to put in a bid but they are beaten by new teacher, Evan Hancock (Nicholas Opolski) on auction day. Tess and Dee then look for new accommodation, with Dee moving next door into the spare room Number 30. Tess, deciding she cannot live in a student environment with Toadie and his friend Joel Samuels (Daniel MacPherson), looks further afield and begins house-sharing with Veronica Anderson (Monika Karwan) in a nearby suburb. Tess later forges a friendship with doctor Darcy Tyler, Dee's boyfriend, which later turns into a love affair. Dee later finds out and exposes the affair in the pub leaving Darcy and Tess humiliated. Tess flees and goes into hiding for a while, ending things with Darcy. Darcy, however, refuses to give up and proposes to Tess, who shocks everyone by accepting. When Tess stumbles upon Darcy's scheme to take over the local surgery and leave Karl jobless, she has doubts which mount up until the day of the wedding. After contacting Darcy's ex-girlfriend, Alice Jamison (Pip Sallabank), Tess decides not to go through with the wedding and stands Darcy up. Before leaving for London to find teaching work, Tess pays Dee a visit and they resolve things. Reception A writer for the BBC's Neighbours website said Tess' most notable moment was Dee's discovery of her affair with Darcy. Jason Herbison, writing for TV Week'', proclaimed "She may be one of the most beautiful residents in Ramsay Street, but when it comes to men, Tess Bell really doesn't have much of a clue!" References External links Character profile at BBC Online Neighbours characters Fictional schoolteachers Television characters introduced in 1999 Female characters in television