Jay Copeland

Jay and Maia Jeffries arrived in June 2004 and it was soon clear the two traveling partners were in fact lesbian partners.[3] The lovers were revealed when Shannon spotted the two kissing for the episodes cliffhanger.[4] Producers were initially hesitant to introduce lesbian characters, with head writer Maxine Fleming stating; "She's in relationships so it does come up but we have tried to avoid lesbian-based stories ... Of course when you have kids and stuff, that's the thing they want to talk about. My daughter wants to know if they’re lesbians in real life and how do they feel about kissing. So obviously it is an issue but not for us so much."[3] Jay was at first shown to be the strong and confident one in the relationship whilst Maia was a lot more self-conscious.[4] The two broke up following Jay's refusal to accept her father and the roles reversed dramatically with Maia's actor - Anna Jullienne stating; "There was almost a role reversal for Jay and me, because I found it so easy to settle in and she didn't ... All of a sudden I'm the one telling guys to get lost when they're perving."[4] The two actresses were good friends in real life, making the kissing scenes fluent and natural.[4]

Jay fled to Australia but upon return attempted to reunite with Maia who had moved on.[5] The return saw an intense love triangle as the 2005 season started.[6] Jullienne believed the two would reunite, saying; "The relationship ended but the love didn't ... Jay was in a difficult situation: her dad had just been convicted for murder, there was a lot going on and things just weren't working out for Jay in Ferndale. She couldn't stay there, she had to leave. But that didn't change the way she and Maia felt about each other. Maia's relationships since Jay have never had any real substance to them ... Everyone is compared to Jay in her book. Jay is definitely the love of her life, the 'one'."[6] The two did eventually reconcile and overcame the slight bump of Jay sleeping with Norman in an attempt to have a child.[5] The pair married in a civil union on Valentine's Day 2006 attended by friends and colleagues.[7][8][9] The ceremony was gatecrashed by a group of religious protesters who were scared off by Maia's disapproving mother - Yvonne.[10]

Passier-Armstrong hoped the two would live happily-ever-after, saying; "There were a lot of ups and downs last year for Maia and Jay, and also a lot of other people that were mixed up in their relationship too. Mark (Tim Foley) was hanging around Maia, Jay and Norman (Jacob Tomuri) had their whole baby deal thing going on - there was Yvonne and her refusal to accept Maia and Jay. They've been through a lot and the wedding is a good chance to show they came through it, they love each other and they want to be together; forever hopefully, fingers crossed."[11] She was disappointed when she learned Jay was going to cheat on Maia, stating; "I was heartbroken when I read the storyline. But it's a drama. Anna and I always knew that there would come a time where one of our characters would end up having an affair. When I started on the show I was told I was going to be a very staunch gay character so I played that. Then I received scripts with this new storyline and I was like, what? There were a lot of times that they'd call cut and I'd say to Anna, 'I'm so sorry! It's not my fault!'.[12] However she acknowledged 6 months of marriage on the show was seemingly the equivalent of 10 years in real life terms.[12] Jay's affair was with her boss Dylan, in an attempt to further her career.[5] The affair put an end to her marriage with Maia and she didn't end up with Dylan either.[5] Jay took the breakup badly.[13] The two eventually reconciled over their desperation for a child. However when Jay told Yvonne that Maia had used her sister Tania's husband - Mark's sperm behind her back, Maia broke it off indefinitely. The couple's love never had resolution when Jay became the third victim of the Ferndale Strangler.[9]