Alex Nuñez, Degrassi: The Next Generation

Alexandra “Alex” Nuñez (Deanna Casaluce)

Alex attended Community School in Toronto. She was originally known as the show’s “bad girl” and had once been a stripper at a bar in order to make ends meet; however, as the seasons progressed, she lost her rebellious persona. In Season 5, it was revealed that she was a lesbian.

Season 3

Alex first appeared in Season 3 as school bully and “bad boy” Jay Hogart’s equally rebellious girlfriend. She was always seen with him, and didn’t have much character development of her own during the season. She dated Jay until end of Season 4, when she got an STD from him and learned of his affair with her best friend Amy. This led to Alex ending her friendship with Amy and breaking up with Jay.

Seasons 4-5

In Season 4, Alex was working at the movie theater with Paige, and although the two did not like each other at first, they eventually became good friends. In Season 5, they spent more time together, and ended up kissing one night. Paige was initially confused about Alex’s interest, and though they started dating, they broke up soon after. Following this, Alex came out as a lesbian to Jay, when Jay offered to be “a quick rebound” though he later backed off and was sincere in his efforts in cheering her up.

Seasons 6-7

In Season 6, Alex told Paige that she had new girlfriend, Carla, but the relationship was brief and Alex broke it off with Carla because she realized they had nothing in common, and she did not consider the relationship worth her time. During this time, Alex encouraged Paige to date guys, only to become jealous and eventually confess to Paige that she loved her and that she had only encouraged her to date guys because she didn’t want to see Paige with another woman. By the end of the season, Alex and Paige patched things up between them and were dating at the start of Season 7. However, Paige ended up breaking up with Alex soon after because of her “lack of ambition” and Alex moved away to live with her aunt. She was not seen in the series after that.

Appearances:

• 61 episodes. Recurring S3-4 Regular S5-6 Guest S7

Female love interests:

• Paige Michalchuk (Lauren Collins, bisexual, regular S1-7, recurring S8, guest S13, 144 episodes)
• Carla Carlisle (Genelle Williams, guest, 2 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Jay Hogart (Mike Lobel, recurring S3-4, regular S5-7, recurring S8-9, 69 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Regular), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.