| Tony Holden | |
| Occupation | PE Teacher Surf Instructor Personal Trainer |
| Residence | Boston |
| Gender | Male |
| Relationships | Kate Holden (wife; deceased) Beth Hunter (girlfriend; deceased) Naomi Preston (slept with) Jazz Curtis (ex-girlfriend) Bridget Simmons (one-night stand) Rachel Armstrong (wife) |
| Family | Gina Austin (sister; deceased) Kate Holden (wife; deceased) Rachel Armstrong (wife) Jack Holden (son; deceased) Lucas Holden (son) Harry Holden (son) Xavier Austin (nephew) Hugo Austin (nephew) Brendan Austin (nephew) John Palmer (brother-in-law) Jeremy Austin (brother-in-law) |
| First Appearance | 5 August 2005 |
| Last Appearance | 11 August 2010 |
| Portrayed by | Jon Sivewright |
Anthony "Tony" Holden is the father of Jack Holden, Lucas Holden and Harry Holden. He's the brother of Gina Austin and the uncle of Xavier Austin, Hugo Austin and Brendan Austin. He's also the husband of Kate Holden and Rachel Armstrong.
Backstory[]
Before moving to Summer Bay, Tony's first wife, Kate died from unknown reasons, leaving him and their two sons, Jack and Lucas behind. Tony and his sons move to Summer Bay for a fresh start, hoping that it will help them all get over Kate's death.
Storylines[]
Tony arrives in Summer Bay with his two sons, Jack and Lucas. Tony, a widower after the death of his wife Kate, strikes up a romance with single parent and widow Beth Hunter, who lives next door to him.
Tony and Lucas move in with Beth and her family whilst Jack remains in his dad's house. Beth decides to go and tour the world. Tony, thinking Beth is unhappy, proposes to Beth but she rejects telling him that she does not need to marry Tony in order to be with him. She promises to return to her partner and family. However, as she is returning, she is involved in a tragic accident and dies.
Tony struggles to cope with the loss of his partner and even sleeps with new school teacher Naomi Preston, unbeknownst to him, she has a relationship with his son Lucas. Lucas is livid when he finds out the truth, but eventually forgives him.
Tony embarks on a disastrous relationship with Jazz Curtis before finding happiness with Rachel Armstrong. Tony is initially unsure on whether to ask Rachel out on a date due to the age difference, and Rachel herself is not sure of accepting it as she was flirting with new resident Roman Harris.
However, Colleen likens Roman Harris to Rachel's ex-husband Kim Hyde who left her for Kit Hunter (Amy Mizzi), and it is this comment that leads Rachel to accept Tony's date.
Rachel still wants children and is upset when Tony announces he has had a vasectomy. He agrees to reverse the vasectomy for her and try for a baby, although the doctors tell Tony the chances of conceiving a child are low.
Tony proposes to Rachel who happily accepts, when the wedding day arrives, Rachel goes missing. She is kidnapped by Aden Jefferies who was holds her and his father Larry hostage. Tony, Jack and Leah all presume that Rachel had got cold feet and had run away. Tony, devastated by this, goes on a holiday to drown his sorrows.
Rachel returns from her tragic ordeal, and Tony arrives back. There is tension between the pair, Tony and Rachel soon picked up where they left off. However, Bridget Simmons arrives in the Bay, a woman who Tony had had a one-night stand with whilst on holiday. He tells Rachel, who forgives him. Tony and Rachel then get married and Rachel later announces she is finally pregnant.
Tony finds Jack dead at a building site. This had a bad effect on Tony who becomes less talkative and stays away from work. Everyone begins to notice Tony is extremely stricken with grief and is unable to cope. He attacks Jack's killer Angelo Rosetta at his son's funeral, when he finds out the truth about Jack's death from his daughter-in-law, Martha MacKenzie.
Tony gradually returns to normal when Angelo is arrested and left the bay. Tony then starts acting oddly again and begins staying out late, this leads Rachel to suspect he is having an affair.[7] Angelo returns after being found not guilty of murder, claiming he did it in self-defence. Tony seemingly warms to Angelo, but it soon becomes clear he is planning revenge.
When on a fishing trip with Angelo, he attempts to kill him by pushing him off a cliff. However, he comes to his senses and saved him. A couple of weeks later Rachel gives birth to a son, Harry. Rachel soon becomes irate over her parenting, she believes she is a bad mother. Tony tries to help Rachel but she pushes him away, it soon becomes clear she is suffering from Post natal depression.
After Rachel returns to work, they sort out their differences. John Palmer causes friction between many residents, Tony takes a dislike to this. They begin a drawn out feud and Tony takes his interest in boxing to a new level. He decides to take on John, which annoys Rachel. She becomes more annoyed because Tony starts a women's boxing class. Tony and John face each other in the ring but the fight is declared a draw when neither man lands a punch on the other and the crowd walk away.
Rachel is later offered a job in Boston. Tony refuses to go, saying Summer Bay is his home. Tony is later more furious when Rachel buys a ticket without telling him. Later Rachel figures out that the reason he does not want to go is because Jack is buried in Summer Bay. Rachel tell Tony she will stay for him. After that Tony says that he will go with her to America. Their last scene is shown with Tony, Rachel and Harry at Jack's grave to say goodbye and they leave.
In 2013, Tony gets a call from Gina's husband, John that Gina has died. Tony became devastated of the news of his sister's death. But he's unable to attend the funeral.