Craig McLachlan was the Neighbours blonde hunk who sent viewers’ hearts racing, but a lot has happened for him since he left Erinsborough all those years ago.
As he heals from the fallout from sexual assault allegations, which he was subsequently exonerated of in court but maintains “ruined” his life, things are quite different from his soap opera heydey.
Fans fell at Craig’s feet when he played Henry Ramsay in more than 800 episodes of the well-known Australian programme. His song Mona, which peaked at number 2 in the UK charts in 1990, was another success for him.
The Australian program’s curly-haired clown, played by actor Craig, was the brother of mechanic Charlene, played by music legend Kylie Minogue, and the son of Madge, played by Anne Charleston.
He also had a brief appearance on the competing soap opera Home & Away after leaving. After 34 years, the actor has a thick grey beard and a completely different appearance than he did in his soap opera roles.
The man many people watched grow up is no longer Craig, 58, and it appears that a lot has changed in his life since leaving Ramsay Street.
He was exonerated in 2020 of all charges that he had assaulted four women while performing on stage in his native Australia.
Craig was accused of seven indecent assaults and six common assaults, but he continuously denied all of them.
The claims were from a 2014 Australian production, and a magistrate in Sydney ruled him not guilty of all 13 charges.
In a video taken afterwards, Craig sobbed as he said the allegations had “ruined” his life.
In the video, which he and his companion Vanessa Scammell shot, he stated, “You see, this is not just about a headline for the day, this is ruining lives.
“Not just me, you want to crucify me? ” he continued. Fine. Look what it has done to my lovely girlfriend and what it is doing daily to my family.
Craig said last year that “cancel culture” was to blame for his exclusion from the last episodes of Neighbours at the time.
Despite being exonerated and receiving a $500,000 compensation, the ominous cloud still looms over his head.
Due to the assault charges, Craig claimed he was ignored and forced to watch his co-stars, including Kylie and Ian Smith, make their entrances without him.
Even after travelling the UK and Europe in the 1990s with his band, Check 1-2, he still has a passion for music. Craig also has a considerable acting resume in theatre.
with roles in Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the London West End version of Grease.
