Lauren Turner (also Carpenter) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Kate Kendall. The role was originally played by Sarah Vandenbergh, and she made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 February 1993. Lauren was introduced as the "vivacious" daughter of Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver). Vandenbergh described her as being happy, headstrong and into horses. She also thought that just by looking at the character you knew she was a girl next door type. Lauren's major storylines during her first stint in the show saw her have an affair with Brad Willis (Scott Michaelson), join a religious cult and begin a casual relationship with Wayne Duncan (Jonathon Sammy-Lee). Vandenbergh decided to leave the serial when she was told that Lauren would not feature prominently in storylines anymore. She departed on 2 March 1994. On 4 November 2012, it was announced Lauren would be returning to Neighbours with Kendall taking over the role. She made her first appearance as Lauren on 7 February 2013. Upon her return, Lauren brought her family with her and Kendall described them as "charismatic", saying they would have some secrets and "really juicy storylines". Kendall's Lauren is portrayed as being "down to earth", "warm" and "very social". Her storylines since her return have often focused on family issues, including the arrival of her and Brad's long-lost daughter Paige Smith (Olympia Valance), the death of her husband Matt Turner (Josef Brown), and her reunion and marriage to Brad. The character departed on 7 April 2017, along with Brad, before making guest returns in June 2017, March and June 2018.