Terri McGreggor

Theresa 'Terri' McGreggor is a fictional character on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. She is usually portrayed as a shy, low self-esteem, fat, although she has rare moments where she stands up for herself (e.g. telling the ice cream boy off for insulting and making fun of her weight, and dumping Rick when he became abusive toward her), which would make her a hero for others like herself.

Season 1

Getting Drunk

Terri was always downhearted because of self-esteem issues with her weight. However, when Spinner Mason shows interest in her, Terri is excited. Ashley encourages her to go for it, while Paige shows a jealous side, as she too has a crush on Spinner. Spinner asks Terri to the school dance, so Ashley and Paige give Terri a make-over for the occasion. But after her make-over, Terri is ashamed and says the new look isn't her. Later on, after Ashley has left for the dance, Paige and Terri stay behind and Paige advises Terri of the benefits of alcohol. Paige and an intoxicated Terri then make their way to the school dance, where Terri makes a fool of herself in front of everyone, including Spinner. The next day she finds out that Spinner has lost interest because of her behavior the previous night.

Dabbling into the Occult

In "Cabaret", Terri seems to find interest in the Occult. For their talent in the school talent show, Paige shows interest in starting a band with Terri and Ashley, although Ashley is against the idea. To get Ashley to join the band, Paige convinces Terri to fake a tarot reading to Ashley. In the fake reading, Terri lies about the meaning of the cards that Ashley picks up, saying that the cards show that Ashley should go in the band. An unconvinced Ashley does some research on the cards she picked up, and realizes that Terri was lying. After confronting Terri about the issue, Terri reveals that she made up the results because Ashley is too controlling and never lets Terri have a say in anything. The trio eventually make it on the stage to a warm audience, and after a disagreement with Paige and Ashley, Terri announces that, "the oracle and I are no longer on speaking terms."

PMS

Terri and her friends Paige and Ashley are undecided as to what to name their band. They are torn between Ashley's name "Two Girls and a Keyboard" and Paige's name "Paige Michalchuk and the Sexkittens" (shortened to "PMS"). Terri admits that she prefers Paiges idea more, which sparks an argument between Terri and Ashley, resulting in Ashley quitting the band. The remaining duo is a huge hit at the talent show, and wins the contest. Impressed with their performance, Ashley decides to return to the band, but listens to Terri more often. Terri gets to pick the name, and she chooses PMS. Then, after Paige and Ashley have a fight, PMS ends, but then returns when Terri finds a website about a Pantene Pro-Voice song writing contest and learns that the winning group will get a trip to LA and be able to record a demo CD. Paige is skeptical about allowing Ashley back into the band as Terri suggested, but when the lyrics and singing talent is at a low, she goes to Ashley's house and pleads for her to return to the band. Ashley reluctantly agrees, and shows up with a song about rape, just as Paige is recovering from hers. Paige and Ashley argue about the lyrics, and when Ashley eventually finds out about what happened to Paige, they agree to use the old lyrics.

Ashley and Ecstasy

After Ashley's one-night stint with ecstasy, Terri, unlike the rest of the friends, stayed behind to help Ashley clean up both her house and her actions. Because of Ashley's choices that night, Ashley lost her boyfriend and all of her friends except for Terri.

Season 2

Terri leaves Ashley

After Ashley's situation with ecstasy, her popularity at Degrassi plummeted and she only had Terri as a friend. Eventually, however, she slowly regained her popularity, and is eventually asked out by Sean, which she accepts. When Ashley's friends find out about this, Ashley's friends distance themselves from her. When given the choice, Terri decides to stay with Paige and Hazel after Ashley insults Terri's advice when it comes to boyfriends.

Plus-Size Modeling

On Parent's Day, Toby's mom (an agent) notices Terri, and because she likes her look, she gives her card to Terri. Then, when Terri begins showing up at school with new, expensive items, Paige and Hazel wonder if Terri has been shoplifting. Terri then reveals that Toby's mom has found her a job in plus-size modeling. However, when posters of Terri's modeling appear around town, her self-esteem gets bruised when her friends make a big deal about it, and furthermore when an ice cream boy insults her. To stop the attention she was receiving, Terri goes as far as canceling an upcoming photo shoot until Spinner encourages her to keep modeling, by saying that she is really pretty. This gives her the strength she needs and Terri decides to continue with her modeling. Eventually she runs into the ice cream boy again, who insults her once more, but Terri stands up to him and insults him back, showing that Terri has great hidden confidence.

Understanding Craig's Pain

At the end-of-the-year school dance, Craig breaks down when the reality of his father's death finally strikes him. As Terri knows what it's like to lose a parent, she tries to comfort him. She tells him about when she got the news at a birthday party that her mom had died, and that she didn't think about it at the moment and she was mad because she didn't get to play games and had to go home. Terri explains that later, she realized that her mother was never coming back. After she had given him a shoulder to cry on, Craig eventually calms down and joins concerned girlfriend Ashley for a dance.

