Degrassi: The Next Generation/Eleanor Nash

Eleanor "Ellie" Nash
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Actor	Stacey Farber
First Appearance	2x04 - Karma Chameleon
Last Appearance	6x19 - Don't You Want Me (2)
Series Billing	Recurring: season 2 Billed: 3-6
Episode Count	66

Basic Information

Ellie Nash studies journalism. Her dad is in the war fighting for his country.

Character History

Ellie Nash stepped onto the Degrassi scene as the cute, but troubled punk, whose father is in the army and whose mother is an alcoholic, which spawns from not being able to cope with her husband's constant leaving. Ellie quickly became friends with Ashley Kerwin, a fellow goth at the time, and took a liking to Marco Del Rossi, who became her boyfriend after a little tiff with Hazel over him. Marco and Ellie had a romantic relationship, until Marco revealed his homosexuality to her, and the remainder of the relationship was spent as a cover until Marco was ready to come out to everyone else. Ellie has a passion for journalism and that led to her getting a co-op with local and famed reporter Caitlin Ryan. During the stint as a co-op, stress became too much for Ellie and Paige discovered Ellie's method of coping, cutting. Ellie eventually blossomed a relationship with Sean, which lasted successfully until her junior year. But, once the school shooting came around, Sean, fled to his hometown of Wasaga Beach, leaving Ellie behind. Ellie soon moved back in with her mother and later joined a support group, which fellow classmate and best friend's boyfriend Craig Manning later also joined because of his bi-polar disorder. Craig and Ellie have since developed a close friendship. Though later on in the season she and Jimmy both discovered a mutual love for art, the crush developed on his part, but was not mutual. Her crush on Craig seemed to be unrequited as he has rekindled his romance with ex-girlfriend Manny Santos, stating that he saw nothing more in Ellie than a good friend. In Season 6 after going off to college and leaving Degrassi behind Ellie finds a new boyfriend; a fellow college journalist who is a few years older, and moves in with Marco and his boyfriend Dylan.

Season 2

After Ashley's fallout with her friends, she met Ellie, Degrassi's newest punk-goth girl. Ashley, relieved to have a friend again, was going to get her navel pierced with Ellie but backed out at the last minute. Ellie then told her that they were best friends and that she didn't have to do anything to impress her. They have remained best friends ever since.

Ellie had a crush on Marco and was sending him secret-admirer emails, but didn't think this was working, as it seemed as though Marco liked Hazel. instead. However, once Marco found out that it was Ellie sending the emails, they started to date. Marco was a great guy in Ellie's eyes, but the problem in the relationship was that he acted more like her friend than her boyfriend. He subsequently realized that he was gay and came out to Ellie. She accepted it, but it was obvious that she was a little hurt because she really had feelings for Marco. However, Ellie decided to go along with the pretense of dating him, so that Marco could keep his secret safe. However, in Season 3, she eventually got tired of pretending and "broke up" with him, leading to his coming out. However, they remained best friends.

Season 3

Ellie's father (a Colonel in the Canadian Army) was sent on a peacemaking mission in Afghanistan, leaving Ellie with her mother, who was battling alcoholism. Ellie's problems began to slowly mount; her grades were rapidly slipping, her interview with Caitlin Ryan went horribly, and Paige was giving her a hard time. This, combined with taking care of her mother - who was drunk virtually every night, became too much for Ellie and she began to cut herself. Paige later discovered this when she walked in on Ellie cutting herself in the girls' washroom. Although Paige and Ellie never liked each other, Paige told Ms. Sauve, the school's guidance counselor. She offered Ellie a shoulder to lean on and it seemed as though they called a truce.

During a Saturday detention with Jimmy, Toby, and Hazel, (The Breakfast Club style), Ellie and Sean began talking and instantly bonded. They confided in each other on the school roof, with Sean admitting that he was the one stealing things around school. He asks her if she's scared of him and she replies no. She asked if he's freaked by her to which he replies no as well. She shows him her scars, asking if that freaks him out. He runs his fingers over her scars and takes her hand in his. Ellie secretly recorded this, as she was writing an article for Caitlin Ryan about the thefts going on at Degrassi, and as a result felt conflicted by this. However, while rummaging through her bag, her tape recorder fell out, playing Sean's admission for all to hear. Furious, Sean crushed the tape and stormed away, despite Ellie's insistence that she wasn't going to use his name. The next day, Ellie approached Sean at his locker and gave him the tape, telling him that there would be no story on the thefts. They then began dating.

