he decides to take some time away. Pearce took a two month break from Neighbours in late 1988 to film a role in Heaven Tonight. He confirmed that he was not leaving the show and had in fact signed for another year. He was grateful to Grundys for letting him go and writing him out of the scripts. On-screen, Mike temporarily departs Erinsborough to tour with a jazz band. Portraying Mike as a jazz musician came easy to Pearce, as he is a musician himself and enjoys playing and writing rock songs. Upon his return, he is moody and becomes hostile towards Henry, who has moved into his home and is staying in Bronwyn's room. Mike later punches Henry. The cause of Mike's bad mood is later revealed. Off-screen, he had met Jenny Owens (Danielle Carter), who seemed to share his sense of adventure. Mike initially keeps their relationship a secret from his friends and their story is told through a dream sequence. Pearce told Darren Devlyn of TV Week: "They zip around from town to town on Mike's motorbike... it's a bit thrill for them." However, Mike "flirts with danger" and forgets his sense of responsibility when he goes to show Jenny a trick. Jenny loses her grip when Mike accelerates and she falls from the bike. Her spine takes the brunt of the fall and she becomes a paraplegic, who has to use a wheelchair. Carter joined the cast for six weeks, as Mike spends time with Jenny at a convalescence home. His feelings of guilt lead him to try and make her life more comfortable, and they eventually grow closer. Departure In June 1989, David Brown and Patrice Fidgeon of TV Week reported that Pearce was set to quit Neighbours, along with Jones. They reported that the pressure was on Pearce and Jones to stay following the departures of Minogue and Donovan, but Pearce wanted to prioritise his film and music careers. Brown and Fidgeon also reported that Network Ten wanted to keep the departures "under wraps" to minimise negative publicity in the lead up to the show's 1000th episode. Pearce decided not to renew his contract when it ran out in October that year. Pearce said Neighbours had opened a lot of doors for him, but he wanted more of a challenge. He explained "I've been doing Neighbours now for some three and a half years