Holly Valance has claimed she convinced Nigel Farage to stand to be an MP in July’s General Election and said she has been ‘whispering in his ear for a long time’.
The Neighbours star, 41, said she talked the new Reform leader around after he initially decided against running – before he announced on Monday that he would stand in Clacton, Essex.
The former actress and pop star said she had been ‘whispering in [Farage’s] ear for a long time, saying, “Come on, pull your finger out, give the people what they want”.’
She told GB News that Mr Farage’s return to frontline politics was the ‘right move’ and ‘exactly what we all wanted’.
Holly Valance attended Nigel Farage’s announcement on Monday in London, as he announced he would stand for election
Nigel Farage was unveiled as the Reform party’s new leader on Monday at an ’emergency’ press conference
The Neighbours star (with husband Nick Candy), 41, said she talked the new Reform leader around after he initially decided against running (pictured at Farage’s press conference)
Holly Candy (née Valance), 41, has yet again thrown her support behind Nigel Farage. Pictured (L to R) with husband Nick Candy, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage
‘I think it’s really important to go and listen to everyone and educate yourself on all sides, and see who you find your morals and values are closest to,’ Holly said after attending Mr Farage’s announcement on Monday.
‘For me it’s Reform, it has been for a little while, so I’m gunning for that. I’m a paid-up member.’
Mr Farage stunned the Conservatives on Monday as he announced he was taking over from former leader Richard Tice as the head of the party, and that he would be standing for election for a ninth time.
Announcing his bid for the Clacton seat, he said the election needed a bit of ‘gingering up’, as he described it as ‘the dullest, most boring election campaign we have ever seen in our lives’.
Writing in The Telegraph, he alleged that the UK has been ‘failed by two main parties’ who have ‘conspired to accelerate our decline’.
He argued that neither the Tories nor Labour have a ‘plan to pull this country out of a deep economic hole’ and that both are ‘hooked on a deadly addiction to mass immigration’.
The Reform Party leader, citing alleged interactions with ‘patriotic Brits’ he met while campaigning last weekend, claimed that voters feel ‘sick’ at the Government’s ‘policy of betrayal’.
But he has already had several rather tetchy media appearances and this morning clashed with the BBC’s Mishal Hussein as he claimed – without evidence – that there are streets in Oldham where ‘no-one speaks English.’
Holly Valance sits next to Charlie Mullins, of Pimlico Plumbers, at Farage’s event in London on Monday
Ms Valance, pictured at Mr Farage’s conference on Monday, has become a poster girl for the right-wing party
Holly revealed she convinced Farage to run after he initially decided against doing so
Holly has made headlines recently after she praised Trump as ‘fabulous’ and slammed her home country Australia as too ‘woke’ during an explosive interview
He yesterday hit out at several female journalists at his press conference, accusing one of asking him a ‘very silly question’ and did not directly answer several others.
Mr Farage’s return to the political arena has sparked concern among the Conservatives who fear it will reduce their vote share even further.
A new poll by YouGov published last night revealed Labour is projected to achieve an even bigger landslide win than the Blair government in 1997.
Mr Farage introduced Holly and her billionaire husband Nick Candy to Donald Trump, 77, in 2022 during a dinner held at the former president’s home in Mar-A-Lago.
Candy, who is a Conservative Party donor, is set to host an exclusive Trump election fundraiser on June 7.
Taking place in London, tickets will cost a whopping $100,000 per couple to attend.
‘It’s a Holly party, so you can guarantee it’s going to be enormous fun,’ Farage told The Sunday Times of the gathering late last month.
Holly made headlines in March when she praised Trump as ‘fabulous’ and slammed her home country Australia as too ‘woke’.
Her younger sister Olympia – who also starred on Neighbours – has since publicly distanced herself from Holly’s political views.
Olympia, 31, appeared on HIT WA’s Allan & Carly radio show to clarify she isn’t a follower of Holly’s right-wing views, and said her sister ‘rarely’ returns to Australia.
‘My sister and I have very, very different political views,’ the Summit star insisted when she was asked about Holly’s controversial podcast interview.
She continued: ‘It was like, “Oh my God,” when she said all that stuff. I’m like, “Oh God! Everyone’s going to think that that’s what I think!” And I don’t.
‘She has the right to say the things that she wants to say… but yes, that’s not my opinion on anything.’
