting to break up a family, Brody ended the relationship and sent Ziggy home.
He found Raffy drunk at Salt and took her back to John and Marilyn. Scarlett convinced him to give the police evidence about the drug den where he had stayed in order to help his chances in court but it backfired when Jay Turner, who ran the den, accused Brody of stabbing him while he was staying there. Jay’s blood was found on the shoes Brody was wearing at the time and he worried that he had done it and not remembered but Scarlett and Justin managed to clear him. In court, his remorse and Scarlett’s defence saw him get away with a suspended sentence and good behaviour bond, although he was required to submit to regular drug tests at the police station.
He felt awkward about helping out at the sausage sizzle but John’s inept handling of the barbeque prompted him to take over and Irene and Marilyn convinced him to come and work at the Diner. However, he was frustrated when Irene vetoed any idea he had to improve the menu. Marilyn admitted John and Irene had had a bet that he wouldn’t make changes and, feeling stifled, he paid John the money in order to do whatever he wanted. He then began making fancy dishes instead of what people actually ordered and tried to change the menu. Irene ordered him out but eventually offered to let him do a daily special so long as he actually cooked what people wanted as well. Olivia convinced him to help her look for Ziggy in the city and he saved her from being assaulted by Curtis, a man who had spiked her drink. However, Ben misinterpreted the situation and punched him. Brody refused to make a statement against Ben when asked by the police and Ben apologised to him but still wanted him to stay away from Ziggy.
He accompanied Mason on a climb to the top of a cliff to complete Beth’s bucket list. Despite Ben’s mistrust, he kept an eye on Ryder and Coco watching movies with Raffy and was unimpressed at underage Ryder turning up with alcohol. Ben bought him as a partner in the glow day’s obstacle course, mainly to stop him partnering Ziggy, only for them to get on well. Brody arranged to give Ziggy a cooking lesson and admitted to Mason that he still liked her. When she helped fix the oven at Salt, Marilyn convinced him to offer to cook dinner for her and her family as a thank you. The meal was uncomfortable but earned him Maggie’s approval. He also dropped hints to Justin about giving Ziggy an apprenticeship. He was roped into helping Ben build a gazebo to earn his favour but proved to have no skills in that area. However, Ben told him to get his life back together and then concentrate on Ziggy.
When he found out that Jarrod was in town and that Ziggy knew, he told Ben and Maggie. Terry Diamond then turned up at the Diner and Brody hid away in the kitchen to serve him food anonymously. Terry finally saw him but still complimented his food. He admitted he was just there on holiday, not to write a review, but hoped Brody would move on. Brody went to a bank to get a loan to buy back Salt but was turned down because of his criminal record, so Justin and Tori offered to loan him the money at the same rates. He met with new owner Felicity Cox who asked for twice what she’d paid for Salt for him to buy it back; however, Willow forced her to charge a fairer price by revealing she had falsified financial records. He relaunched Salt with a grand re-opening party, telling the staff to give Ben, Maggie and Ziggy special attention. After he made a speech thanking his family, his staff and Ben, he was given Ben’s blessing to be with Ziggy.
Brody promptly spent the night with Ziggy, meaning he was at hand when Maggie fell ill. He organised a wake for Kat and had to deal with the River Boys turning up. He and Mason found Alf and Roo when they were trapped in a sinkhole and later got questioned by Ash and Dean, who had found out Justin and Tori were hiding Robbo in their house. Brody was annoyed that they had risked his parole and considered moving out. While supporting Ziggy through Maggie’s cancer, he suggested she move in with him. He made plans to rent the Diner flat for them but Ben rejected his application. Ziggy admitted that she had asked him to since she wasn’t ready to move in. He noticed an SOS message on Leah’s pizza order and worked out that David Cantrall was holding her, Jasmine and Ryder hostage.
He helped organise a birthday breakfast for Maggie in Ben’s absence and testified for Ben at his assault trial. When he and Ziggy looked after Ava for the day, he joked that she’d make a great mum. Ziggy was thrown and he told her he wasn’t planning to become a father soon but would in a few years. He was given the task of decoying Ziggy while her family set up for her surprise birthday party, even though he was aware she’d already guessed, and gave her a charm bracelet. He was later involved in discussions when Ava was kidnapped. He helped Ziggy making a dinner for Ben and Maggie to celebrate the former’s first day at work and organised a job for Ebony at Salt to get Justin out of a lawsuit. He tipped Justin off to the fact Willow and Dean had spent the night together and quickly went to support Ziggy when Maggie was hospitalised again. He supported Raffy when Justin tried to get her to move back home after catching her kissing Ty Anderson.
