"She'll be in university next year. He'll still be in high school, like me."
— Tessa Campanelli explains her plan to Spike
Tessa Campanelli was portrayed by Kirsten Bourne. She is one of Degrassi's most developed characters, starting off as a childish, immature, hyperactive grade 7 who was only taller than Scooter Webster by an inch, but evolves into a beautiful, mature and promiscuous young woman. She was best friends with Dorothy.
Contents
- 1 Tessa Campanelli
- 2 Degrassi Season 3 (Junior High Years)
- 3 Degrassi Season 4 and 5 (High School years)
- 4 Degrassi Movie: School's Out!
- 5 Degrassi: The Next Generation
- 5.1 Season 3
- 5.2 Season 4
- 6 Appearances
- 7 Trivia
- 8 Relationships
- 9 Interaction
Tessa Campanelli[]
Starts as: Grade 7 (in season 3 - she was Grade 6 at the time of seasons 1/2)
Tessa Campanelli was a student at Degrassi. She was often seen hanging out with Dorothy, Scooter and Bart.
Degrassi Season 3 (Junior High Years)[]
Tessa was a student new to Degrassi in season 3. She is often seen running around in the halls, bumping into the upperclassmen. Tessa helps Bart and Scooter for their research project in advertising. It seems that even though she was a grade 7, she was gifted which is why she is also seen in grade 8 classes. Tessa and Scooter make sure Degrassi Junior High is evacuated when they smell smoke in the basem*nt and see fire. They tell Mr. Raditch and he gets everyone out of the school before the flammable containers explode, thus burning Degrassi Junior High down. If it wasn't for Tessa and Scooter, the students would probably still be in the school when the containers exploded. And while Tessa did help save lives, valuable time was squandered by two incorrect decisions: opening a hot door, and then leaving it—a door capable of slowing the fire's advance—open.
Degrassi Season 4 and 5 (High School years)[]
Tessa became a bit more of an important character in her high school years. She started out still very young and immature, but quickly matures, especially in Season 5. Scooter develops a crush on Tessa in season 4, but it does not go anywhere. Tessa and Scooter only go to a dance together and then remain friends. Tessa helps out with the school car wash, a fundraiser for the school, as well. She has a crush onJoey, but she and Alex soon start a relationship and get together, in A Tangled Web, thanks to "secret admirer" letters, they are happy for a while, but she soon starts to develop feelings for Yick Yu, which ends their relationship badly. Tessa is seen dancing at the prom with Yick.
Degrassi Movie: School's Out![]
Tessa works in a store with Spike Nelson. She breaks up with her new boyfriend at a party, and she starts to develop feelings for Joey Jeremiah. She convinces him to take her out on a date, while he is still seeing Caitlin Ryan. They have sex, and she gets pregnant. She has an abortion without telling Joey. Their relationship ends that summer as well. Joey mentions that he no longer is in contact with her in the last scene of the movie.
Degrassi: The Next Generation[]
Season 3[]
Tessa is mentioned in the Season 3 episode Holiday (2) when Joey tells his stepson Craig Manning about his previous affair with her.
Season 4[]
Her name was also mentioned when Craig called Joey's ex-girlfriend Sydney in Time Stands Still (1). Joey says that when he comes home he doesn't want to find Tessa on his doorstep.
Her name was mentioned in the Season 4 finale Goin' Down the Road (2) when Caitlin is on the phone with Snake.
Appearances[]
Degrassi Junior High (Season 3)
- Can't Live With 'Em (1) No Lines
- Can't Live With 'Em (2) No Lines
- Season's Greetings No Lines
- He Ain't Heavy...
- The Whole Truth No Lines
- Star-Crossed No Lines
- Food for Thought
- Black & White No Lines
- Bye-Bye, Junior High
- A New Start (1)
- A New Start (2)
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do No Lines
- Dream On No Lines
- Everybody Wants Something No Lines
- Just Friends No Lines
- Little White Lies No Lines
- Sixteen (1) No Lines
- All in a Good Cause
- Natural Attraction
- Testing One, Two, Three...
- Stressed Out No Lines
- Bad Blood (1) No Lines
- Bad Blood (2) No Lines
- Loyalties No Lines
- A Tangled Web
- Crossed Wires
- The All Nighter No Lines
- Extracurricular Activities No Lines
- Showtime (1)
- Showtime (2)
- Three's a Crowd
- One Last Dance No Lines
Trivia[]
- Tessa is the third female of ten to go through teen pregnancy. The others were Spike, Erica, Manny, Liberty, Mia, Jenna, Vanessa, Clare, and Lola.
- Tessa is the second character to have an abortion. The first was Erica, the third was Manny and the fourth was Lola.
- She was a fan of James Dean.
- She did not remain friends with either Alex or Joey after they broke up.
- Her relationship with Alex lasted three months.
- Tessa shares a lot of similarities with future character Manny Santos.
- She never told Joey she was pregnant nor did she tell him about the abortion.
- Tessa claims she's a good cook but she ends up burning the garlic bread and knocking the pasta on the ground.
Relationships[]
- Main article: Alex-Tessa Relationship
- Alex Yankou
- Start Up: A Tangled Web (DH 204)
- Break Up: Three's a Crowd (DH 212)
- Reason: Tessa develops feelings for Yick.
Main article: Yick-Tessa Relationship
- Yick Yu
- Start Up: One Last Dance (DH 213)
- Break Up: Before School's Out! (TV Movie)
- Reason: Unexplained
- Todd
- Start Up: Before School's Out! (TV Movie)
- Break Up: School's Out! (TV Movie)
- Reason: Tessa and Todd argue about his marijuana use, she storms off and is not shown interacting with him again.
- Main article: Joey-Tessa Relationship
- Joey Jeremiah (Affair)
- Start Up: School's Out! (TV Movie)
- Break Up: School's Out! (TV Movie)
- Reason: She learns that Joey was still seeing Caitlin and she found out that she was pregnant.
Interaction[]
| Friendships | Relationships | Conflicts | Attractions | Love Triangles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tessa-Dorothy Friendship | Alex-Tessa Relationship | Tessa-Scooter Attraction | ||
| Christine-Tessa Friendship | Yick-Tessa Relationship | |||
| Tessa-Todd Relationship | ||||
| Joey-Tessa Relationship |
| v - e - d |
|---|
Alex • Alexa • Allison • Amy • Archie • Arthur • B.L.T. • Bartholomew • Bronco • Caitlin • Christine • Claude • Diana • Dwayne • Erica • Heather • Joey • Karen • Kathleen • L.D. • Liz • Lucy • Maya • Melanie • Michelle • Raditch • Scooter • Simon • Tessa • Wheels • Yick |
