Ellie Teal was the teenage daughter in a "perfect family" who were the front-runners to win the Sunshine Family of South Africa competition in Sun City in 2008. Originally from Bloemfontein, her father Ed and mother Pamela arrived at the resort having supposedly completed a 1000km across the Namibian Desert in aid of Leukaemia research.
Ellie first met 'disabled' Chesney Brown at a dinner and they took a liking to each other. Cilla Battersby-Brown grew suspicious and forced son Chesney to capture whatever dirt he could about the family on camcorder. Later that day, Chesney and Ellie talked about the competition which both of their families were participating in, and almost kissed but Ellie's parents returned as Chesney hid in the closest. From there he was witness to Ed's bullying ways, berating his daughter for getting three wrong notes on the violin piece by Paganini that she played. Chesney duly filmed the encounter.
When all the families went on a safari, Ellie was worried sick about Chesney as he had got stuck out in the bush. She was relieved when he was found safely but when Chesney's family won the competition, he revealed that the family made him lie about him being disabled. As Cilla had given the footage of Ed over to the judges, they too failed to win the money. As Ellie was leaving the hotel, Chesney tried to say goodbye, but she told him that her parents were divorcing and called him a liar, saying that he was just like his mother. Chesney was devastated.