Occupation: Head of Purcell Industries

Relationships: Roger Purcell, James Blackthorne

Appearances: Season 3

Who’d Play Her: Tracy Scoggins

The Woman Who Chose Love Too Late: Leigh Purcell first met James Blackthorne in Acapulco while he was there on location. Their encounter was brief but memorable, and Leigh carried the memory with her for six years. She later crossed paths with Miranda at the Continental Hotel and spoke warmly about the time she had spent with James, unknowingly planting the seed for their eventual reunion.

Leigh encountered James again at an energy conference in Rio de Janeiro. His marriage to Brooke Taylor was already collapsing under the strain of Michael’s kidnapping, Ethan’s paternity secret, and Nathan Blackthorne’s increasingly disturbing behavior. The attraction between James and Leigh quickly resurfaced, and they made love. James returned to Los Angeles intending to confess the affair, but Brooke’s revelation that Nathan had attempted to rape her pushed their marriage into an even deeper crisis.

Leigh later arrived in Los Angeles and resumed her relationship with James. To those around them, she appeared to offer him a chance to move beyond Brooke. Miranda encouraged the romance, grateful to see her father beginning to rebuild his life. James did not know, however, that Leigh’s return was not accidental. She was secretly working with businessman Seth Walker and had been placed in James’s life as part of a much larger conspiracy.
Seth was using Blackthorne-Reynolds as part of an illegal arms operation involving weapons intended for an embargoed nation. Leigh’s relationship with James gave Seth access to him and positioned her to influence his decisions. At first, James was merely a target in their plan. As Leigh spent more time with him, however, her feelings became genuine, leaving her trapped between the dangerous man she served and the man she had come to love.

The conspiracy began to unravel after James learned that Blackthorne-Reynolds could be implicated in the illegal weapons shipment. Hoping to prevent the deal, he ordered Stormy and Eddie to hijack the truck carrying the weapons. When Seth discovered that the shipment had vanished, he threatened to kill James unless Leigh convinced him to return it.

On the night of the Filmmaker Awards, Leigh confessed everything to James. She admitted her involvement with Seth and pleaded with him to release the missing shipment before Seth carried out his threat. Feeling betrayed, James refused and sent her away after a bitter argument. Leigh left knowing that Seth would not forgive either of them.

Desperate to protect James, Leigh summoned Seth to her hotel room and waited for him with a loaded gun. She threatened to expose him to the authorities, but Seth mocked her attempt to stand against him and wrestled the weapon away. He shot Leigh before she could escape. Moments later, James arrived, regretting the cruelty of their final argument, and Seth shot him as well. Leigh died from her injuries while James was rushed into emergency surgery.