‘OUR MEMORIES OF DROVERS RUN!'

McLEOD’S DAUGHTERS STARS MICHALA BANAS AND JESSICA NAPIER SHARE SET SECRETS

- Jenny Brown

As the cameras rolled, Simmone Jade Mackinnon rode into view, her white and purple bridal gown dazzling in the outback sun as her bridesmaids trotted behind her on horseback.

The scene was set for one of the most romantic moments on McLeod’s Daughters, the beloved Aussie series that first aired 20 years ago this month.

On-screen, the long-awaited marriage of Stevie Hall and Alex Ryan didn’t go without a hitch. The groom, played by Aaron Jeffery, ended up in jail, while Stevie (Simmone) raced to his rescue on her trusty steed. But behind the scenes, events were even more dramatic.

“Simmone had a big accident,” Michala Banas, who played loveable control freak, Kate Manfredi, from 2004 to 2008, tells New Idea exclusively.

“Of course there were other mishaps over the years – utes rolling backwards, the odd spill, various things – but this one was really terrifying.

“A gust of wind blew Simmone’s bridal veil out behind her, which spooked her horse into bolting, which was awful. But then her dress got caught in the stirrups, she was dragged out of the saddle and hit the ground pretty hard, poor thing. She was quite badly grazed and bruised, but she was lucky because it could have been a lot worse.”