Season 4

Ellie's mother's drinking was getting worse, and this caused Sean to worry as he suspected that she may be cutting herself again, despite her denial of this. He offered Ellie to move in with him, which Ellie rejected, as she believed that she needed to take care of her mother. Two events however cause her to have a change of heart. First when her mom shows up drunk to "Parent-Teacher Night" and as a result humiliates her in front of her friends and teachers with her drunken antics, and later that night when she wakes up to the beeping of the fire alarm and the stench of smoke and discovered that her mother had left a pot burning on the stove before proceeding to get drunk and pass out. The flames spread to the curtains, destroying the kitchen and forcing Ellie and her mother to temporarily relocate. Ellie told her mom that she would stay at Ashley's but instead moved in with Sean. However, her mother quickly discovered that Ellie had lied, leading to Ellie's revelation that her mother's drinking had made her cut. She then officially moved in with Sean, with her mother checking into rehab.

Sean is considered a hero after the school shooting. However, while being interviewed, the reporter tells him that she previously interviewed Sean's parents. Then, the reporter offers to show him his parents' interview. He watches it and becomes furious because (according to Sean) his parents are putting on an act by saying that they miss him. Upset, he tells Ellie, Emma, and Jay to get into the car and he drives to Wasaga Beach to see his parents. Once he gets there, Sean and his parents talk vaguely and Sean leaves. Then the group goes to the beach, where Sean sees a kid who he hurt before he came to Degrassi and made deaf in one ear. After almost getting into a huge fight with the kid, Sean almost opens up to Ellie about his experience with the shooting. However, not wanting to deal with his feelings, he stops himself and hops on a jet-ski. Since he is upset, he nearly kills himself by drowning. However, the kid who he had made deaf saves him. After they make sure Sean is okay, Sean decides to go back to his parents house. There, he breaks down to his mother and father and decides the best thing for him is to stay. However, this means he will leave Ellie. Ellie and Sean had just recently moved in together and are in love. This is the conversation when Sean tells everyone that he is staying in Wasaga Beach.

Now that Sean had returned home to Wasaga Beach to live with his parents, Ellie was left to live alone. When she found it hard to pay her rent, she sought out a way to earn some cash. With the help of Marco, Ellie learned to play a new card game, which she practiced at and eventually became very skilled with. After winning $10 from a game with Craig, Jimmy, and Alex, Ellie thought about playing Dylan's hockey team with Alex for more cash. When Ellie realized Alex was playing for high stakes, she became hesitant about keeping her trust in Alex. But when Alex surprised Ellie with a game winning hand, Ellie learned a lesson in trust and in gambling. Afterward, Ellie realized that what she was doing wasn't the best way to earn her rent money. When she finally proved to herself that her mother was sober and not drunk by calling her to go to Sean's old place, she decided to move back in with her, as they were both tired of being alone.

Season 5

While Ashley was away in England, Craig and Ellie bonded over the summer, becoming best friends. Ellie replaced Spinner as the drummer in Craig's band, Downtown Sasquatch. This eventually evolved into a crush on Ellie's part shortly following Ashley's email, which stated that she was breaking up with Craig and staying in England with her new boyfriend. Craig, however, chose to get back together with Manny instead, resulting in Manny being uncomfortable with Craig's friendship with Ellie while also leading Ellie to be noticeably jealous of Craig's relationship with Manny. But, Ellie still chased Craig. Craig eventually moved to Vancouver in order to pursue his dream of becoming a musician, still keeping a long-distance relationship with Manny.

