Inside Soap, Issue 72, 5-18 April 1997

I'm so sad to be leaving

Ramsay Street bids a sad farewell to Angie this fortnight, but actress Lesley Baker still hopes she can make a comeback

She's loud, brash, over-the-top, but with a heart of gold. We're going to miss larger-than-life Angie Rebecchi very much.

Stonie and Toadie's mum bids farewell to Ramsay Street this fortnight, as she goes to rejoin her Jack Spratt of a husband, Big Kev, up North. But the woman who burst onto our screens as a tutu-wearing mud pie, now leaves as a successful businesswoman with the friendship and respect of all her neighbours.

And while Angie and Stonie pack their bags, Toadie stays on to keep the Rebecchi name alive in Ramsay Street.

"At the last minute he changes his mind and decides to live with the Kennedys," says the chatty Lesley Baker, who plays Angie.

"Angie agrees, but without even talking to the Kennedys. I defy any good mother to leave their child with another family without talking to them first!"

"I begged for at least one good scene with the Kennedys but the scriptwriters disagreed. So I expect a lot of people will be outraged and thinking that Angie is a bad mother!"

It's more likely people will be outraged that Lesley is being written out. She's become a firm favourite, not least with all the viewers. So how does she feel?

"Very sad," she says. "I love Angie. I would probably have had a break because of my son Ben, but I didn't want to make it permanent." "I'll miss working on a regular basis with the cast, but there are big personnel changes going on, with the new broom sweeping very clean indeed. I think they feel that the show had lost its family feel so they're trying to go back to that."

As for Lesley, there's no denying her family comes first. Her son Ben, who's 18, suffers from a rare condition called chronic sleep apnoea, which means he needs round-the-clock care. As the treatment is expensive, it's not easy for Lesley working and looking after Ben. "At first, he hated me going to work," she says. "But he got used to it. I had to get my mother to stay over so she'd be there to wake him up. Someone has to do this as he may choke himself in his sleep if he doesn't wake up."

"It will be difficult to pay for his care when I'm not working, as the pension is only $260 a week. When I left, Caroline Gillmer [Cheryl Stark], who I'm quite close to, gave me a card whick contained $200 - to pay for babysitting once a month. We both burst into tears - she was crying, I was crying. It was the most beautiful thing."

Lesley would love to return to the show: "It's conceivable that they might write me back in. My idea is that things don't work between Kev and Angie, so Angie returns to Ramsay Street, because Toadie is there." "And to keep her busy, she could set up a community support programme and do some work with teenagers, the elderly and the disabled." In the meantime, we'll never stop missing her. She's taken a piece of our heart with her. Goodbye Angie - or is it just au revoir? Let's hope so.