Ashley Kerwin
Encyclopedia
Ashley Kerwin is a fictional character at high school in the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation
and is portrayed by Melissa McIntyre
.
and over-achiever. She has her eyes on becoming Degrassi's student body president but her stepbrother Toby is frustrated by her unchallenged status and flawlessness. He convinces J.T. to run against her creating a conflict between the step-siblings. Ashley wins the election and they both realize that they have to try to get along with each other.
Ashley is dating the equally popular Jimmy but after previously planning to sleep with each other, they both admit that neither of them are ready for sex. They spend the evening blowing up their condoms like party balloons content with the way things are going between each other.
Ashley has hopes of her father reconciling with her mother who tells her they broke up because he's gay. Ashley has a talk with her dad and she tries to accept the fact that he's gay. Ashley tells Terri that she wants nothing more to do with her dad but Terri tells her to reconsider. Terri's mother died and she wanted Ashley to be grateful that she has the chance to choose whether she wants her father in her life or not.
As the school talent show
nears Ashley decides that she and Terri should enter under the name "Two Girls and a Keyboard". But Paige
wants to join the band too and Ashley finally agrees. The two have friction and argue about the name of the band. Paige insists on "Paige Michalchuk and the Sex Kittens" (shortened as "PMS"), but Ashley argues for the newly updated "Three Girls and a Keyboard". Terri sides with Paige but Ashley still does not listen and quits the band. The duo is a huge hit at the talent show and wins the contest. Ashley decides to return to the band and they rename it PMS.
A girls night at Ashley's turns into a disaster when J.T. brings ecstasy
as a party favour. Sean replaces the E with aspirin and tells Ashley to throw it out. Instead Ashley, who is tired of being seen as boring and predictable, takes the E and cheats on Jimmy by making out with Sean on her bed. She publicly dumps Jimmy after he finds out what she did with Sean. Her mistake costs her her long-time boyfriend Jimmy as well as all of her friends except best friend Terri. Afterwards her popularity plummets and Paige becomes the most popular girl at Degrassi.
When Paige decides to start up PMS again she goes to Ashley's house and pleads for her to return to the band. Ashley reluctantly agrees and conveniently writes a song about rape just as Paige is recovering from hers. Paige storms out when Ashley tells her she does not know anything about rape
. Ashley follows her to the hall and insists on the old lyrics when Paige reveals her victimization. But when Paige sees Dean, her rapist, she tells Ashley to sing the song that she wrote. Paige's confidence in Ashley restarts their old friendship.
By the end of Season 2 Ashley is helping Craig deal with the difficulty of his loss and they continue on in their relationship.
Ashley and Craig have been happily dating since the end of Season 2. She almost breaks it off with him but they make up and the two make plans to have sex after Paige's 16th birthday party. Craig shares the news with Spinner who proceeds to make jokes about what she and Craig are about to do. Ashley calls it off. Craig storms away only to be comforted by Manny who he ends up having sex with. Ashley and Craig eventually make up but he continues seeing Manny behind her back.
Craig's infidelity is revealed at Christmas and she confronts Manny who confirms that they have been dating the entire time. Furious and hurt both Ashley and Manny dump Craig leaving him alone.
It is soon discovered that Manny is pregnant by Craig. Ashley's fury increases and she humiliates Manny and Craig by telling the whole school. "Hell Hath No Fury" Ashley, Paige, Hazel, and Ellie's band and "Downtown Sasquatch" Craig, Spinner, Marco, and Jimmy's band compete in a Battle of the Bands contest. Ashley writes a scathing song about Craig in order to get back at him for the pain he caused. They soon reach a mutual understanding when Craig apologizes in song winning both the contest and Ashley's forgiveness.
Craig gets a hotel room for Ashley because her father's wedding is stressing her out. Ashley is completely floored and they have sex for the first time. Ashley is overwhelmed because it is her first time but she is only more sure of their love. At the rehearsal party for the wedding Craig proposes. Ashley is taken aback and softly declines, which angers Craig and he trashes the hotel room in a fit of rage. It is later discovered that Craig is bi-polar
. Ashley truly loves him and would like to get married someday. Despite the stress, she stays with him and deals with his sudden mood-swings, paranoia, and insecurity. At the end of the season she leaves for England
for the summer telling Craig that she feels like spending summer-break apart from each other would be best. Craig refuses his medication which causes his bi-polar disorder to flare up again but he manages to calm down thanks to Joey
.
Ashley returns to Degrassi in the 2-part season finale and decides to finish high school in Degrassi. She is noticeably happier and kinder and has a more glamorous image to reflect her new state of mind. This is evident when she tries to push Jimmy and Ellie together after Jimmy admits to her that he has feelings for Ellie, despite her still having feelings for Jimmy herself. Ellie tells her that "[she's] crushing on someone, as usual." but when Jimmy realizes that Ellie's crush is not on him he leaves. After telling Ashley that no one wants to date a guy in a wheelchair Ashley kisses him possibly indicating the rekindling of their relationship.
