Who is Champ in Virgin River?

Champ in Virgin River
Who is Champ in Virgin River? (Image credit: Netflix)

While Virgin River season 5 answered the burning question of who is the father of Charmaine's twins? Another cliffhanger sent fans wild after it ended on a shocking revelation about Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge).

In the final episode of Virgin River season 5 part 1, Mel and her fiancé Jack Sheridan (Martin Henderson) were decorating their cabin for the Christmas holidays. 

The nurse practitioner was talking to her sister Joey on the phone, who told her that she had found a stack of love letters addressed to their mother from an unknown man in Virgin River.

However, Mel was left stunned when her sister dropped a huge bombshell.

“Mom was having an affair with someone in Virgin River. And I think this guy might be your father," she said.

In Virgin River season 5 part 2, Mel went on a mission to find her long-lost father who she only knew by his pen name "Champ."

So who is Champ in Virgin River?

Who is Champ in Virgin River?

Champ was revealed to be a man called Everett Reid (John Allen Nelson), who was Mel's biological father.

When Mel's sister came to visit for Christmas, Mel decided to search for her real dad and Jack was eager to help her on this scavenger hunt.

With only the nickname "Champ" to go off, they decided to look into his PO box address and find out who the old postmaster was in the 1980s.

Hope McCrea (Annette O'Toole) told them that the postmaster was called Chip Cooper and sent them in the direction of his admirer Lydie (Christina Jastrzembska), who told them that he is the Santa Claus at Clear River.

Mel and Jack paid him a visit to ask him about the address, where he revealed that the town was engrossed in the romance between Mel's mom and Champ and the pair would write letters every week.

However, the letters stopped coming and Champ stopped paying for his PO box, so Chip never saw him again. But while Chip couldn't remember the name of the man at the address, he did tell them that he would constantly brag about winning the 1976 Lumberjack Games, hence why the nickname "Champ" on the love letters.

With that information, the couple managed to find out that Champ's name was Everett Reid. However, when they Googled his name, there was no phone book listing for California.

Champ in Virgin River

(Image credit: Netflix)

Jack then enlisted the help of Preacher (Colin Lawrence), who asked his private investigator to look into Everett's address and Preacher soon informed Mel that they had found her father, revealing that he was still living in Virgin River.

Mel went to his house on Christmas Eve and confessed that she was his daughter. However, he told her that he wasn't the person she was looking for and didn't know where she could find her dad.

Mel's suspicions were confirmed when she spotted the Lumberjack Games trophy on his shelf and was left devastated that he didn't want to build a relationship with her.

However, she was later stunned when he showed up at their cabin in the second episode.

Everett confirmed that he was her father and was shocked at how much she looked like her mother. He then gave her the letters that her mother wrote to him, before adding that he had something important to tell her.

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Grace Morris
Staff Writer

Grace is a freelancer writer with WhatToWatch.com, and she now writes for our sister site TechRadar. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2020 with a degree in Writing and Film Studies, which only made her love for creative writing, film and TV grow stronger.

You'll usually find her watching the drama unfold in the latest reality series or much-loved UK soaps (usually with chocolate by her side!). She's an expert in EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and everything reality-related from Selling Sunset and Married At First Sight UK to 90 Day Fiancé UK. Plus Netflix megahit Virgin River!

Grace also likes to explore new places with her friends and family and, of course, watch and read about the latest films and TV series.