June Reynolds
June Reynolds (2000-2001; 2002; 2003)
Rowena Wallace
Episodes: 2864–2868; 2956–2970; 3142–3150; 3258–3378; 3455
Sibling: Des
Spouses: Frank Reynolds (deceased), Donald Fisher (c.2003-2007, divorced)
Child: Harry Reynolds
Occupation: Publican, resort owner, Diner worker
June Reynolds first came to Summer Bay in mid-2000 to visit her son Harry, who at the time was lodging with Donald Fisher. Having grown up in the outback, her first act on arriving in town was to run into the sea fully clothed, leading to an awkward first meeting with the straitlaced Donald. She had hoped to meet Harry’s girlfriend Shauna, so was slightly put-out to learn they had split up and Harry was now seeing Gypsy, who was out of town. June met Shauna anyway but made things awkward by asking about her family, since she and Ailsa had just found out they were mother and daughter.
Donald got over his initial impression of her after reading her autobiographical novel, while she complimented him on his own fiction book, and they even went out for dinner together. Harry was less impressed however to find that June’s book portrayed his late father Frank as a drunken layabout who left her to run their pub. He eventually came round to her way of viewing things as June explained Frank had been a good man for all his irresponsibility. When she left, she was touched when Donald gave her a pen he had found in an antiques shop as a going away present.
June visited again a few months later to find Harry somewhat down on his luck, having fallen out with several locals over his declaring his love to Shauna while still with Gypsy. Even though Harry was now living at the caravan park, June stayed with Donald again and helped him navigate Sam’s decision to move to the city with Sandy. She also talked him out of driving Judith to the airport, feeling a drawn-out farewell wouldn’t be helpful. June revealed she had sold the pub and bought a resort in the Whitsundays, asking Harry to help her run it. She helped out at the Diner in the aftermath of Ailsa’s death, ruffling Colleen’s feathers but doing her best to convince Alf, who had shut himself away, to be more understanding of Irene and Mitch. Harry ended up accepting her offer and they flew to the Whitsundays together.
June paid another visit in late 2001, where she referred to Seb as Donald’s grandson in front of Colleen, unaware it wasn’t common knowledge. When Seb was annoyed at Donald announcing it in the paper, June helped him see Donald had meant it as a compliment. With Shauna the one now short of friends, having tried it on with Flynn despite them both being with other people, June tried to convince her to quit teaching and work for her, upsetting Donald with her dismissive attitude to his career. Shauna ultimately decided to take a teaching job in Melbourne and June admitted to Donald, somewhat shamefaced, that she had been hoping Harry and Shauna would get back together.
June returned again the following year, coming to support Donald when he lost his job at Summer Bay High, which was about to be closed down. When Noah was reluctant to let Donald help out at the drop-in centre, since the local teens saw him as an authority figure, June pleaded his case and got Noah to change his mind. After Donald proved his worth by helping Ryan Anderson, a boy being bullied, he and June kissed. Donald read her a story he’d written about them and they decided to start a relationship, with June staying in Summer Bay and working at the Diner again. Around the same time, Summer Bay High was saved and Donald was reinstated as principal.
June was around for the town’s sesquicentenary celebrations, being reunited with Sam, helping celebrate the news Donald’s daughter Rebecca had had a baby, brazening out Celia’s pointed questions about her and Donald’s relationship, and supporting Donald when Seb was missing for a while after the Mirigini sinking. She helped Irene out with preparations for Red Nose Day, roping Brodie and Alex in to help her, and set Brodie up on a flop of a date with Diner delivery guy Paul Chalmers. She also arranged for Alf to take her and Donald out in his boat for the day.
However, June began to show signs of kleptomania, first starting small by stealing a pool ball from the surf club but quickly escalating to stealing Josh West’s camera. She hid it on the beach but was seen by Seb, who returned the camera to Josh saying he’d found it and then confronted June about it. June attempted to avoid the issue and stole Alex’s watch during VJ’s christening party, only to be caught on video and exposed to the town. Although Alex and others were angry, Flynn and Leah were more sympathetic. June was reluctant to go on anti-depressants or see a counsellor and was angry when Donald spoke to Shelley about her. She told Donald stealing made her feel alive so he brought fun into their lives with a trip to Wonderland, after which she agreed to get help.
She was asked to organise the school’s entry in the Rock Eisteddfod, a modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet written by Kirsty and featuring Seb and Jade as the two leads. She asked Colleen to be her assistant only to find they disagreed on nearly everything, and was soon keeping her away from meetings by getting Shelley or Leah to take her out. She pressed ahead with the show after several students were upset by Charlotte’s death but was left disappointed when Jade sexing up the performance led to Donald pulling the plug.
Donald asked her to marry him by blurting it out in the middle of the Diner and she accepted. However, Alf was beginning to show symptoms of his brain tumour and out of nowhere accused her of getting her claws into him. He then announced money had gone missing from the Diner and both he and Colleen accused June. June was upset when Shelley didn’t trust her and ended up quitting her job at the Diner after losing her temper with Sally. She was pleased that Donald supported her without question, until she overheard him admitting to Seb that he hadn’t asked her if she’d done it because he was afraid of the answer. She tried to get him to ask her but he wouldn’t. Although the missing money turned out to be a mix-up, June was upset Donald didn’t trust her and decided to leave town.
However, they slowly rebuilt bridges and Donald made plans to retire from Summer Bay High and join her in the Whitsundays. She made a brief visit to town to surprise Donald on stage at his farewell assembly, remaining for his goodbye speech before they left town together. Donald would continue to mention her on return visits, but when he returned in 2007 he revealed that he and June had divorced after the resort had gone bust.