Actor Holly Valance Says ‘Woke Stuff’ Has Gone Big in Australia

By Monica O’Shea
Monica O’Shea
Monica O’Shea
Monica O’Shea is a reporter based in Australia. She previously worked as a reporter for Motley Fool Australia, Daily Mail Australia, and Fairfax Regional Media. She can be reached at monica.o'shea@epochtimes.com.au
March 18, 2024Updated: March 18, 2024

Former Neighbours TV star Holly Valance has taken aim at wokeness in Australia during a wide-ranging interview, while describing the state of Victoria as a “nanny state.”

“The Australia I grew up in was unreal, it was so fun and we didn’t seem to have all these problems,” she said on Chopper’s Political Podcast on GB News.

“There wasn’t all this sort of like … the woke stuff has really gone big in Australia.”

The actress, singer, and model said there had been three years of “just weird stuff” going on in the world and “more and more people are waking up to it now.”

Born in Melbourne, Ms. Valance played the role of Felicity Scully on Neighbours from 1999 to 2002. She then moved to the United Kingdom where her hit single Kiss Kiss reached number one in the UK and Australia.

At the age of 20, she moved to Los Angeles where she starred in several films and television shows before moving back to the UK where she has two daughters with her husband Nick Candy, and runs The Candy Foundation.

Ms. Valance admitted she was unvaccinated and said, “I just thought it would be a strange thing to do when the age of being in the most danger was a year older than the life expectancy age.”

She lamented this was a problem when Australia closed its borders, quipping that she had missed out on an important family wedding.

“I wasn’t allowed back in for three years or something, that was pretty mental and sadly missed my sister’s wedding,” she said.

Further, the star said she is still getting fines from Victoria “every few months” for not voting, claiming “the nanny state fines you for breathing.”

Expectations in Hollywood

During the interview, Ms. Valance also weighed in on UK and American politics, describing the “lefty, woke crap” in Hollywood.

She explained there’s an expectation to be a Democrat supporter in Hollywood, rather than a Republican.

“They all expect you to be a Democrat for sure. You get shunned and you wouldn’t be living in California being a vocal Republican and in showbiz, you’re not ticking enough boxes, you’ll have to move somewhere else,” she said.

Epoch Times Photo
Nick Candy and Holly Valance arrive for the Conservative Summer Party in London, England on June 20, 2022. (Ricky Vigil/Getty Images)

Ms. Valance described the environment in Hollywood  as “very left-wing” but also as “this sort of cult.”

Ms. Valance revealed she would be backing Reform UK at the next election, having voted Conservative in 2019.

She said she would like to see Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, the honorary president of Reform UK, in charge of the party.

“I just want Nigel to pull his finger out and head Reform,” she said.