| Carmella Cammeniti | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Natalie Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2003–2008, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 26 November 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 15 March 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Ric Pellizzeri (2003) Susan Bower (2011) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carmella Cammeniti (also Silvani and Sister Mary Catherine) is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Blair. She appeared on a recurring basis from 2003 to 2005, then became a main character from 2006 to 2008, before making a final guest appearance in 2011. Carmella was created as a replacement for Nina Tucker, portrayed by Delta Goodrem, who was written out of the series when Goodrem became ill. Her early storylines, including a romance with Connor O'Neill (Patrick Harvey), were originally intended for Nina. The daughter of a protective gangster father, Carmella was initially a "fun, feisty" character.[1] She gradually became "tortured [and] depressive",[2] with storylines which saw her attract the attention of a stalker, become a nun, suffer facial scarring, develop an addiction to prescription medication and lose her husband after a bushfire.
Carmella was the second member of the Cammeniti family to appear in Neighbours, after her father, Rocco (Robert Forza). She was later joined by her mother, sister, and two cousins. She had long-standing relationships with Marco Silvani (Jesse Rosenfeld) and Oliver Barnes (David Hoflin), the father of her daughter, Chloe (Sarah May). When Blair resigned from the serial in 2008 in order to pursue new projects, the producers arranged for a separated Carmella and Oliver to reunite. The two briefly returned three years later, to consolidate their family unit.
Blair won the "Most Popular New Female Talent" Logie Award for her portrayal of Carmella, and was additionally nominated for several Golden Logies and Inside Soap Awards. Critics have deemed Carmella as one of the series' most popular characters. Blair's versatility has attracted praise, though several publications have highlighted the implausibility of many of Carmella's storylines.