Justin Fitzgerald exploded onto the scene when his mother Olga had a nervous breakdown and dumped him and his younger brother Leo on father Vaughan at Waterloo Road School.
Series 10
Justin first appears in Series 10 Episode 1 along with his younger brother Leo Fitzgerald. Justin and Leo are left at Waterloo Road under the care of their father, new headteacher Vaughan Fitzgerald, after their mother Olga Fitzgerald suffers a nervous breakdown. At first, Justin didn't want to start school at Waterloo Road, but reluctantly agrees to after learning that Leo will be staying. Justin was unhappy with being forced to move in with Vaughan and his girlfriend Allie, due to the fact that Vaughan left their mother for Allie, contributing towards her breakdown. When Allie's children Floyd and Tiffany try to introduce themselves to Justin and Leo as friends, Justin punches Floyd and they end up fighting in the middle of the school. The fight is broken up by deputy head Simon Lowsley, who takes them straight to Vaughan's office. When they all return home, Justin in anger kicks the bedroom door, accidentally slamming it into Allie's face causing her an injury. At this point Allie covers for Justin saying that she accidentally walked into a wardrobe door.
In Series 10 Episode 2, Allie tries to make friends with Justin, but he still acts coldly towards her. The tension between Justin and Floyd also continues to grow as Justin shows him up in their history class. Allie asks Simon Lowsley to be a mediator for the boys, however this fails. During class, George Windsor insults Justin and Vaughan, saying "like father, like son". Justin retaliates by throwing a tin at him. Despite George complaining, Vaughan defends Justin, insisting that he would never behave in such a violent manner. After George resigns, Vaughan admits that he made a mistake by letting Justin cloud his judgement. Allie later suggests that they convert the garage into a bedroom for Justin, seeing as he doesn't want to live with them.
In Series 10 Episode 3 during the virtual baby project, Justin overhears Allie talking to Shaznay Montrose about how you can never dump your children. Justin kicks a plastic baby against a wall, telling Allie that that's what Vaughan did to him and Leo because of her. Fed up Allie tells Vaughan about the incident with the door and Justin's out of control anger. Vaughan sends Justin to the Cooler telling him that if he ever hit anyone again he'd wish he'd never been born. Vaughan later makes Justin apologise to Allie. Back at home Justin comes across Tiffany's diary, in which she admits to having a crush on him.
In Series 10 Episode 4, Tiffany and Justin get together at school while everyone else is at Gabriella Wark's party.
In Series 10 Episode 5, Justin and Tiffany have started a secret relationship behind their parents' and siblings' backs. Justin discovers through Floyd that Vaughan has been paying for his mother's treatment at her clinic. Justin takes this as a sign that Vaughan is still in love with her. Vaughan shuts him down saying that their marriage is definitely over, leaving Justin devastated. With persuasion from Tiffany, Justin makes amends with Floyd. Justin and Tiffany help out at the community café in order to spend more time together.
In Series 10 Episode 6, Justin helps out Havelock High pupil Mickey McArthur, who was caught stealing. Mickey responds by stealing Justin's wallet. Justin goes to Havelock High, where Mickey is forced to hand over the wallet by the head. Mickey later turns up at Waterloo Road and attacks Justin after being expelled from Havelock, and the two fight. Despite Mickey jumping Justin, with Justin's past actions in mind Vaughan decides to let Mickey off. Justin follows Mickey home, only to discover that he is living in extreme poverty with his mother and young sister. Justin starts a food bank in the school in order to help Mickey and others in need.
In Series 10 Episode 7, after discovering their affair, Floyd warns Justin to stay away from Tiffany. When he refuses, Floyd punches him. Tiffany, unable to stand the conflict between them, tells Allie that her and Justin have been sleeping together. Allie tells Justin to break it off but he refuses, telling her that it's 'just begun'. Vaughan and Allie try to keep them apart but they know it won't be possible. Allie suggests that Vaughan sends Justin to boarding school.
In Series 10 Episode 8, Vaughan and Allie are in agreement to send Justin to boarding school. Furious Justin plans to run away with Tiffany. Tiffany, however, is reluctant, and secretly sends Allie frantic text messages about where to find her. In the aftermath, Vaughan tells Allie that he can't bear to send Justin away. This creates tension between the two of them.
In Series 10 Episode 9, Justin discovers that Tiffany has been sent to stay with a family friend until the situation calms down.
In Series 10 Episode 10, on a less-than-celebratory 18th birthday for Justin, things reach breaking point for Justin and the entire family. After accusing Allie of ruining things for him and Tiffany, Allie shows him the frantic messages she sent. Upset and angry, Justin punches Allie in the face. Vaughan, at breaking point, takes Justin to the police station and explains that he had assaulted a teacher and that she wishes to press charges. Justin is detained, and Vaughan is told he may face up to a year in prison if the process gets that far. However, Justin is later released, following which he makes his way back to the school. In the corridor he bumps into Tiffany, who has returned having discovered what had happened to Allie through Floyd, and she coldly dumps him. Her partings words being that she 'doesn't love him anymore'.
After this breakup, Justin is devastated, and comes up with a plan to kill himself and murder Allie at the same time when he finds a lighter and gas canisters in her classroom and texts her to meet him there, pretending that he wants to apologise. However, it is Vaughan who turns up in the classroom, and Justin threatens to detonate the canisters if Vaughan comes near, but Vaughan manages to talk Justin out of it. This event causes Allie and Vaughan to split up on mutual grounds after they realise that they have to put their children first and keep them apart.
