ONTD Original: From soap stars to pop or flop stars... Part 2
Follow up to this post - ONTD Original: From soap stars to pop or flop stars... Part 1
THE ONES WHO TRIED IT THEN BAILED
1. Holly Valance
Holly appeared as Felicity Scully in Neighbours from 1999 - 2002.
She left Neighbours to start her music career and in April of 2002 released the absolute banger Kiss Kiss, an English language cover version of Turkish singer, Tarkan's "Şımarık". It debuted at number 1 on both the Australian and UK singles charts and charted in the top 10 in seventeen countries.
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Click to viewHer debut album Footprints was released in October of 2002 and two more singles were released from the album, that both went to number 3 in Australia and charted internationally.
Her second album State of Mind was released in November of 2003 and the lead single and title track State of Mind is elctro-pop-rock euphoria that still holds up as yet another absolute banger in her catalogue.
Her music career was unfortunately short lived due to legal issues with her management and record label at the time.
She has stated "I do something until it's not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."
She did however feature on a release in 2014 titled Hopeless with Andy Clockwise and again it is a total banger.
She stated in a red carpet interview that "her gays constantly beg her to get back into music" and yes ma'am I will add my name to that list of gays.
She is currently busy being a mother and a billionaire so unlikely she will give the gays what they want just yet.
2. Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Nat appeared as Izzy Hoyland on Neighbours from 2003 -2007 and reprised the role for a guest appearance when she returned in February 2018 until March 2018.
In 2004, she was recruited as the lead singer of Australian electro-pop band Rogue Traders.
With the Rogue Traders, Nat had a successful music career, she released 2 albums with the band before also releasing a solo album.
In May 2005, the band released Voodoo Child as their fifth overall single-the first with Bassingwaighte-which reached number four in Australia and number three in the UK.
Following the success of Voodoo Child the band released a full album with Nat on lead vocals Here Come The Drums, It was certified 4× platinum and became their most successful album.
In October 2007 Rogue Traders released their third album and second with Nat Better In The Dark, For this album, Nat is credited as a co-composer for five of its twelve tracks, including all three singles released from the album.
In June 2008, Nat left the group to pursue her solo career and in October 2008, the album's lead single Alive was released. The album 1000 stars was released on 20 February 2009 and debuted at number 1.
Since then Nat has continued to act, host and perform, even reuniting with Rogue Traders in 2015 for a handful of shows with the possibility of a full reunion project in the future.
3. Stephanie McIntosh
Stephanie played the role of Sky Mangel from 2003 - 2007. She made a brief appearance for one episode in 2015 as part of the show's 30th anniversary celebrations, and returned again in 2020 as part of the shows 35th anniversary episodes.
Stephanie's half-brother is Jason Donovan who also launched a pop career following Neighbours.
In 2006 Steph signed a "multi-album deal" with Universal Music Australia. However she would only go on to release one album, her debut album Tightrope that same year.
Her album was promoted through a reality show The Steph Show that was airing after Neighbours. It was very Ashlee-simpson-show-esque. The show debuted the day before the release of her debut single Mistake.
Mistake debuted at no.3 and was certified gold giving the impression Steph was on her way to a solid music career.
However continuing the Ashlee-simpson-esque career model, Steph's live performances gained a lot of negative press. She was nominated for "Spankin' New Artist" at the 2006 MTV Australian Music Awards, at which she also performed her third single So Do I Say Sorry First?.
Due to no musical backing on the night, her performance was again subject to criticism and was even cut out by MTV from later screenings of the show.
These days she is a mother of two daughters, has expressed interest in new music and continues to audition for roles.
4. Bec Hewitt
Bec Hewitt as Bec Cartwright played Hayley Smith Lawson on Home & Away from 1998 - 2005. She departed the show after marrying and having a baby with tennis player Leyton Hewitt.
In 2002 Bec released her debut single All Seats Taken, a song that was originally written for a female winner of the competition show Popstars 3. However, no female vocalist won the series and the song was given to Bec instead.
The song went to number 10 in Australia and she followed with the release of her debut and only album the self-titled Bec Cartwright in 2003.
She would release two more singles from the album that would not chart in the top ten like her lead single and she would discontinue her music career.
Since then, Bec has mainly kept out of the industry and put her focus on being a mother of three and a wife, although she recently appeared on Dancing With The Stars All Stars where her and her dance partner finished in second place.
5. Tammin Sursok
Tammin appeared as Dani Sutherland on Home & Away from 2000 - 2004. Tammin considered herself lucky to get the role and called the experience "Incredible. It was my first audition, so I thought it always worked like that, and you always get your first audition, but that is not the case."
Tammin left the show in 2004 to launch her music career and to pursue acting opportunities in the United States.
In 2004 she released her lead single Pointless Relationship.
Her debut album Whatever Will Be was released in 2005 and charted at number 13 in Australia. She released three singles from the album that all charted well in the top ten and plans were made to launch her music in the UK but when those plans fell through Tammin went back to pursue acting.
Tammin did find moderate success as an actress in the US with key roles in The Young and the Restless, Pretty Little Liars and Nickelondeon's Spectacular!.
In 2014 she expressed interest in returning to music and released a cover of Say Something by A Great Big World.
Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, + google&my memory