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Ada Nicodemou Reveals The Women Who Inspire Her Most

"Kylie Minogue was my first-ever celebrity obsession - I wanted to be Charlene." - by Alley Pascoe
  • 09 Apr 2020
Ada Nicodemou Reveals The Women Who Inspire Her Most

The Home and Away actress on the (home) girls who've had her back since day one...

Kylie Minogue

How do I begin to describe my love for Kylie Minogue? She was my firstever celebrity obsession – and the first concert I ever went to. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Charlene [her character in Neighbours]. My bedroom walls were covered in Kylie posters. I knew – and still know – the hospital she was born in, and the names of her parents and brother. I wrote her letters every week and would check the letterbox after school every day for a response. A couple of years ago, I posted a #flashbackfriday on my Instagram of me standing in front of my Kylie shrine – and she responded. I was so excited, but I didn’t want to be an annoying fan and message her back. If I ever met her, I would die. She is an inspiration to all Australians. Kylie’s a strong, beautiful and talented woman. Every time I hear “Spinning Around”, I just want to dance – and rock a pair of gold hotpants.

Kylie Minogue

Ada’s icons (clockwise from left): Kylie Minogue, her mum Jenny and best friend Simone.

Jenny Nicodemou

My mum Jenny was always the head of our household. She worked seven days a week but took me and my brother everywhere. I grew up in a delicatessen, counting back change to customers before I went to school. I get my work ethic from my mum. She’s taught me resilience, strength and how to stick up for myself. As a Greek migrant, she’s had to be a tough woman. My mum didn’t want me to get into acting. She wanted me to go to university and be a lawyer. Her opinion changed when I started working on Heartbreak High and she saw me earning money in a stable job [laughs]. After more than 25 years in the industry, my  mum’s proudest moment was when I won Dancing with the Stars [in 2005]. She literally jumped over the barricade from the audience and grabbed the microphone from [host] Daryl Somers on live TV to tell all of Australia how proud she was of me – and to thank the Greek community for voting for me. I would totally do the same thing to my son Johnas now.

Simone Robertson

I met Simone when I was 21 on the set of a show called Breakers. She was a tall blonde with beautiful skin – and a really good actress as well. I was quite intimidated by her at first. It wasn’t until after the show got axed that we got really close and I realised she was the sweetest girl in the world. We went on a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne and back and talked the entire way – for a whole week! We haven’t stopped talking since then. She lives in New York and works in IT now, so we FaceTime. If I ever have a problem, Simone is the person I go to for advice. She’s been there for me for every break-up and hard time I’ve had in the past 20 years. When I lost my child [a stillborn son in 2014], Simone left work and flew to Hawaii to meet me. Simone is my soul; she’s the light of my life and she’s just a good person.

Ada stars on Home and Away weeknights on Channel 7.

This article originally appeared in marie claire's May 2020 issue.

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Alley Pascoe
Alley Pascoe
Alley Pascoe is contributor to marie claire Australia. She spends her days interviewing inspirational women, including career highlights Kasey Chambers, Serena Williams and Julia Roberts (for seven minutes on the phone).

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