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Holly Valance
Holly Valance 1800-1.jpg
Valance in 2006, advertising the reverse charges service 1800 Reverse
Born
Holly Rachel Vukadinović

(1983-05-11) 11 May 1983 (age 40)
Other names Holly Candy
Occupation
  • Model
  • actress
  • singer
Years active 1997–present
Spouse(s)
Nick Candy
(m. 2012)
Children 2
Relatives Olympia Valance (half-sister)
Musical career
Genres
Instruments Vocals
Labels London

Holly Rachel Candy (née Vukadinović; born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is an Australian model, actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Felicity Scully on the Australian soap opera Neighbours (1999–2002) and Nika Volek in Prison Break (2005–2006). Her film roles include, DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), Pledge This! (2006), Taken (2008), Kambakkht Ishq (2009), and Big Mamma's Boy (2011) and Red Herring (2015).

She released her first album, Footprints (2002), which provided three top 3 singles: "Kiss Kiss", "Down Boy" and "Naughty Girl". Her second and final album, State of Mind (2003) provided the title-song as single.

Early life

Holly Valance was born on 11 May 1983, as Holly Rachel Vukadinović, in Fitzroy, Victoria to a Serbian father, Rajko Vukadinović, and a British mother, Rachel (née Stephens), of English and Spanish descent. Her father was a former pianist and model in his native Belgrade, Serbia, former Yugoslavia. Her mother, whose father was a relative of Benny Hill, was a model in the United Kingdom. Valance's parents divorced in 1986. Valance has a sister, Coco. Rajko later remarried and Holly has a half-sister, Olympia, who has also acted in Neighbours as Paige Smith (2014–2018, 2020, 2022). In Melbourne Rajko ran a "trendy imported European clothes store". She started modelling as a teenager, when "she posed for supermarket catalogues and ad campaigns and by 14 she was earning $200 an hour modelling children's clothes and teenage lingerie." Valance grew up in Melbourne and moved to the UK when she was 18; she holds both Australian and British citizenship. After two years she moved to Los Angeles, where she spent seven years before returning to the United Kingdom.

Career

1999–2003: Neighbours and music

In 1999 at age 16, Valance was cast in the Australian TV soap opera, Neighbours, as Felicity "Flick" Scully. Soon after gaining the role she left her Catholic school, "where girls were given detention for wearing make-up or having a hem above the knee." She appeared in Human Nature's music video for "He Don't Love You" (November 2000), "in a raunchy shower scene." Valance left Neighbours in 2002 to start her music career. Her first single, released in April 2002, was "Kiss Kiss", an English language cover version of Turkish singer, Tarkan's "Şımarık". It entered both the ARIA Singles and UK Singles Charts at No. 1. It charted in the top ten in seventeen countries. The song was nominated for four ARIA Music Awards in 2002.

Valance's second single, "Down Boy" (September), peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in Australia. Her first album, Footprints, was released on 14 October 2002, which reached No. 9 in the UK and No. 15 in Australia. She co-wrote the album track, "The Harder They Come", with Rob Davis, who supplied guitar for the album. The album's third and final single, "Naughty Girl" peaked at No. 3 in Australia and No. 16 in the UK. Valance's second album, State of Mind, appeared in November 2003 and its title track, was the lead single. It peaked at No. 8 in the UK and at No. 14 in Australia. Valance dropped London Recordings in 2004 and said she is no longer interested in recording music.