Season 3

Relationship with Rick

Terri's Secret Admirer

At the start of season 3, Terri begins to wonder who at Degrassi has been taping roses to her locker everyday. At first, everyone thinks it's Toby, but when Toby denies this, Terri waits outside her locker early the next morning where she catches Rick taping a rose to her locker. She confronts him about it, to which Rick confesses his feelings. After this moment, Terri and Rick become an item.

An Abusive Turn

Terri is thrilled to have her first real boyfriend, Rick. Neither Rick nor Terri have had a real relationship before. However, things take a turn when Rick becomes too controlling over Terri. An example of such behavior can be found one day at The Dot when they are ordering food and Terri wants a burger and some fries, but Rick suggests she get a salad, which leads her friends thinking of Rick as odd. He also accuses Jimmy of liking Terri more than just a friend and tries to make her stay away from him. Terri then tries to convince others – as well as herself – that his dominating actions don't mean anything.

Then, after school one day, Rick walks Terri home, who was upset from being embarrassed earlier that day, courtesy of Rick. She tells Rick that he made her look stupid and humiliated her. This enrages Rick and he twists her arm, sinking his nails into her wrist. Terri, shocked, walks away after he lets her go. The next day, Rick apologizes for hurting her and calls her sweet and perfect and giving her flowers. Terri, flattered, decides to take him back, but Terri's friends, especially Hazel, start to notice her injuries such as marks on her arm (when Rick twisted her arm) and a cut lip (when Rick slapped her). Protecting her boyfriend, Terri lies about the source of her injuries.

After a girl's night out and an argument with Hazel, Terri walks home. On the way there, she runs into Rick, who sees that she's upset and tries to apologize again by saying how perfect she is and that he loves her. Terri is touched but still upset about everything. When Terri told him that Hazel and her had a fight, Rick tries to make rule for Terri to only see Paige and Hazel in school. After hearing this, she walks away after claiming to need time alone. Rick calls after her, but Terri turns around and tells him that she loves him, but that he is suffocating her. He gets mad by this and pushes her hard against a wall. Not wanting to take the abuse anymore, Terri breaks up with Rick.

Terri's Coma

Hazel, Jimmy, Spinner, and Paige are planning a trip, and they ask Terri to come, but she is reluctant because she'd feel like the fifth wheel, so Paige tells her to bring someone. After Terri and Rick get back together after working on some trust issues in class, Terri ends up bringing Rick on the trip, much to her friends' displeasure. On the trip, Paige and Terri argue on the newly rekindled relationship of Terri and Rick, and Terri eventually leaves to follow Rick, who had walked elsewhere prior to their argument.

When she catches up to him, Rick says that he wants to separate from the group, but Terri wants to join her friends and insists that they simply ignore Paige. Rick's possessive side soon surfaces again, and he becomes angry and grabs Terri's arms firmly. He yells at Terri, telling her that they won't go back to be with her friends, and he becomes so infuriated that he pushes Terri. She falls back and hits her head on a concrete block, losing consciousness. After Spinner and Paige find Rick kneeling over Terri's unconscious body, Rick panics and runs away.

At the hospital, Terri's dad tells them that he can't figure out how this could've happened, and that Terri had surgery that night for a blood clot. Spinner and Paige admit they knew Rick was abusive, and they feel guilty for not stepping in earlier, but in the end, Mr. McGreggor assures them they are great friends. Terri has a successful surgery with no complications.

Aftermath

In "I Want Candy", Ashley, Paige and Spinner visit Terri. This is the last time she is seen on the show. According to [1], her character was sent to a private school by her dad due to some slight brain damage and to get away from Rick. In real life, Christina wanted to leave so she could become a plus-sized model for Torrid.

Other Mentions

In the season 4 episode "Mercy Street" when Paige hears that Rick is coming back to Degrassi, she says that Terri transferred to a private school and still communicates with her via instant messaging. Rick will be bullied because of what he did to Terri in season 3. In the Season 4 deleted scenes section, Marco and Alex confront the principal of Degrassi regarding the return of Rick, they later remind the principal that Terri's absence was due to the transfer to another school based on fear. When Rick was talking to Paige after he was humiliated on an academic competition, Rick apologizes to Paige for hurting Terri.

Relationships

• Rick Murray
  • First Relationship:
    • Start Up: "Whisper to a Scream" (308)
    • Break up: "Never Gonna Give You Up" (310)
      • Reason: Rick had been abusing Terri.
  • Second Relationship:
    • Start Up: "Don't Dream It's Over" (317)
    • Break Up: "Don't Dream It's Over" (317)
      • Reason: Rick put Terri into a coma after shoving her onto a concrete brick.