out for help, but this agitates the snake and Xanthe worries that it will bite her. Piper eventually comes to her rescue. Unaware of the reason why Xanthe was late, Ben kisses Alison, which Xanthe sees. Xanthe and Ben later reconcile. When Ben travels to Gold Coast with Madison Robinson (Sarah Ellen) for a singing audition, Xanthe decides to follow him and consummate their relationship. Van der Meer explained that Xanthe and Ben are "loved-up" and are at a stage in their relationship where all they want to do is be together. When Ben and Madison leave Erinsborough, Xanthe feels left out and just decides to join them. She also wants to show Ben where she grew up. While Ben and Xanthe are at the beach, they are interrupted by the arrival of Angus, who is in Queensland with his father. After catching up with Angus, Ben and Xanthe go to his hotel room to have sex. However, they are stopped by Susan, which embarrasses them both. Van der Meer commented, "I think it's probably for the best – this was a spur-of-the-moment thing for Xanthe, and she hadn't considered the consequences." Ben and Xanthe break up due to her mother's interference, and their families begin feuding. They get back together during the feud and keep their reconciliation a secret. Ben and Xanthe arrange to meet outside her house, but when Sheila comes out, Ben is forced to hide behind her car. Sheila gets in the car to drive off, forcing Ben to move. But when Sheila changes her mind, she strikes Ben with the car door. Karl sees the incident and accuses Sheila of attacking Ben, which worsens the feud. Assault Xanthe was assaulted by her classmate Cooper Knights (Charlie Hannaford) in August 2016. After breaking up with Ben, Xanthe begins spending time with Cooper to make Ben jealous. After a "run-in" with Ben, Xanthe goes to Lassiter's Hotel to work on a school film project with Cooper. Cooper "says all the right things", as he tells Xanthe that getting good grades will be a way of getting back at Ben. While they are together, Cooper tries to kiss Xanthe, but she pushes him away. Cooper insists that the kiss is part of the film and refuses to let Xanthe leave the hotel room until they get it right. Xanthe tries to fend off his advances. Xanthe is left