2004–2013: Prison Break and films

Holly Valance 1800-2
Valance at an airport filming an advert for 1800 Reverse, in 2006

In 2004, Valance returned to acting, this time in the United States, appearing in episodes of the television series CSI: Miami and Entourage. In 2005, she appeared in an episode of CSI: NY. In 2005 Valance returned to music, albeit briefly, when she appeared on Har Mar Superstar's album The Handler singing on the tracks, "DUI", "Back the Camel Up" and "Body Request". She appeared in Prison Break in 2006 as Nika Volek, a role which she continued to portray in the show's second season. Also in 2006, Valance appeared in the National Lampoon comedy Pledge This!, alongside American socialite Paris Hilton. The same year, she starred in DOA: Dead or Alive, an adaptation of the popular video game Dead or Alive, in which she played Christie. In 2007, she appeared in the TV series Shark and Moonlight. In 2008 she had a role in the film Taken alongside Liam Neeson, and appeared in an episode of The CW series Valentine.

In 2009, she appeared in Frankmusik's video for his single "Confusion Girl". She also leaked a track called "Superstar" in 2009. In 2009 Valance played Brenda Snow for the video game Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising. She also appeared in Scott Caan's film Mercy. Valance took part in the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she was paired with the professional winner of series 8, Artem Chigvintsev. Valance and Chigvintsev were eliminated in the semi-final of the competition on 11 December 2011, giving them a fourth-place finish. She also starred in the Miss Marple television episode called "The Pale Horse". In 2011, Valance appeared in an advert for Foster's Gold bottled beer.

In 2013, Valance was mentor and judge of fashion competition Shopaholic Showdown.

2013–present: Hiatus and other projects

In 2013, Valance took a hiatus from her artistic career to prioritize her family and has been doing only charity work ever since as Ambassador of The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. During that time she only appeared in the movie Red Herring, released in 2015 and shot in 2013. On 28 July 2022, Valance made a cameo appearance as Felicity Scully in the final-ever Neighbours episode. Her appearance was filmed alongside Natalia Imbruglia's character, Beth Brennan which was filmed in the UK.

Personal life

From 2005 to 2009 Valance dated Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin. In 2010 she started dating billionaire British property developer Nick Candy, whom she married on 29 September 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. In November 2013, Valance gave birth in London to their first child, a daughter. In September 2017, they had a second daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2006 DOA: Dead or Alive Christie Allen
2006 Pledge This! Jessica
2008 Taken Sheerah
2009 Kambakkht Ishq Herself
2010 Luster Sally
2011 Surviving Georgia Rose
2011 Big Mamma's Boy Katie
2015 Red Herring Angela

Television

Year Title Role Notes
  • 1999–2002
  • 2005
  • 2022
Neighbours Felicity Scully
  • Main role
  • Episode: "20th Anniversary"
  • Episode: "The Finale"
2004 CSI: Miami Kay Coleman Episode: "Addiction"
2005 Entourage Leanna Episode: "My Maserati Does 185"
2005 CSI: NY Lydia Episode: "YoungBlood"
2005–2006 Prison Break Nika Volek Recurring role (seasons 1–2)
2007 Moonlight Lola Episode: "B.C."
2007 Shark Christina Shaw Episode: "Every Breath You Take"
2008 Valentine Vivi Langdon Episode: "Act Naturally"
2010 Agatha Christie's Marple Kanga Episode: "The Pale Horse"
2011 Strictly Come Dancing Herself Contestant (season 9)
2013 Shopaholic Showdown Herself Judge

Video game

  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising (2009), as Brenda Snow (voice role)

Discography

  • Footprints (2002)
  • State of Mind (2003)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Title of work Result
2000 Logie Award Most Popular New Talent – Female Neighbours Nominated
2002 ARIA Award Highest Selling Single "Kiss Kiss" Nominated
2002 ARIA Award Best Female Artist "Kiss Kiss" Nominated
2002 ARIA Award Breakthrough Artist – Single "Kiss Kiss" Nominated
2002 ARIA Award Best Pop Release "Kiss Kiss" Nominated
2002 MTV Video Music Awards International Viewers Choice Awards - Australia "Kiss Kiss" Won
2003 Disney Channel Kids Awards Breakthrough Artist Herself Won
2003 Disney Channel Kids Awards Best Single "Kiss Kiss" Won

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Holly Valance para niños

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