Jesse McGregor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Ben Unwin.
Wright and Unwin had been long-term friends and he had lobbied the show's writers with the idea of Jesse and Chloe cheating on Selina.
Cooper explained that Gypsy once had a crush on Jesse, but it died down and she had a long term relationship with Will Smith (Zac Drayson).
[4] Writers paired Jesse with Leah Patterson-Baker (Ada Nicodemou), who has been widowed following the supposed death of her husband Vinnie Patterson (Ryan Kwanten).
Leah makes a decision to move their relationship forward by allowing him to stay the night at her house in a separate room.
Unwin told Jason Herbison from Inside Soap that "it's a huge breakthrough because Jesse wanted to get closer to Leah for so long.
[8] Jesse finds it difficult to deal with seeing Josie and Brett together and writers created a downward spiral story for him.
Unwin told an Inside Soap reporter that "Jesse is at a stage where he doesn't give a damn about anyone or anything, he tried playing Mr Nice Guy, but look where that got him.
When his business partners Hayley Smith (Bec Cartwright) and Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) try to sell his share to Beth Hunter (Clarissa House), he becomes violent.
Unwin defended his character stating "Jesse feels awful because, on top of everything, he may have now done serious damage to her unborn baby.
When Troy Peters (Christian Willis) arrives in Summer Bay and harasses Chloe, Jesse becomes protective of her.
[10] The story developed into a hit and run style crash, with Chloe being killed off and Jesse driving the responsible vehicle.
[11] Jesse is first seen when he rescues Selina, Shannon (Isla Fisher) and Curtis Reed (Shane Ammann) from a group of criminals.
When Kylie returns, Jesse is reluctant to let Rachel go and plans to flee the state with her during the custody battle.
Tragedy strikes when Kylie dies in custody of a drug overdose, leaving a devastated Jesse to raise Rachel (now Sara Mumcu) alone.
Jesse at first refuses to do any illegal work but is forced to when Mick Dwyer (John Brumpton) persistently threatens him.
When constable Joel Nash (David E. Woodley) gets wind of this, Jesse and Mick flee and a high-speed car chase ensues.
The cars crash and Joel is left trapped, Jesse acts quickly to save him but is nearly shot for his trouble.
Jesse returns to Summer Bay and is welcomed by old friends Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger) Hayley, Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie).
However some other locals are not so keen on Jesse's presence in the area, Hayley's boyfriend Noah Lawson (Beau Brady) is immediately suspicious, Josh West (Daniel Collopy) takes an instant dislike to him and Leah's brother Alex Poulos (Danny Raco) is initially wary of him.
During his first month back in the bay, Jesse has two brushes with the law when he beats up Jason Edwards (Benj Daddario) and Kelvin Matthews (James Donnellan), respectively in two incidents involving harassment of Alex and Hayley.
Jesse develops romantic feelings for Leah and they become closer when news of Vinnie's apparent death in a prison fire is broadcast.
After Chloe is killed in a hit and run car collision, Jesse realises he was the driver and is responsible for her death.
Alf and Irene are both disgusted with him and after an emotional goodbye with, Sally, Leah and Martha, Jesse is transferred to a city jail.
[17] Jack Guy from CNN said "Jesse played a major role in the long-running soap and was seen as something of a bad boy who was no stranger to a brush with the law.
"[23] A reporter from Heart radio station echoed this, stating "his character was known for having his fair few brushes with the law and was sent to prison.