Holly Rachel Candy (née Vukadinovic, born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is an Australian actress, singer, and model. Valance began her career as Felicity "Flick" Scully on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. In 2002 she released her first album, Footprints, which included the single "Kiss Kiss".
Early life
Valance was born to a Serb father, Rajko Vukadinović, and an English mother, Rachel (née Stephens), from Southampton.[3][4] Her father was a musician, playing the piano, and also a model in his younger years in Belgrade.[5][6] Her mother was also a model, in the United Kingdom, and her father was a near relative to Benny Hill.[4][5][6] She has two sisters, Coco and Olympia, and all three have dual Australian-British citizenship.[7][8]
Valance grew up in Melbourne and moved to the UK when she was 18. After
two years in the UK, she spent seven years in Los Angeles.[7]
Career
Acting
As a teenager, in 1999 she was cast in the long-running Australian soap Neighbours as Felicity "Flick" Scully. Valance left the series in 2002 to pursue a music career.[9]
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. She guest-starred in Prison Break in 2006 as Nika Volek, a role which she continued to portray in the show's second season.
In 2006, Valance appeared in the National Lampoon comedy Pledge This!, alongside American socialite Paris Hilton. The same year, she was in DOA: Dead or Alive, an adaptation of the popular video game Dead or Alive, where 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 The CW series Valentine. 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 in which she says one line at the end of the film before inexplicably they changed the actress [10]
She is also set to appear as Angela in the movie Red Herring[11] and as Sally in the upcoming thriller titled Luster.[citation needed] She also appeared in the Miss Marple television episode called "The Pale Horse". Valance is currently[when?] judging Discovery's new show Ultimate Shopper.
Strictly Come Dancing
Main article: Strictly Come Dancing (series 9)
On 6 September 2011 it was announced that Valance would take part in the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing.[12] Valance was paired with Series 8 professional winner Artem Chigvintsev.[13] Valance was eliminated in the 11th week of the competition, giving her a fourth place finish.
Music
Valance at an airport filming an advert for 1800 Reverse
Valance's first single as a recording artist was "Kiss Kiss", an English language cover of the Turkish singer Tarkan's "Şımarık" (composed by the Turkish "diva" Sezen Aksu), released in 2002. The song entered both the Australian Recording Industry Association and UK Singles Charts
charts at No. 1 in April/May 2002. The director's cut version of the
music video was notable in that Valance appeared to be dancing naked.
She revealed that she was topless but also wearing flesh-coloured underwear. The footage was digitally retouched adding strategically placed lighting effects. The song was nominated for four ARIA Music Awards.[14]
Valance's next single, "Down Boy" peaked at No. 2 in the UK and at No. 3 in Australia. Her first album, Footprints,
was released on 14 October 2002. It peaked in its first week at No. 9
in the UK and No. 15 in Australia. The album's third and final single "Naughty Girl" peaked at No. 3 in Australia and at No. 16 in the UK. In 2003, the first single "State of Mind" from Valance's second album State of Mind peaked in its first week No. 8 in the UK and at No. 14 in Australia, but the album did not reach the top 50 in either country.
Following the legal problems and poor sales from the album State of Mind,
Valance was reportedly dropped from her recording company. She denied
this stating, "I asked to be released, but Warner refused, so I hung out
for a year until the contract expired. We parted on good terms."[15] Valance later confirmed she is no longer interested in recording music, telling Men's Style magazine:
"No one can make any money. It was a really tough slog and I had a good go at it, but it was difficult. You put in so much effort and put in so many long hours for not much return. I was making all my money from endorsements and appearances, but I didn't make that much from the actual record sales. I think everyone is suffering in the music industry. It wasn't just me. I do something until it's not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."[16]
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".[17] In 2009, she appeared in Frankmusik's video for his single "Confusion Girl". She also leaked a track called "Superstar" in 2009.
Endorsements
Valance appeared in adverts for the reverse charges service 1800 Reverse
In addition to film and television roles, Valance has also appeared in ads for Schwarzkopf hair care products and 1800 Reverse.[18]
In 2011 Valance appeared in an advert for Foster's Gold bottled beer.[19]
Personal life
After living in Los Angeles for seven years, Valance returned to the
UK in 2009. On 29 September 2012, Valance married property developer Nick Candy in Beverly Hills, California.[20] She is expecting her first child with her husband Nick Candy.[21]
Legal troubles
In 2003 Valance fired her then-manager Scott Michaelson
(who owns Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd) by telephone, 15 months before his
contract was due to expire. Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd sued Valance
Corp., won the case and was awarded damages by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.[22][23]
During the trial Valance's mother claimed that Michaelson was
negligent in his duties as a manager, which forced her to take over from
him.[24] The former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine
also gave evidence that Valance "said she was feeling bad, a bit
stressed out, because she was leaving Scott" and that "she said the
solicitors for her record company would get her out of the contract and
would be faxing him the paper work (from the UK) to do so."[25] In court, Valance denied that she had said this to Valentine, even though she had signed an affidavit stating she had no recollection of the conversation.[26][27]
Justice Clifford Einstein said, "I have given close consideration to
the question of whether or not the circumstances presently before the
Court which do, it seems to me, show a calculated disregard of the
rights of Biscayne as well as a cynical pursuit of benefit".[22]
The court subsequently ordered Valance Corp. pay $350,000 to Biscayne
Partners Pty. Ltd. Of this amount, $47,264.56 was "from shares Ms
Valance and Mr Michaelson had bought together on the London Stock
Exchange",[28] though the court did not award in favour of Biscayne getting a percentage of sales of her album, State of Mind.[22][29]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | DOA: Dead or Alive | Christie Allen | |
| 2006 | Pledge This! | Jessica | |
| 2008 | Taken | Sheerah | |
| 2009 | X Returns | Sammy Walters | Short film |
| 2009 | Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising | Brenda Snow (voice) | Video game |
| 2009 | Kambakkht Ishq | Herself | Cameo |
| 2010 | Luster | Sally | |
| 2011 | Surviving Georgia | Rose | |
| 2011 | Big Mamma's Boy | Katie | |
| 2012 | Red Herring | Angela |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2005 | Neighbours | Felicity Scully | 420 episodes |
| 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 | 5 episodes |
| 2007 | Moonlight | Lola | Episode: "B.C." |
| 2007 | Shark | Christina Shaw | Episode: "Every Breath You Take" |
| 2008 | Valentine | Vivi Langdon | Episode: "Act Naturally" |
| 2010 | Marple: The Pale Horse | Kanga | TV movie |
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [30] |
JPN [31] |
UK [32] |
|||
| Footprints |
|
15 | 19 | 9 |
|
| State of Mind |
|
57 | 12 | 60 | |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [30] |
AUT [33] |
FRA [34] |
GER [35] |
IRE [36] |
NLD [37] |
NZ [38] |
SWE [39] |
SWI [40] |
UK [32] |
||||
| "Kiss Kiss" | 2002 | 1 | 11 | 50 | 19 | 2 | 24 | 17 | 12 | 19 | 1 |
|
Footprints |
| "Down Boy" | 3 | — | — | 61 | 8 | 34 | 37 | — | 70 | 2 |
|
||
| "Naughty Girl" | 3 | 56 | — | 52 | 25 | 39 | — | 50 | — | 16 |
|
||
| "State of Mind" | 2003 | 14 | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | 8 | State of Mind | |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||||||||||||
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 |
| 2003 | Disney Channel Kids Awards | Breakthrough Artist |
|
Won |
| 2003 | Disney Channel Kids Awards | Best Single | "Kiss Kiss" | Won |
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