HOLLY BRISLEY ‘MY BIG RETURN TO THE SPOTLIGHT'

AFTER TAKING TIME OUT, THE STAR IS BACK WITH A BANG!

- Phillip Koch

She might still get recognised in the supermarket, but for the best part of a decade, nobody has seen former Home and Away star Holly Brisley on a red carpet, or even on the small screen, after a near-death experience inspired her to change her life. But in an exclusive sit-down interview with New Idea, the mother of two reveals she’s finally making her big comeback.

“It was an odd turn of events,” Holly tells. “I went on a trip to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and I couldn’t breathe as I was approaching the summit, so I was forced to stop. I found out later I had a high-altitude pulmonary edema and could have died if I continued.”

That close call in 2010 inspired the actress and TV presenter, who’s married to marketing executive Paul Ford, to reassess her life and step back from the limelight. A year before the near-fatal trek, Holly gave birth to their first child, son Levi.

“There was a moment during the height of that ordeal when things seemed so bad, my nightmare was I’d never make it off that mountain alive,” says Holly, who did the trek to support the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, who raise funds for sick kids. “It really made me take stock and re-evaluate what was important.”