Kym Valentine (born 24 May 1977 in Blacktown, New South Wales) is a Maltese Australian actress best known for her portrayal of Libby Kennedy-Fitzgerald in the soap opera Neighbours.

Biography

Valentine attended Arthur Phillip High School in Parramatta, beginning her acting career in a McDonald's fast food advertisement at age five. Her television appearances have included My Two Wives, Adult Illiteracy, At Bathurst, Candid Camera, Home and Away, Swap Shop, HoopsTV and Cheez TV

In 1994, at age 17, she joined the cast of Neighbours, moving to Melbourne and remained on the show until 2004, wanting to start a family and extend her acting repertoire, by returning to the stage, and her character was written out with the option of a return. Valentine married singer Fabio Tolli. They have a daughter, Millana Valentine-Tolli (b. 21 August 2003), but separated in 2007.¹

In 2005 Valentine took the lead role of Baby in Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. She was set to reprise her role when the production moved to London's West End from summer 2006, but did not get the part after an audition.

In June 2007, Valentine rejoined Neighbours on a permanent basis. In April 2008 it emerged that Valentine was involved in a relationship with Australian actor Vince Colosimo. It was suggested this may cause tension on the Neighbours set as Colosimo had recently separated from fellow Neighbours actor Jane Hall.² In October 2008 Kym publicly announced that she and Colismo were no longer dating and that they had only ever been friends.³

In July 2008 Valentine contracted pneumonia, and suffered a collapsed lung on a flight from New York to Melbourne causing her to pass out. The cabin crew gave the actress oxygen during the flight and when she arrived in Melbourne was taken to hospital for further treatment. She stayed in hospital for several days before recuperating at home.⁴⁵

On 10 August 2008 it was reported that Valentine had to temporarily pull out of her role in Neighbours in order to complete her recovery process. New Zealand actress Michala Banas took over the role for a month.⁶ Valentine resumed the role from the first episode of the 2009 series. On 8 April 2009, Valentine made an appearance as herself on The Wright Stuff, a UK topical debate TV programme.

References

External links

• Kym Valentine at the Internet Movie Database