Olympia Valance

Early life

Olympia Valance was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 7 January 1993 to Rajko Vukadinović, a model and musician, and Tania Gogos-Wilson. Valance's father is Serbian and her mother is Greek Australian. She is the step-daughter of Australian Rock Legend Ross Wilson, who married her mother. Valance is the third eldest of eight half-siblings; she grew up living with younger half-brother Dimitri and a younger half-sister Athina Wilson, who is an accomplished singer. Her older half-sister Holly Valance, with whom she shares Vukadinović as a father, is also a singer and an actress. Valance attended Shelford Girls' Grammar School and studied at the Melbourne Actor's Lab.

Career

In March 2014, it was announced that Valance would make her acting debut in the long-running soap opera Neighbours as Paige Smith. Valance had been a successful model prior to her casting and won the role after going through a long audition process, which included four call-backs. Her half-sister Holly previously appeared in the show as Felicity "Flick" Scully from 1999 until 2002. Valance was initially contracted for three years and she made her screen debut as Paige on 2 June 2014. Valance's portrayal of Paige earned her nominations for Most Popular New Talent at the Logie Awards and Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards in 2015. She appeared in a documentary special celebrating the show's 30th anniversary titled Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite, which aired in Australia and the United Kingdom in March 2015.

In December 2014, Valance became the new face and body of UK lingerie brand Gossard. Of her role, she said "The last year has been a whirlwind and to work with such an established name as Gossard is a dream come true. I absolutely love working on Neighbours and the fact that I am able to come over to England and do an incredible campaign like this is a credit to the show's following, both here and down under." Valance has appeared in photo shoots for the brand's swimwear and lingerie collections, including their 2015 spring/summer campaign. In July 2015, she became an ambassador for the Australian chocolate bar Cherry Ripe.

In January 2016, Valance was the ambassador of the Jeep Marquee for the annual Jeep Portsea Polo event. That same month, she revealed that she signed with California-based agency Roar after they came looking for her. The agency also looks after fellow Australian actors Liam and Chris Hemsworth, who have both gone on to have huge success in Hollywood. Valance has expressed an interest in moving on from Neighbours once her three-year contract ends.