How the girl from Neighbours bagged a billionaire... Holly Valance can't believe her luck

By Lisa Sewards

Actress Holly Valance wearing leather stiletto boots and a revealing top,as she appears in the "In Style" magazine for November 2002


Though it’s tempting to describe Holly Valance as ‘the cat that got the cream’, after her open admission of her unbelievable good fortune, it’s clear that Holly isn’t smug at all.
She’s more amazed than anyone at how life has turned out for her.

A 12-year-old Holly initially wanted to work part-time at McDonald’s to help pay for school books and shoes, but needed to be 14.


So she turned to modelling instead - earning around £20,000 in the first year.

‘Money was tight and Mum used to do two jobs in order to support us,’ she says. ‘I never felt hard done by and never wanted for anything, but I grew up in a wealthy area and it made me want to go out there and earn some money to be able to buy things for myself.’


In love: Holly and Nick Candy, her billionaire boyfriend. But she says she was unaware of his wealth when she met him, and still finds it slightly unnerving


At the age of 16, she skipped her last year at school to join the television soap Neighbours. Soon she was being described as Australia’s biggest star since Kylie.

Voted No 2 in lads’ mag FHM’s top 100 girls, she made a seamless transition from Neighbours soap star to sexy pop star.

Posing seductively at the age of 19 in a revealing top and knee-high leather stiletto boots, her debut single Kiss Kiss shot to No 1 in 2002, with a sassy follow-up single in Down Boy.

Today she’s an actress, and can next be seen on Monday in ITV1’s latest Agatha Christie Marple drama The Pale Horse.

‘The wig was so tight that it gave me a migraine and it’s certainly not sexy, but now I’m doing exactly what I want to do,’ she explains.

‘And I’d never done a period drama so it’s great to tick another box.’


Still modelling: Holly is still looking good, but she is toning down the raunchy image that defined her during her music career


As if that weren’t good luck enough, Holly has bagged a billionaire boyfriend - and it’s true love.

‘I’ve got such a disgusting, wide, smug grin on my face all the time that my friends just want to slap me,’ she giggles. ‘I’ve never been so happy.’

If Holly wants a swimming pool which turns into a dance floor at the touch of a button, she just has to ask.

Or a mirror with a 360-degree video to see what her bottom looks like from behind?

She just has to click her fingers. Not that she ever would, though, as she says she’ll never get used to her 37-year-old boyfriend Nick Candy’s surreal world of the super-rich.

‘Is he actually a billionaire?’ She smiles.


Music career: The songs may not have been as memorable as some of the increasingly revealing outfits worn by Holly on stage in 2002-2003


Nick and Christian Candy are the slick, sharp brothers on a roll since transforming a £6,000 loan from their grandmother into a £9 billion global property portfolio of the world’s most prestigious real estate.

‘The wealth and the lifestyle were overwhelming initially,’ admits Holly, 27.

‘I was used to razzle dazzle and meeting lots of famous people, but I wasn’t used to super-yachts and private jets.

‘It was like: “Wow!”

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it, and I’m not sure Nick will either because he’s also from a very normal background.’

You can see that Holly, who has always had steady, long-term relationships since her teens, loves being in love.

‘Nick’s got to be the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life - he’s hysterical. We’re like two kids running around London all the time, giggling in the back of taxis. I do love being around him. We’re great mates.’


Film roles: After her singing career wound up, she moved to LA and starred in a number of films, including Dead Or Alive (2006)


Does he treat her often? ‘It’s worse than that - I am a spoilt brat. My friends and my sister say: “I hate you!” when I show them what he’s bought me.

‘I got a pretty good birthday present,’ she smiles, rolling up her sleeve to reveal a stunning rose gold Rolex Daytona watch, worth around £20,000.

And that was just one of the gifts.

‘Nick’s so generous with all his friends and family.’

But she had no idea about his Gatsby-rich status when they first met at a dinner party.

‘I didn’t know anything about him. I just thought “Cor, if I didn’t fancy you so much, we’d be the best of friends. Instead, I just want to make out with you all the time".'
When she did learn about his wealth, Holly ‘freaked out’.

‘I rang my mum and said: “I don’t think I can do this because it’s just too much.”

'And she said: “You can’t hold that against the man. He’s a hard-working genius and he’s got as much right as anyone else to love and be loved. So you just stop looking at his bespoke chandelier and his gorgeous car and start focusing on him.”


Latest role: Holly is on TV screens on Monday in ITV1's Miss Marple mystery The Pale Horse, as an Australian called 'Kanga'


‘She was right, of course, so I started to walk through his house looking at my feet so I didn’t notice anything too flash and didn’t stop in my tracks and think “Oh my God!”.’

Her first jaw-dropping moment came when she visited the Candy brothers’ £50 million super-yacht Candyscape II, with its permanent standby crew and a state-ofthe-art 100in plasma screen, which meant the boat had to be specially re-balanced.

‘When I saw the boat for the first time, I was stunned and said “Oh dear God! It’s a mansion on water. It’s incredible”.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, and I’m certainly glad I’m not the one paying the maintenance on it.

‘Instead, when I think of Nick’s wealth, I think “You’re the hardest-working person I know and you really deserve your money”.’


Comfortable: Shy by nature, Holly has learned to live with the paparazzi interest and now feels more at home in England


Not that Nick Candy is the only deserving one. Holly has always been a hard worker, and even now is not resting on her laurels.

After leaving Neighbours, she launched her pop career in London in 2002 in what she now describes as a whirlwind of naivety.

‘I just didn’t understand the concept of being famous. I liked being able to look after my mum and buy a nice car, but I didn’t get the whole package.

‘Instead, I’d go to a film premiere and insist on walking in the back door because I didn’t understand that the reason I was invited was to be photographed on the red carpet. I’d get into so much trouble.

‘I didn’t even know I was paying for a publicist. I thought he was just a guy who liked coming to gigs with me and then I got a shock when he presented his bill! I was so naive. I learnt the hard way.’

Raunchy songs such as All In The Mind, Naughty Girl and Tuck Your Shirt In served only to seal her pin-up image, and TV watchdogs even deemed her dance routines too sexy for children’s television.

source :dailymail