Meet Holly Valance, the Neighbours actress who fundraised for Donald Trump

So what else do we know about Holly Valance, and how did she make her political debut stick?

What is Holly Valance’s background?

Valance, 41, is Serbian-English. She was born and raised in Australia by a Serbian father and an English mother. Her father, Rajko Vukadinović, was a pianist and guitarist, and both he and his wife Rachel Stephens, Valance’s mother, were models, per Valance’s profile on Strictly Come Dancing.

Why did Holly Valance stop making music?

Valance started off her career as a teen model, and was taking part in supermarket catalogues and ad campaigns by the age of 14, per the BBC. She then stepped into the spotlight with the beloved Australian soap opera Neighborswhere she played Felicity “Flick” Scully.

She took a break from acting to become a pop star. At her peak, the “Kiss Kiss” singer stopped making music and turned to acting once more, but in the US, with appearances in television shows like prison Break and the film Taken. After almost a decade, she stepped back from showbiz to focus on her family, per Time. Earlier this year, Valance told GB News that she is “pretty much retired” from being a pop star, but added, “never say never”.

She’s married to a billionaire

Candy is best known for developing one of the world’s most expensive residential buildings, One Hyde Park, in Knightsbridge, London, with his brother Christian Candy, per Vanity Fair.

Candy previously donated at least £290,000 (around US$366,290) to the Conservative Party, but backed Labour’s Keir Starmer in February, per Bloomberg. Recognizing the difference in their political views, Valance said, “We’re a little bit different in our opinions but respect each other’s. “I don’t need to surround myself with people with identical politics,” per The Guardian.

How did Holly Valance get into politics?

According to journalist Latika Bourke, the jump into politics by the “straight-talking Australian” was somewhat influenced by her husband, who has been a major donor to the Tory party. In 2022, she was spotted with her husband alongside Trump and Farage at Mar-a-Lago, per News.com.au.

Then, at Liz Truss’s new conservative movement PopCon earlier this year, she made headlines for telling GB News, “Everyone starts off as a leftie and then wakes up … realises what crap ideas they all are.”

She’s not a fan of Greta Thunberg

On Chopper’s Political Podcast with Christopher Hope, Valance called out Australia for going “woke” and brought up environmental activist Greta Thunberg as an example, calling her a “demonic little gremlin high priestess of climatism” who, she claims, is being worshipped “as the goddess in classrooms”. Valance believes that Thunberg’s activism is making kids “come home with depression and anxiety” and that she “doesn’t give anybody hope”.

Holly’s sister Olympia Valance does not share her sister’s political views, saying, “Everyone’s going to think that that’s what I think!” And I don’t,” per News.com.au.