Madeleine West

Born Melanie Ann Weston, West was born and raised in Woodend. She attended Woodend Primary School and eight high schools because her family followed her stepfather's engineering work around the country. ==Career==

After commencing a degree in law at Deakin University, West deferred her studies indefinitely to turn to acting. In 1999, West was awarded the 'Be Your Best' Performance Scholarship from the Australian Drug Foundation. West's amateur theatre credits include Arsenic and Old Lace, Night Reflections, Theatre in the Raw, Bye Bye Birdie, and Snow Queen. West joined the cast of Neighbours as Dee Bliss in 1999. Two years later, she was nominated for the "Most Popular New Female Talent" Logie Award. In March 2003, it was announced West was to leave Neighbours after her contract expired. She filmed her final scenes in early April. West appeared in crime drama Underbelly as Danielle McGuire in 2008. In 2011, she joined the cast of Winners & Losers in the recurring role of Deidre Gross. West previously turned down a role with the show due to being heavily pregnant with her third child. In 2017, West returned to Neighbours to play Andrea Somers, a lookalike who posed as Dee Bliss. West also joined the cast of The Wrong Girl as TV host Erica Jones. Her first book titled Six Under Eight was published in March of that year. The books focus on topics such as bullying, illness and body image, and are told through schoolgirl Lily as she takes on different characters for a play. The podcast called for Australia's sex offender registry to be made public and for victims to be fairly compensated. In 2024, West joined Broad Radio in a guest host capacity. ==Personal life==

In July 2002, West was hit by a bus in Sydney. The actress was also robbed while she was unconscious. She needed reconstructive plastic surgery and had to be written out of Neighbours but returned to the show a month later. before entering into a relationship with Shannon Bennett, a restaurateur, in 2005. In September 2018, West confirmed that she and Bennett had separated, but were "striving to reconnect as friends and parents". West was in a relationship with environmentalist Maximo Bottaro. They met in 2020 while West was volunteering at his organisation ReForest Now. On 13 January 2025, West announced that she was pregnant, after initially assuming her symptoms were related to perimenopause. She announced that she had given birth to her seventh child on 20 April 2025. Sexual abuse In January 2023, West revealed she was sexually abused as a child; the abuse began when she was 4 years old and continued until she was 10. She said, "Part of the reason I went into acting was to wear someone else's skin, to hide what was actually happening in my life". White did not deny the abuse, but claimed he could not remember it. He apologised to West and asked for forgiveness. However, West later said that the man was not truly remorseful. The criminal investigation of White revealed that he had abused other children. Six other victims were willing to testify in court along with West. White, aged 73, was charged with 33 sexual offences. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a minimum of nine years to be served before he can be considered for parole. ==Filmography==

Film Television Other appearances ==References==