He played matchmaker between Ash and Tori and, on seeing Hunter and Mason using dating apps, decided to accept an offer from a company to put on a singles night at Salt. He was surprised by Ziggy proposing to him with a banner outside the surf club but accepted. However, he then realised she had only done it because she wanted Maggie to be at her wedding. He initially called the engagement off but, after Ben convinced him Ziggy really did want to marry him, he enlisted Mason’s help and publicly accepted the proposal with a banner of his own. He agreed to get married in two weeks and suggested Stewarts Point, since he remembered Maggie liked it there. He also assured Ben he could afford to pay for the wedding. He was put on the spot choosing which of his brothers should be best man until Justin told him to choose Mason. Mason and Hunter organised a weekend at the casino for a bucks party but he didn’t feel able to go with Maggie ill so told them Ziggy wouldn’t let him. They instead arranged a night of drinking and gambling at Salt, during which they surprised him with a stripper, Danielle. He was horrified when Ziggy turned up during the routine, but she saw the funny side of that and of him throwing up over Ben. He married her before they left for a honeymoon on a houseboat.
While Ziggy preferred to spend their time alone together on the boat, Brody planned a hiking trip only for Ziggy to strand them by sabotaging the boat’s fuse box. When the news arrived that Maggie was back in hospital, Brody was left to wait for the boat owner to come and fix it while Ben took Ziggy back to town. After returning, he moved in with Ziggy but she was reluctant to make room for his things, sabotaging his attempts to put up a framed cooking review. He began to feel that living with her family wasn’t the best start to married life as he and Ziggy had no time together and he ended up hiding out at the old family home. He was present at Salt when Brett Dwyer and his gang tried to rob it but Dean, who was helping the police catch the robbers, hid him and Ziggy in the store room. He tried to arrange a romantic lunch with Ziggy only for it to be gate-crashed by Ben, Maggie, Coco and Ryder. He convinced Ziggy they needed to move out but she was unimpressed by his suggestion they convert an old storage shed at the Morgans’ into a flat. However, with Ben’s help he managed to do spruce it up and Ziggy quickly changed her mind.
He was annoyed that Ziggy stayed out all night helping Dean without telling him but supported both Tori over her IVF plans and Mason over getting Dempsey Blackwood pregnant. He cancelled a picnic with Ziggy to do a shift at Salt and was annoyed to find her drunk with Dean at the garage. She accused him of suffocating her and refused to take it back when she sobered up, despite him insisting he was trying to build a future for them. He accepted they needed to compromise. He tried to organise a gig at Salt but was unable to get a band to play so started practising guitar himself. He played for the Astonis after throwing a celebratory meal at Salt when Maggie was given the all clear but afterwards suffered a panic attack. He had to be calmed by Maggie and explained that Kate taught him to play and he hadn’t played since. He gave Ben, Maggie and Ziggy cooking lessons after Maggie’s attempts at making health food were disastrous but was left in turmoil again when Mason accused him of trying to replace Kate and took it out on Ziggy. Justin learned he had never told Ziggy the full story of witnessing their parents’ death and convinced him to confide in her. Ziggy convinced him that by doing the things he used to do with Kate he was honouring her memory.
When he learned the health dishes were helping Maggie, he decided to put them on the menu at Salt. Maggie and Ziggy advertised them online, resulting in a reviewer, Stephen Brown, deciding to come to Salt just before the stove blew up. Brodu ended up promising Stephen the duck, the one thing that required an industrial-sized oven, so ended up cooking it at the Diner while Ziggy stalled Stephen, getting a positive review. He was offered a chance to appear on Coastal Breaks but postponed it when Maggie went into hospital for tests and then Raffy needed emergency surgery for a bleed on the brain. Ziggy arranged for him to do a cooking segment for Leah’s vlog but he became upset when talking about Raffy on it. After he had completed the segment, Leah convinced him to let her use the Raffy footage, feeling it showed his human side. He gave Ryder his first legal drink and was thus able to fill Alf and Roo on him having turned eighteen when he turned up drunk at the house, upset that the Morgans had kept him away from Raffy.
He was reluctant to involve himself further in Leah’s vlogs, but on hearing that her subscribers had been asking about Raffy, he agreed to give an update on her and advise on recipes that helped epileptics. However, Raffy was distraught that he had revealed she had epilepsy online, and her attempts to give her side of the story resulted in her having a seizure live on the internet. He tried to hide it from her when she came round with no memory of the incident but Ziggy convinced him to speak up. He was left looking after Raffy at home where she blamed him for the incident. He gave Raffy a medical bracelet he had bought her, identifying her as epileptic and including his contact details. Raffy was initially angry but eventually accepted it and forgave him. He realised the stress of Justin telling her to stay away from Dean was putting Willow in danger of gambling but also stopped Ziggy giving them a hard time.
