Jesse McGregor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Ben Unwin. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 May 1996. The actor departed in 2000, but returned in 2002 and departed once again on 26 July 2005. Casting Unwin originally auditioned for a separate role in the show but was unsuccessful. Producers decided to create the role of Jesse specifically for Unwin to portray. Jesse's original stint in the series lasted from 1996 until 2000, when the character was written out of the show following Jesse being sent to prison for burning down the local bait shop. He returned to the show in 2002. Development Daughter A few months after his introduction, it emerged that Jesse has a young daughter, Rachel (Kelly Glaister). She and her mother Kylie Burton (Roslyn Oades) arrive in Summer Bay following the death of Kylie's father, who was supporting the family. Kylie asks Jesse to find them some money quickly, which tempts him to steal. Unwin explained that Jesse was not present when his daughter was born, as Kylie's father took her to Queensland to have the baby. He said, "now Jesse wants to be responsible for Rachel. He wants to give her a decent life." Jesse wants to be the perfect father, but he struggles to resist returning to his criminal past. Unwin commented that his character had "been down that road so many times", especially in the Bay, and he had gotten away with it so far. Relationships with Selina Cook and Gypsy Nash Jesse has a long-term relationship with Selina Cook (Tempany Deckert). Selina's best friend Chloe Richards (Kristy Wright), develops feelings for Jesse and kisses him. Selina breaks up with Jesse over the kiss and Chloe assumes that she is free to enter a relationship with him. Wright told a reporter from Inside Soap that Chloe is not being spiteful and "genuinely has an attraction" to Jesse. She added "it's like anyone in love, you just cant help it." Jesse is more interested in getting back together with Selina, which makes Chloe jealous. 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. With his story idea coming together on-screen, Wright added that "Ben loves all this". Producers later paired Jesse with Gypsy Nash