Christina Alessi

In 1989, sisters and television presenters Gayle and Gillian Blakeney were cast as twins Christina and Caroline Alessi respectively, They started filming their first scenes seven months after signing with the show. The Blakeneys had an interest in twin psychology at the time, and they worked with the scriptwriters to make sure their characters were portrayed as authenticate as possible. They have an older sister and two younger brothers, but the twins were always closer to each other than anyone else in the Alessi family. When they were younger, the twins often played pranks on their teachers and boyfriends. As they grew older, they kept "a mischievous sense of humour" and shared similar thoughts. Christina's ambition in life was to be a good wife and mother. Monroe described her as being "homeloving and maternal". Producer's created a relationship between Christina and Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis). Off-screen Blakeney and Dennis also began a two-year relationship, moved in together and later broke-up. Blakeney told Donna Hay from ''What's on TV'' that "were both actors so we didn't have any trouble separating the script from real life." In December 1990, a writer from TV Week revealed that scriptwriters were planning a series of relationship issues for Christina and Paul, which would play out in early 1991. They stated the relationship would be "tested severely" and "jealousy rears its head" when Christina accepts a blind date with another man. Writers later devised a pregnancy storyline for the pair. Paul treated the pregnancy with planning and precision. They attended maternity classes and overcome issues in the pregnancy. Unbeknownst to Christina, Paul has fled to New Zealand where he reconnects with his daughter, Amy Williams (Sheridan Compagnino). Paul decides to return to Erinsborough and brings Amy to come and live with him, Christina and Andrew. Amy also stressed that she did not want to live with Paul which caused arguments between them too. One altercation leaves Amy in need of medical care when she runs in front of Paul's reversing car and is knocked down. For Caroline, the attraction was a dilemma of betraying her sister or missing out on a romantic opportunity. Gillian told a TVTimes reporter that Christina and Paul were having marital problems regardless of her involvement. She added that Caroline did not want to betray her sister but may regret not exploring her feelings for Paul if he and Christina broke-up anyway. The attraction culminates in a passionate kiss. Getting along better, Paul sees what he could have lost and decides that a lavish gesture could show Christina what she means to him. He decides to restage their wedding, books a celebrant and forces his family and friends to keep it a secret. They filmed their scenes during the same week, before returning to Los Angeles on 7 June. Of their return to the serial, Gayle Blakeney stated, "We were tickled pink to be asked back and we knew if they wanted to reprise the characters after so long, it had to be for a great storyline – which it is. We're really looking forward to filming it." ==Storylines==

Christina and Caroline witness a murder and are placed under a witness protection programme, which sees them move into 22 Ramsay Street. Christina thinks she is pregnant and Paul is thrilled by the news and looks forward to being a father again. However, Christina is old by a doctor that she was not pregnant and, feeling guilty about getting Paul's hopes up, she decides not to tell him and tries to sleep with Paul at every moment to get pregnant. She eventually falls pregnant and when she went into labour, Paul drives her to the hospital, but the car runs out of petrol and stopped. Paul eventually manages to persuade an ice cream van driver to take them to the hospital. Christina then gives birth to a son, Andrew Robinson (Shannon Holmes). Following Paul's nervous breakdown following financial problems, he leaves Christina and Andrew for several weeks. When Paul returns, he brings his 8-year-old daughter Amy Williams (Sheridan Compagnino) with him much to Christina's surprise. Christina and Amy struggle to get along but make up just before Amy is returned to her mother, Nina Williams (Leigh Morgan). When Caroline abruptly leaves Erisnborough, Christina is shocked and later over hears Paul and his grandmother Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) talking about Paul and Caroline's affair. Christina throws Paul out of their house and flies to see her sister, where they eventually make up and Christina returns to Erinsborough, where she files for divorce and full custody of Andrew, but Paul convinces Christina that he loves her and Christina gives him a second chance. They renew their vows in a ceremony at No. 22 and leave Ramsay Street for a new start running a hotel in Hawaii. They later move to Brazil. Andrew begins acting up and defying Paul's wife Rebecca Napier (Jane Hall), who calls Christina and asks if Andrew can return to Sydney. However, Christina tells Rebecca that she does not want her son to come home. Years later, Paul finds Christina and Caroline at a resort in Queensland, where he and his fiancée Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) have eloped to. Paul is convinced the universe is giving him a sign not to marry Terese, after his other ex-wives turned up in Erinsborough. Paul soon learns from Caroline that the wives are part of a plot orchestrated by his daughter Elle Robinson (Pippa Black). Caroline apologises on her sister's behalf and they both make amends with each other, as well as Paul and Terese. Christina and Caroline act as witnesses for the wedding and they decide to spend some time together before returning to their respective homes. ==Reception==

The BBC named Christina's most notable moment as being "When she took off with Andrew without Paul knowing." In one story, Caroline and Christina swap identities to secure a business deal. James Cockington from The Sydney Morning Herald branded the story as a "contrived" effort and raunchy plot ploy designed to beat rival soap opera Home and Away in television ratings. A critic for the Hull Daily Mail was not a fan of the character, writing "drippy Christina (Gayle Blakeney) is so wet you could wring her out. It is extremely unusual for me to have any sympathy for her wooden top husband Paul (Stefan Dennis). But the way his wife whimpers away about her baby and seems like she is going to burst into tears at any moment just drives me crazy. Christina has only just come back from seeing her sister in Milan, after leaving Paul holding the baby, and when she returns expects him to hand it over and move out of their home so she can live there. What a cheek!" An Inside Soap writer opined that Christina was not as smart as Caroline but the more "dim, slightly podgier twin". Chris Twomey of ''What's on TV'' branded Christina as "Paul's long-suffering wife". ==References==