Remember Holly Valance? Of course you do. Her comparatively short but eventful run on Neighbours back in the early noughties, the saucy video for Kiss Kiss which played 24/7 in 2002… so many wonderful, wonderful memories. What happened to Holly Valance, you might ask?
Well, she’s been named in a somewhat sordid $213 million lawsuit which alleges that her billionaire husband Nick Candy and his brother Christian Candy have participated in blackmail, extortion and intimidation.
Mark and Emma Holyoake are suing the billionaire property developer brothers over a £12 million ($AUD 19 million) loan, in a case that has already resulted in both parties dropping millions on lawyers and private investigators. Mr Holyoakes claim that the Candys coerced him into paying back a large chunk of the loan, and forced him to pull out of the development of a 42-apartment mansion block before its completion, resulting in an alleged loss of $162 million in profits.
In the trial yesterday, Emma Holyoake told the court that she was scared her husband might be killed, which she alleged on the basis that other people in the orbit of the Candy brothers have died mysteriously. The Telegraph reported her comments thusly:
I used to worry constantly that Christian might take steps to hurt or even kill Mark when Mark travelled on business. I used to warn Mark constantly to take care, to ensure that he wasn’t being set up, to make sure he kept himself as safe as possible. I thought that the simplest way for Christian to resolve his issue with Mark would just be to get rid of Mark.
Where does Holly Valance – now Holly Candy – fit into all of this? Well, her name cropped up in testimony from Mrs Holyoake, where she alleged that Christian Candy actually hated his brother’s former popstar wife, and that he had once referred to Holly by saying “if she sees me coming she better fucking cross over onto the other side of the road”.
Ms Holyoake continued, discussing the tensions between Christian Candy and Holly, saying that there were also tensions with Christian’s wife Holly:
Holly told me that Nick was bullied by Christian, that Christian was controlling and often spoke to Nick in a disrespectful and aggressive manner. Nick began to open up and agreed that his brother often barked orders at him. Christian dominated him, but Nick being Nick used to laugh it off and say he could handle Christian. To say there was no love lost between Christian and Holly would be an understatement. I don’t know the origin of that dislike but Holly and Christian’s wife Emily did not get on at all.
The Candy brothers deny all allegations an claim that the Holyoakes are just trying to squeeze money out of them. The hearing continues tomorrow.
Source: News.com.au.
Photo: Getty Images.
