Anthony

In 1999 the marriage of Mike and Alma Baldwin broke up acrimoniously when it was revealed that Mike had slept with and fallen for the blackmail attempts of Julia Stone, a former prostitute, who had been put up to entice Mike by a vengeful Greg Kelly. Alma was livid when Mike viewed himself as the victim, not her, and she moved in with Audrey Roberts.

Alma started a platonic friendship with Ravi Desai while Mike fell for the "charms" of gold-digging Linda Sykes and started a full-blown affair with her. Finding out about this and unable to take a further betrayal, Alma took herself off for a three-week holiday in Spain. On her return she told Audrey and Gail Platt of a holiday romance she had had with Anthony in Spain, feeling now reinvigorated and looking forward instead of back.