. Ashley tries to help him but after he is unable to perform he gets upset. Ashley quickly assures him that she does not need sex for their relationship to last and that to her Jimmy is already the man she needs.
Ashley continuously insists that he's the same person even if he cannot walk and when Jimmy asks what happened to his rap track Ashley admits that she deleted it leading up to a heated confrontation. Ashley finds him the next day in the halls and gives him a new CD with both their tracks on it. Jimmy asks if that was supposed to fix what she did and she responds that even though they are not getting along their music is more important.
Jimmy comes to the realization that Ashley just does not understand what he's going through in his chair. Jimmy breaks up with her claiming that the relationship was "a crutch". Ashley goes with Manny, Liberty and Emma to Smithsdale and has tickets to the Purple Dragon concert. She later finds Spinner and Jimmy and the concert. She mentions to Jimmy that she will be accompanying Craig on a tour in Europe and then goes on stage to sing with him.
, Craig Manning reveals that she is still in Europe pursuing her music career.
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
and is portrayed by Melissa McIntyre
Melissa McIntyre
Melissa Adaleigh McIntyre is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Ashley Kerwin on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.-Career:...
.
Season 1
At the beginning of the series Ashley is a stereotypical preppyPreppy
Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...
and over-achiever. She has her eyes on becoming Degrassi's student body president but her stepbrother Toby is frustrated by her unchallenged status and flawlessness. He convinces J.T. to run against her creating a conflict between the step-siblings. Ashley wins the election and they both realize that they have to try to get along with each other.
Ashley is dating the equally popular Jimmy but after previously planning to sleep with each other, they both admit that neither of them are ready for sex. They spend the evening blowing up their condoms like party balloons content with the way things are going between each other.
Ashley has hopes of her father reconciling with her mother who tells her they broke up because he's gay. Ashley has a talk with her dad and she tries to accept the fact that he's gay. Ashley tells Terri that she wants nothing more to do with her dad but Terri tells her to reconsider. Terri's mother died and she wanted Ashley to be grateful that she has the chance to choose whether she wants her father in her life or not.
As the school talent show
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
nears Ashley decides that she and Terri should enter under the name "Two Girls and a Keyboard". But Paige
Paige Michalchuk
Paige Michalchuk is a fictional character in the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, portrayed by Lauren Collins.Paige was initially presented as the stereotypical "Queen bee": rich, snobby, and popular...
wants to join the band too and Ashley finally agrees. The two have friction and argue about the name of the band. Paige insists on "Paige Michalchuk and the Sex Kittens" (shortened as "PMS"), but Ashley argues for the newly updated "Three Girls and a Keyboard". Terri sides with Paige but Ashley still does not listen and quits the band. The duo is a huge hit at the talent show and wins the contest. Ashley decides to return to the band and they rename it PMS.
A girls night at Ashley's turns into a disaster when J.T. brings ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
as a party favour. Sean replaces the E with aspirin and tells Ashley to throw it out. Instead Ashley, who is tired of being seen as boring and predictable, takes the E and cheats on Jimmy by making out with Sean on her bed. She publicly dumps Jimmy after he finds out what she did with Sean. Her mistake costs her her long-time boyfriend Jimmy as well as all of her friends except best friend Terri. Afterwards her popularity plummets and Paige becomes the most popular girl at Degrassi.
Season 2
As Ashley began her freshman year she is treated like a total outcast by her friends. Prompted by her new friendship with fellow outcast Ellie Nash, Ashley becomes a Goth. Throughout the school year she slowly gains her friends back and she even gets a chance to rekindle her relationship with Jimmy but they break up because of the diminishing chemistry between them. As her freshman year ends she grows close to Craig.When Paige decides to start up PMS again she goes to Ashley's house and pleads for her to return to the band. Ashley reluctantly agrees and conveniently writes a song about rape just as Paige is recovering from hers. Paige storms out when Ashley tells her she does not know anything about rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. Ashley follows her to the hall and insists on the old lyrics when Paige reveals her victimization. But when Paige sees Dean, her rapist, she tells Ashley to sing the song that she wrote. Paige's confidence in Ashley restarts their old friendship.
By the end of Season 2 Ashley is helping Craig deal with the difficulty of his loss and they continue on in their relationship.
Season 3
Ashley sheds her goth look for a punk rocker-chick type look. The season begins happily and without too much drama for Ashley until Paige's 16th birthday.Ashley and Craig have been happily dating since the end of Season 2. She almost breaks it off with him but they make up and the two make plans to have sex after Paige's 16th birthday party. Craig shares the news with Spinner who proceeds to make jokes about what she and Craig are about to do. Ashley calls it off. Craig storms away only to be comforted by Manny who he ends up having sex with. Ashley and Craig eventually make up but he continues seeing Manny behind her back.
Craig's infidelity is revealed at Christmas and she confronts Manny who confirms that they have been dating the entire time. Furious and hurt both Ashley and Manny dump Craig leaving him alone.
