Gabrielle Jacobs
| Gabrielle Jacobs | |||
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| Shortland Street character | |||
| Portrayed by | Virginie Le Brun | ||
| Duration | 2009–10, 2011–12 | ||
| First appearance | 13 March 2009 | ||
| Last appearance | 26 April 2012 | ||
| Introduced by | Steven Zanoski (2009, 2011) | ||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||
| Profile | |||
| Occupation | Head of surgery at Shortland Street (2009–10) Head of Neurosurgical unit at Shortland Street (2011–12) |
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| Sisters | Lana Jacobs |
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Dr. Gabrielle Jacobs is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and has been portrayed by Virginie Le Brun throughout two stints, the first from 2009 to 2010 and the second from 2011 to 2012. She arrived in February 2009 as a potential love interest for long serving playboy Chris Warner (Michael Galvin).
Upon the character's arrival, she is announced to be suffering from Asperger syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism, making her the first regular character on the show to be associated with the syndrome. Being hired to replace the murdered Ethan Pierce (Owen Black), Gabrielle clashes with many characters due to her blunt and antisocial behaviour but grows close to womanizer Chris Warner. The two start to date but break up following Chris' treatment of her illness. Gabrielle departed to Italy but returned the following year and admitted she still had feelings for Chris but started to date villainous Shane (Jason Hood). She eventually succumbed to Chris' charms and the two had an affair, before Gabrielle realised Chris' manipulative ways and left New Zealand in April 2012. Her personality has caused her to clash and become friends with several notable characters, including an intense feud with Libby Jeffries (Fleur Saville) and a long running friendship with Sarah Potts (Amanda Billing).
The character's unusual and comedic ways have seen the character become vastly popular amongst fans, winning "Favourite Female Character" at the Throng Shortland Street Fan Awards 2009. The show's coverage of Asperger's has also been acclaimed and praised by autism groups nationwide.
It was announced in January 2009 that a character with Asperger syndrome would be arriving in March and would "immediately cause some consternation amongst her fellow colleagues." Former What Now host, Virginie Le Brun was announced to have been cast as the over achieving doctor with Aspergers. At the same time as filming her first scene, Le Brun learnt her father had been diagnosed with cancer, making surgery scenes difficult to film. Gabrielle arrived and featured many scenes alongside Chris Warner hinting at a possible relationship. Gabrielle was axed from the show following the expiry of Le Brun's 1-year contract. Both Le Brun and Producer Steven Zanoski agreed that the character had accomplished what she was brought in for and her storylines were over.
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