Over twenty years ago, Holly Valance was starring on an Australian soap opera and topping charts with bubbly pop singles.
Now, she’s a top moneymaker for Donald Trump abroad.
Valance, 41, just hosted a fundraiser for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign in London, with some tickets costing up to $100,000. Nigel Farage — a long-time Trump ally and the leading conservative force behind Brexit — was in attendance, alongside the former president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
Only US citizens and permanent residents were able to make donations because of US election law that bans foreign contributions to campaigns.
“I would say that everyone starts as a lefty and then wakes up at some point after you start either making money, working, trying to run a business, trying to buy a home, and then realize what crap ideas they all are, and then you go to the right,” Valance told British outlet GB News earlier this month.
Valance’s views include denying climate change — “the air is better than when I was growing up,” she said — and expressing disdain for “woke-ism,” the BBC reports.
The pop star has also called climate activist Greta Thunberg a “demonic little gremlin.”
Her husband, Nick Candy, is also a major conservative supporter, making large donations to the Tory Party, according to the BBC. The couple have been public supporters of both Trump and Farage since 2022.
Valance has also claimed credit for encouraging Farage to run for office again as leader of the Reform UK Party. “I have been whispering in his ear for a long time,” she said, per GB News.
Greg Swenson, a spokesperson for Republicans Overseas UK, a campaign group for Trump’s party, told The Guardian the former president’s recent felony convictions have energized British supporters.
“We’ve already noticed that people who were writing checks for $100 are now writing for $1,000,” he said. “The question is what it means for the independents and those who are undecided.”
Before her political days, Valance was a well-known TV and musical performer.
At sixteen, she was cast on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, which she appeared in until 2022. She released her first pop single, “Kiss Kiss” in 2002. Her second single, “Down Boy,” topped charts in both the UK and Australia.
She released several high-selling albums until 2004 when she stepped away from music.
That year, she broke into US television with roles on “CSI: Miami” and “Entourage.”
Since 2013, she has largely taken a hiatus from acting and music.