With Craig and Manny dating, Ellie became friends with Jimmy, and discovered that he was a talented artist and that he enjoyed expressing himself through art, especially after the shooting. She spent time with him, showing him art exhibits and generally helping him understand that he didn't have to follow through with basketball. Jimmy started to crush on Ellie (thus resulting in his breakup with Hazel) but was ultimately rejected when Ellie told him that she only liked him as a friend, because Ellie still had a crush on Craig.

Season 6

While Ellie's off attending university, she joins her on-campus newspaper, The Core, where she meets—and eventually begins to date—her editor, Jesse.

Ellie now attends Toronto University. There, she stays in an on-campus dorm where she meets her new roommate, Amberly. After having some issues with her roommate—including Amberly's knack of folding Ellie's clothes, cleaning up after her, and removing Ellie's photos from the room—Ellie decides to write an anonymous editorial about roommates, in which she makes mention of her own roommate woes. She submits the editorial to Jesse, who not only prints the story but also prints Ellie's name along with it. After Amberly realizes this, she promptly kicks Ellie from their dorm room, and Ellie moves into a house with Marco and Dylan.

When Craig returns for a visit from Vancouver, Ellie's feelings for Craig immediately return. Both Manny and Ellie realize there's something strange about the new "rock star" Craig. When Manny finds out that Craig is taking cocaine, she begins to take it too, believing that it will strengthen their bond together. When Ellie finds some of the drugs on Craig's floor in his room, she immediately suspects something, but is lead otherwise when Craig shifts all of the blame to Manny. Meanwhile, Jesse is furious with her because she's too blind and lovesick to see that Craig was seriously deceiving her. After Manny dumps Craig for choosing drugs over her, she reveals the truth to Ellie about Craig's drug problem. Ellie becomes angry at Craig and confronts him about the issue. Before Craig returns to Vancouver, he tells Ellie that he really loves her and he kisses her, but when he asks her if he can continue his habit, she curses him out for playing with her emotions and lying to her. This makes Ellie's long-time crush on Craig fade away.

After Craig's episode with cocaine, Ellie feels guilty for blaming Manny for doing the drugs, and in "Rock This Town", Ellie apologizes to her for believing Craig's lies.

Ellie is worried about what Jesse is going to think once he finds out she kissed Craig. After some convincing from Ashley, Ellie tells Jesse of her unfaithfulness, but than learns that Jesse had cheated on her, too, with a girl he met at a bar. After being initially angry with him, she has a conversation with Jimmy about love, which leads her to forgive Jesse.

In "Love My Way", Ellie and Jesse are unhappy together and the two break up. However, later in "Don't You Want Me, Part 2", Ellie and Jesse are shown in bed together, which reveals that the two have since reconciled.

Season 7

It has been shown that Ellie and Jesse are back together and seems to be much happier than they were last season.

Ellie notices how unhappy Marco is, due to the fact that Dylan is in Switzerland and rarely contacts him. She decides to set him up with Eric, a co-worker from The Core. Marco likes him, but is still loyal to Dylan. However, Marco realizes that he deserves to be happy and independent, and decides to have a serious talk with Dylan. It's unknown what his current relationship status is.

Ellie's old mentor, Caitlyn Ryan comes to The Core. Then one day Ellie walks into the office and sees Jesse and Caitlin making out. Ellie is very disgusted at the sight. Ellie confronts Jesse and breaks up with him and quits the paper. Later, after she's been heavily drinking, in an Q&A session with the press, Ellie is the one that has to introduce and ask Caitlin questions. Ellie starts to ask questions that involves Jesse cheating on her with Caitlin. Ellie, upset walks away, calling Caitlin a slut. Caitlin apologizes saying that she never knew that Jesse and her were together. Ellie returns to The Core but doesn't get back together with Jesse.

In the mini "Degrassi Party Etiquette" Ellie sees Sean at a party and is immediately interested. She assumes he is looking for her when in fact, Sean is looking for Emma. They share a kiss that is interrupted by Emma. In another Degrassi Mini Ellie and Marco kiss passionately.

Memorable Moments

Threw a drumstick at manny's head.

Quotes

"Guys suck, Ashley. They enjoy messing with our feelings"