Nick Poulos

**Nick Poulos** is a series regular in series one of *Heartbreak High*. He is portrayed by Alex Dimitriades.

## *The Heartbreak Kid* (1987–1993)

The character is partially based on **Nick Polides**, also played by Alex Dimitriades, from the 1993 film *The Heartbreak Kid*, as well as **Nicky Polidis** from the 1987 play of the same name, originally played by Tony Poli.

Nick Poulos is a 17-year-old Greek-Australian student and soccer player at a Melbourne inner city school, who falls in love with Jodie Cooper. The two have an on-off romance for the entire first season, with Jodie realising she is still in love with him moments before he dies in Episode 38.

## *Heartbreak High* (1994)

Nicolas "Nick" Poulos is the central character of *Heartbreak High'*s first series. He is a popular and athletic 17-year-old Greek-Australian student and soccer player at Hartley High, an inner city school in Sydney. He is the son of working-class Greek immigrants, his father George is a former soccer star and full-time factory worker, and his mother Irini is a housewife. He has a 12-year-old sister Effie. His best friend is his cousin Con, who also attends Hartley.

### Storylines

Nick starts dating Jodie Cooper in Episode 2, and the series chronicles the ups-and-downs of their relationship, including his family's concerns when the two start having sex, the death of his mother in a car accident, and Jodie's infidelity while she is away on tour in Melbourne.

Nick's insecurities and struggles with the demands of Jodie's career lead him to cheat on her with Danielle Miller in Episode 18, breaking up their relationship in Episode 20. He then gets together with Dani, briefly alienating themselves from their friend group, however his lingering feelings for Jodie soon cause a strain on their relationship. It fizzles out by Episode 27, and Jodie and Nick get back together.

After moving in with his aunt and uncle when his father leaves for Greece, Nick starts boxing under the mentorship of Southgate. He soon starts accepting fights for money, taking him on a destructive path. After he refuses to give up boxing, Jodie leaves him for his cousin Rocco. During his first professional fight in the ring and after taking several blows to the head, Nick dies from a brain aneurysm.

### Where Are They Now?

"Nick tragically died in an accident in the boxing ring. His friends still miss him terribly, but have warm memories of a great, funny and generous guy."

**Title cards**

Alex Dimitriades in episodes 1 to 26 of *Heartbreak High*Alex Dimitriades in episodes 27 to 38 of *Heartbreak High*
## Trivia

* The production team wanted the character of Nick to exit the show quietly by returning to Greece, however, Network Ten threatened to pull the show off air if the character wasn't killed off in a dramatic fight sequence. Ben Gannon considered the sensational exit of Nick to be a "disaster" in terms of narrative and character credibility..
* A photograph of Alex Dimitriades can be seen in Episode 206 when Peter is showing his portfolio to Drazic and Marco.

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160523182414/http://www.abc.net.au:80/heartbreak/where/default.htm
2. ↑ https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36314/6/36314\_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf