Olympia Valance

Olympia Valance was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 7 January 1993 to Rajko Vukadinović, a model and musician, and Tania Gogos. Valance's father is Serbian and her mother is Greek Australian.[2] Her step-father is Australian musician Ross Wilson, who married her mother.[2][3] Valance has seven half-siblings;[4] Her older half-sister Holly Valance, with whom she shares Vukadinović as a father, is also a singer and an actress.[5][6] Valance attended Shelford Girls' Grammar School and studied at the Melbourne Actor's Lab.[3][7]

In March 2014, it was announced that Valance would make her acting debut in the long-running soap opera Neighbours as Paige Smith.[5] Valance had been a successful model prior to her casting and won the role after going through a long audition process, which included four call-backs.[5][8] Her half-sister Holly previously appeared in the show as Felicity "Flick" Scully from 1999 until 2002.[5] Valance was initially contracted for three years and she made her screen debut as Paige on 2 June 2014.[9][10] Valance's portrayal of Paige earned her nominations for Most Popular New Talent at the Logie Awards[11] and Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards in 2015.[12] She appeared in a documentary special celebrating the show's 30th anniversary titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which aired in Australia and the United Kingdom in March 2015.[13][14]

In December 2014, Valance became the new face and body of UK lingerie brand Gossard. Of her role, she said "The last year has been a whirlwind and to work with such an established name as Gossard is a dream come true. I absolutely love working on Neighbours and the fact that I am able to come over to England and do an incredible campaign like this is a credit to the show's following, both here and down under."[15] Valance has appeared in photo shoots for the brand's swimwear and lingerie collections, including their 2015 spring/summer campaign.[2][15] In July 2015, she became an ambassador for the Australian chocolate bar Cherry Ripe.[16][17]

In January 2016, Valance was the ambassador of the Jeep Marquee for the annual Jeep Portsea Polo event.[18] That same month, she revealed that she signed with California-based agency Roar after they came looking for her.[18] The agency also looks after fellow Australian actors Liam and Chris Hemsworth, who have both had successful careers in Hollywood.[18][19] Valance has expressed an interest in moving on from Neighbours once her three-year contract ends.[19] On 1 December 2017, it was announced that Valance had filmed her last scenes as Paige.[20] Wilson confirmed that Valance would be moving to Los Angeles in January 2018 to pursue film and television roles during pilot season.[21]

Valance joined the cast of Network Ten's sports drama Playing For Keeps in May 2018. She plays Tahlia, a socialite who is engaged to the captain of an Australian rules football team.[22] In January 2019, Network Ten announced Valance would compete on the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars.[23] Valance was paired with professional dancer Jarryd Byrne.[24] On 18 March 2019, they became the fourth pair to be eliminated, despite receiving a high score from the judges for their jive.[25]

In 2020, Valance reprised her role as Paige for Neighbours' 35th anniversary.[26] She also became a judge on Australia's Got Talent: Challengers & Champions,[27] and the Sideline Reporter on miniature golf competition series Holey Moley.[28]

Valance announced in June 2019 that she was in a relationship with AFL footballer Tom Bellchambers.[29] They became engaged in October 2020.[30]

In August 2020, Valance reported that in 2019 she was a victim of a cyber crime. Her phone was hacked and personal images were distributed without her consent.[31]

• Olympia Valance at IMDb
• Olympia Valance on Twitter