HOLLY VALANCE - VALANCE HURT BY BRITISH PRESS

Hollywood newcomer HOLLY VALANCE was stunned when the British press turned on her in 2002 - only six months after heralding her as the next pop superstar. After two years in Australian soap NEIGHBOURS, Valance moved to London in the hope of launching a pop career. However, after poor sales of her first two albums FOOTPRINTS and STATE OF MIND, Valance was dropped by her record company and decided to return to acting. She says, "It was hard for me to deal with because some weeks I was the best thing since sliced bread and the next week I was the evilest thing. "And I was like, 'I haven't left my house. What changed?'" After a trip back home to Australia, The DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE actress was persuaded by her manager to relocate to Hollywood. She explains, "I'll stick around and ride things out generally but he could see I was getting a bit run down, so I said 'OK' and I didn't go back. "I had someone else help me pack up my London flat and ship everything back to Australia and then I rocked up in LA and was like, 'So, does anybody want to give me a job?' And they did."