Australian singer and former Neighbours star Holly Valance and UK billionaire Nick Candy, a key figure in the Reform UK party, have separated after 13 years of marriage.

Friends told The Sun that the couple, who married in 2012, recently split following a challenging period balancing family life, public commitments, and Nick’s demanding work schedule. Despite the separation, the pair remain focused on co-parenting their two daughters.

Nick Candy, 52, is a property tycoon and treasurer of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. He met Holly, 42, in 2009 and proposed two years later. The couple tied the knot in a lavish $6.3 million ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, attended by 300 guests including Simon Cowell.

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Holly first rose to fame as Felicity “Flick” Scully on Neighbours before launching a pop career with hits like the chart-topping “Kiss Kiss.” Nick began his property business with his brother Christian in the early 1990s and now holds a vast portfolio including the luxury One Hyde Park development in London, valued at over $2 billion AUD.

In March Last year, Valance made headlines with a viral interview in which she spoke candidly about her political views and high-profile connections, further cementing her role as a prominent figure in Britain’s conservative circles.

Valance spoke openly about her shift to conservative politics the month earlier, saying, “Everyone starts off as a leftie and then wakes up at some point after making money, working, trying to run a business, trying to buy a home, then realises what crap ideas they all are.”

Her candid remarks about her political evolution quickly went viral.

In her sit-down interview with GB News’ Political Podcast hosted by Chris Hope, nothing was off the table for discussion, from controversial climate activist Greta Thurnberg to Australia’s “wokeness” and COVID hard borders to praising Donald Trump.

On Greta, she said: “I don’t understand why you have this, like, demonic little gremlin high priestess of climatism as the goddess in classrooms, Greta (Thunberg).

“And the kids are all coming home with depression and anxiety. Why would you go to your music lesson or bother doing your homework or get out of bed if you think we’re all going to be dead in five years anyway? I mean, ‘They told me in class, Greta told me’.

“Why would you bother, it doesn’t give anybody hope.”

On Australia, she criticised Down Under for how “woke” it had gone and said she had no plans to return.

“I’ll get a ticket within the first two hours of arriving, doing something, parking in the wrong place, going one K over the 30 or 25 K speed limit,” she said.

“The Australia I grew up in was unreal. It was so fun, and we didn’t seem to have all these problems. The woke stuff’s really gone big in Australia.”

She even got stuck into the Australian school curriculum.

“I don’t think children and sexuality should be in the same sentence,” she said.

“You don’t know about mine, I don’t know about yours, why would we?

“That stuff really irks me”.

Valance claimed she missed her sister’s wedding because of Australia’s COVID lockdown.

She also revealed she was an anti-vaxxer.

“If you are fit and healthy, you should be fine, your body will know what to do,” she said.

Valance was sighted alongside former president Donald Trump in 2022, describing him as “extremely warm, extremely gentlemanly”.

She argued that people needed to “harden up”, particularly in regards to his often polarising remarks about women.

“People say nasty things all day,” she said. “I have had disgusting things said to me … Did I cry? No.”

At first, the social media pile-on against Holly Valance was swift.

“The vile opinions of a washed-up soap star, one-hit wonder, out-of-touch billionaire’s wife,” was the kind of stuff tweeted fast and furious.

But, then, it emerged she had just as many supporters.

“Holly Valance is speaking nothing but the truth,” was the kind of stuff being tweeted just as fast and just as furious.

Both Holly and Nick have been influential in right-wing politics. Nick left the Conservative Party last year to join Reform UK, pledging to raise millions for the party. Holly has also become a prominent figure in conservative circles, attending high-profile events such as Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and Boris Johnson’s wedding.

A family friend said: “This has been a very difficult period for both Nick and Holly, and they are keeping things private out of respect for their family. The joint parenting of their two amazing daughters remains their top priority.”

A spokesperson for the couple declined to comment further, stating: “This is a private matter and we will not be making any further comment.”