How Holly Valance went from Australian pop princess to darling of the far-right
What was the catalyst that prompted Nigel Farage’s dramatic U-turn last week, when he announced that he was in fact going to stand as an MP and lead the Reform Party?
Some have speculated that it could have been his friend Donald Trump’s criminal conviction putting him off his original plan of campaigning across the pond, or recently being accused of “bottling it” by Piers Morgan on Question Time.
But there has also been a far unlikelier influence on his political career: Holly Valance, 41, the former pop star and Neighbours actress who has become something of a regular on the right-wing political circuit alongside her husband Nick Candy, the British billionaire property tycoon and Tory donor.
The high-profile couple — who split their time between their £75 million mansion in Chelsea, their residence in Monaco, a £175 million penthouse in One Hyde Park, and a £10 million on a Grade II‑listed mansion in the Cotswolds — have become key faces among conservative circles in recent years. They attended Boris Johnson’ss wedding to Carrie in 2021 and are known to have hosted everyone from Leave EU founder Arron Banks to former US ambassador Woody Johnson at their seven-bedroom Cotswolds home.
Valance’s first association with Trump came in 2022, when she was pictured standing alongside the former POTUS, Farage and her husband with the caption, “Great dinner at Mar-a-Lago.” In the years since then Valance has declared that gender identity discussions should not be allowed in schools and called climate campaigner Greta Thunberg a “demonic little gremlin high priestess of climatism”.
This weekend rumours swirled that Valance(”it was very difficult logistics wise”, she told GB News), but she hasn’t shied away from her intention to vote for for Farage’s party. Earlier this month, she went as far as suggesting she had played a part in Farage’s decision to stand, saying she had been “in his ear” during the early stages of the election campaign. “I have been whispering in his ear for a long time,” she said. “He is the face of Reform. Richard [Tice] has done a great job and they are a great team. Hopefully now we will be stronger and we will see what we can do at this next election. I’m a paid up member.”