Justin got him a guitar so they could both play at the cancer fundraiser but he ended up disagreeing with Ziggy over her interference in Justin and Willow’s relationship. He then met Simone Bedford, a fan who had bought a cooking lesson with him at a silent auction. With Ziggy making him sleep on the sofa, he ignored her attempt to make things up in order to spend time with Simone. He started giving her work experience and ended up spending a few hours locked in a store cupboard with her, prompting a jealous reaction from Ziggy. He invited Simone to a barbeque to celebrate Mason passing his exams and found her trying on his chef’s whites. However, he didn’t mind and let her take a photo of the two of them with her wearing it. When Ziggy confronted Simone about her using the photo as her phone backdrop, Brody took Simone’s side. He then warned Dean off when he tried to chat her up. Justin suggested he might have to choose between his marriage and Simone so he decided to cut Simone’s work experience short only for her to kiss him. He initially kept quiet about it and let her stay on, but quickly decided the situation was too uncomfortable. He confided in Justin and gave Simone a good reference and the contact details of other restaurants. Despite this, while Ziggy was busy at Colby and Chelsea’s wedding reception, he summoned Simone back to town and had sex with her in the store room. He was left with mixed feelings the next day when Ziggy reminded him it was the anniversary of them getting back together.
Brody could only offer Ziggy a walk on the beach to mark it, then had Simone turn up and say she’d stay if he wanted her to. He ended up leaving Ziggy in the middle of their date to track Simone down, asking her to stay and kissing her. He continued the affair, offering Simone a job at Salt, and when he learned Ziggy was going to be watching Maggie take part in a charity marathon, he took the opportunity to have a liaison with her in a caravan. He rushed to the hospital after finding he had several messages saying Ziggy had collapsed with heat stroke after joining Maggie in the marathon. Afterwards, he told Simone that he still loved Ziggy but couldn’t ignore the connection he had with her, convincing her to take the job. He continued to avoid Ziggy in favour of having liaisons with Simone, and when Justin walked in on them, he was forced to admit the affair to him. When he learned Justin had warned Simone off, he picked a fight with him. He was convinced to have dinner with Ziggy, which resulted in Simone quitting her job.
Brody had to cancel arrangements with Simone when Ziggy arranged a date night. He was then furious to find out that Simone had taken a job at the school working for Maggie, resulting in the two of them arguing. He told her he didn’t want to lose her but she told him to call her when he made up his mind. At Ben’s request, he decided to talk to Ziggy about their future, expecting it to show they wanted different things, only to be left uncomfortable when she talked about getting a house together. He was supportive when he learned Tori was pregnant after using a second embryo behind Robbo’s back. He ducked out of a family meal with the Astonis, having decided it was Simone he wanted to be with, and told Simone and Justin but had a hard time telling Ziggy when she mentioned having a family one day. He delayed again when he realised Ziggy’s 21st was coming up, only for Ziggy to walk in on him and Simone in her van. Although contrite, he maintained that it was Simone he wanted and Ziggy moved back in with her parents.
Ziggy initially refused to speak to him but eventually came to the cottage. She blamed him for giving up on their marriage after he admitted there was nothing she could have done to save it. He refused to hide his new relationship away but a public picnic with Simone led to him being punched by Ziggy. Justin arranged a family dinner to sort out some of the differences. He had a go at Dean for yelling at Simone only for Ziggy to come to Dean’s defence then invited Simone to spend the night at his place which left Justin, Mason and Raffy uncomfortable. He then tried to get her to move in with him but eventually realised no-one was happy about her taking Ziggy’s place so agreed they’d get their own place instead. He was annoyed when Ziggy bombarded him with texts and selfies on a night out with Dean and the others.
He was refused a flat because of his criminal record and had to tell Simone about his drug addiction, which prompted her to decide they should put off getting a place while they got to know each other, with him starting off with a breakfast together. When Simone decided to resign from the school and leave town, he decided to go with her. He delayed telling his family and when he did Justin and Tori tried to talk him out of it. He was annoyed and took it out on Mason who wasn’t even aware of his plan but a family dinner saw them accept his decision. He was the one that Mason called when he was arrested for drug trafficking after giving Raffy cannabis oil; Brody told him to keep Raffy out of it so he wouldn’t be charged with supplying a minor. Brody put Salt up for sale and asked Ziggy for a divorce. He offered her half the money from the Salt sale, but she instead decided that he would have that and she would have the (lesser) amount in their savings account. He was quickly on hand when Raffy was hospitalised after a seizure and began to have second thoughts about moving away from his family, snapping at Simone. They decided to put off the move until he was sure.
He and Simone threw a 16th birthday party for Raffy at Salt, although things were made uncomfortable for him when Coco turned up, the first time he’d seen her since his split with Ziggy, and made it clear she hated him. His attempt to give Simone credit for the cake also fell flat. Next day, he learned Simone was planning to leave town but stopped her and decided to accept an offer on Salt. They began looking at places to take over but the best candidate was attached to a vineyard in the Yarra Valley. He was unhappy to discover Dean and Ziggy were together but unable to convince Ben to do anything. Justin told him to get some distance so he decided to go ahead with the move to Victoria.
They returned from looking over the premises in time to see Mason escape a jail sentence. Brody announced the move over a celebratory meal, getting a mixed reaction, and Justin told him he needed to tell Ziggy. He offered the wedding album to her and then to Ben and Maggie, thanking them for their support in the past. After a farewell meal with Tori, Justin, Mason and Raffy, he left with Simone.