It is soon discovered that Manny is pregnant by Craig. Ashley's fury increases and she humiliates Manny and Craig by telling the whole school. "Hell Hath No Fury" Ashley, Paige, Hazel, and Ellie's band and "Downtown Sasquatch" Craig, Spinner, Marco, and Jimmy's band compete in a Battle of the Bands contest. Ashley writes a scathing song about Craig in order to get back at him for the pain he caused. They soon reach a mutual understanding when Craig apologizes in song winning both the contest and Ashley's forgiveness.
Season 4
Ashley and Craig are friends again at the beginning of the season. Ashley helps Craig buy a guitar and becomes a part of his band. Craig realizes that he still has feelings for her and they get back together. Everything seems perfect until Craig begins acting strangely, having emotional outbursts and easily becoming upset. More pressure is added with Ashley's father's upcoming wedding and her mother's obvious dislike of Craig.Craig gets a hotel room for Ashley because her father's wedding is stressing her out. Ashley is completely floored and they have sex for the first time. Ashley is overwhelmed because it is her first time but she is only more sure of their love. At the rehearsal party for the wedding Craig proposes. Ashley is taken aback and softly declines, which angers Craig and he trashes the hotel room in a fit of rage. It is later discovered that Craig is bi-polar
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
. Ashley truly loves him and would like to get married someday. Despite the stress, she stays with him and deals with his sudden mood-swings, paranoia, and insecurity. At the end of the season she leaves for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the summer telling Craig that she feels like spending summer-break apart from each other would be best. Craig refuses his medication which causes his bi-polar disorder to flare up again but he manages to calm down thanks to Joey
Joey Jeremiah
Joseph "Joey" Jeremiah is a fictional character from the Degrassi series portrayed by Pat Mastroianni. His first appearance in the series was as a grade 8 student on Degrassi Junior High. Since his first appearance up to Degrassi High, he has been the main focus character and arguably the most...
.
Season 5
At the beginning of the season Ellie receives an email from Ashley saying that she has decided to stay in England for the year and will not be returning to Degrassi. Ashley severs ties with Craig as she begins to date Alastair, aka Ali, in London, England and leaves Ellie to tell Craig that she's dumping him.Ashley returns to Degrassi in the 2-part season finale and decides to finish high school in Degrassi. She is noticeably happier and kinder and has a more glamorous image to reflect her new state of mind. This is evident when she tries to push Jimmy and Ellie together after Jimmy admits to her that he has feelings for Ellie, despite her still having feelings for Jimmy herself. Ellie tells her that "[she's] crushing on someone, as usual." but when Jimmy realizes that Ellie's crush is not on him he leaves. After telling Ashley that no one wants to date a guy in a wheelchair Ashley kisses him possibly indicating the rekindling of their relationship.
Season 6
As Ashley begins her final year at Degrassi she continues a relationship with Jimmy that began the year before. Ashley begins to think she's doing something wrong because Jimmy is pushing her away until it is revealed that he has insecurities after the shooting. The injury caused him to be unable to get an erectionErection
Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...
. Ashley tries to help him but after he is unable to perform he gets upset. Ashley quickly assures him that she does not need sex for their relationship to last and that to her Jimmy is already the man she needs.
Season 7
Craig's CD has finally come out and Ashley finds that he did not credit her for one of the songs he used. This inspires her to go back into music and Toby signs her up for a talent show. Ashley and Jimmy create a track together. Ashley ends up writing Jimmy's rap out of the song altogether and decides to perform in the talent show alone. When she performs the crowd jeers her and tells her to play one of Craig's songs. Jimmy steps in with his rap and picks the crowd up. Ashley decides to encourage him in pursuing a music career. Griffin, Ellie's new roommate, hears the track and asks Jimmy to perform at a show. Jimmy wanted Ashley to perform with him but she backs out to let Jimmy be in the spotlight. Griffin shows their work to a producer and asks them both to make a demo to show him which Ashley manages but she cuts Jimmy's track.Ashley continuously insists that he's the same person even if he cannot walk and when Jimmy asks what happened to his rap track Ashley admits that she deleted it leading up to a heated confrontation. Ashley finds him the next day in the halls and gives him a new CD with both their tracks on it. Jimmy asks if that was supposed to fix what she did and she responds that even though they are not getting along their music is more important.
Jimmy comes to the realization that Ashley just does not understand what he's going through in his chair. Jimmy breaks up with her claiming that the relationship was "a crutch". Ashley goes with Manny, Liberty and Emma to Smithsdale and has tickets to the Purple Dragon concert. She later finds Spinner and Jimmy and the concert. She mentions to Jimmy that she will be accompanying Craig on a tour in Europe and then goes on stage to sing with him.
Other mentions
Despite not having any on-screen time, in Degrassi Goes HollywoodDegrassi Goes Hollywood
Paradise City: Degrassi Goes Hollywood is a 2009 Canadian film adaptation of the popular, long-running teenage drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. The movie premiered in the United States on The N on 14 August 2009, and in Canada on CTV on 30 August 2009. It was directed by veteran Degrassi...
, Craig Manning reveals that she is still in Europe pursuing her music career.