In the second half of Series 10, Justin has a quieter year and appears to have sorted his anger issues out after counselling. He has two brief relationships over the course of the ten episodes, one with self-reinvented student Bonnie Kincaid and the other with the fiery Kenzie Calhoun. These relationships do not lead anywhere due to love triangles with Scott Fairchild. Later in the series, Justin agrees to investigate Bonnie's cyberbully, however in his investigation, he ends up accidentally framing himself when Bonnie and George Windsor catch him breaking into her locker and holding defaced photos of Bonnie that he found in there, making him look like the cyberbully, when in fact it is his brother Leo Fitzgerald. When Justin realises the real bully is his brother, he decides to still maintain to his parents that it was him who sent all the texts to Bonnie, in order to protect Leo. Justin is permanently excluded from Waterloo Road, and leaves among jeers from other pupils, but Kenzie soon works out that the real bully was Leo, and we see Justin exonerated and reconciled with his peers and teachers.
Justin is last seen shaking Scott's hand and telling him to look after Kenzie as she and Scott get back together after Justin freed Kenzie and Marco D'Olivera from the school fridge that Rob Hutchinson had locked them in.
Personality
At first, Justin is clearly unstable and cynical. He acts maliciously towards his father for abandoning him and Allie for being the reason for his parents' separation, and violently against Floyd for replacing Justin and Leo in their father's life. But he begins to soften once he discovers that Tiffany has a crush on him. It becomes clear later in the series that Justin, for all his faults, is not all that bad. This is shown in particular when Justin takes the blame for his brother who has been cyberbullying Bonnie, even though it will result in his exclusion.
Trivia
- Before coming to Waterloo Road, Justin attended a school called Clayton Vale.
- Justin is portrayed by actor Max Bowden, who is best known for being the sixth actor to play Ben Mitchell in EastEnders , from 2019 to 2024.
Quotes
- "You didn't tell him we were coming?" (first line)
- Leo: "I like Tiffany. She's pretty, don't you think?"
- Justin: "Stop sucking up, Leo, she's just like the rest of them."
- Floyd: "Fine. That's your choice, but nobody is trying to take your dad away from you-"
- Justin: "You don't get it, do you?! He's abandoned us all, he's left my mum a complete wreck!"
- Tiffany: "You've got a cool room. Feels kind of...private."
- Justin: "Yeah. Well, it's better than being in there wi' you lot."
- Tiffany: "We're alright really, you know. Just got to get to know us a bit better."
- Justin: "No thanks."
- Tiffany: "You're pathetic, d'you know that?"
- Leo: "Why are you being like this? Mum's getting out, we're gonna go home! Aren't you glad?"
- Justin: "Of course I am. It's just...I need more time. Bit longer, I reckon I can have Dad and that cow tearing chunks out of each other."
- "That's what my dad did to us. Kicked me and Leo into touch as soon as you showed your face. So stop pretending that you're so down with the kids. You don't care about them, and you certainly don't care about us."
- Simon: "Good to see you two actually having a conversation! Your dad will be pleased."
- Justin: "Yeah, actually, sir, it was more of a monologue. Floyd just kinda listened."
- "No, Dad. You talk to me about going off on my own and doing what I want, but that's what you did! You left us!"
- "Oh, what are you gonna do, you gonna tell everyone? That's cool! I expect that from a little tool like you anyway. So go ahead. You can throw a grenade into the lovely family. But just remember, as soon as it all blows up, it will all be your fault."
- Floyd: "No, Justin! You stay away from her now, OK? Stay away from my sister!"
- Justin: "Your sister can't keep her hands off me, mate."
- "Listen, alright? Nothing and no-one is gonna stop us being together. I promise."
- "I honestly thought you were gonna stand up to her, Dad!"
- "The only way you're gonna get me to that school, Dad, is if you drug me first. Knowing Allie, she's probably already bought the tranquiliser dart."
- Justin: "How did you know where we were?"
- Allie: "I worked it out!"
- Justin: "What the hell has happened to my room?!"
- Leo: "Oh yeah, sorry bro. You had it coming."
- "What future? You've changed, Dad, ever since you've been with her, you've just forgotten about us!"
- "Well, well, well. A copper's son." (to Scott)
- "Sir, we usually open our books, not sit here and practise for Wimbledon."
- Bonnie: "Last term I was a total Billy no mates. So I made a change, yet...here I am, back to square one."
- Justin: "Whereas last term was such a highlight for me. Look, Kenzie'll come round. Or she won't. Either way, you've still got other friends."
- Scott: "A paddle? What are you, like, 50?"
- Justin: "What, cos I'm an adult and you're a kid, you mean?"
- Kenzie: "Why you being so nice?"
- Justin: "Why d'you think?"
- "In all this mess, there's one person whose fault it isn't, and she's the most upset. That don't seem right to me."
- "You're pathetic. You're a sad, pathetic little boy, who's upset cos he can't get a girlfriend."
- "Entirely your fault, of course. Why can't you just leave her alone?"
- Justin: "Bonnie, I didn't do it, I swear, I didn't."
- Bonnie: "Just go away, leave me alone!"
- Olga: "Justin, leave it."
- Justin: "Bonnie, I wouldn't do something like that, you know I wouldn't!"
- Leo: "No! How could you think that?"
- Justin: "What? How could I think that my little kid brother could be such a creep? How could I think that my little kid brother would stalk a girl online and then let me get excluded for it?"
- Leo: "Obviously I wouldn't."
- Justin: "Yeah. That's what I thought. But then I remembered how much you like the new Bonnie, Leo. How you were when you first laid eyes on her. Smitten, weren't you?"
- "You know, Dad...I had you down as a lot of things. Never a quitter."
- "Yeah, yeah, alright, no need to spell it out. Be good to her. You deserve each other." (final line)