Madeleine West’s Dee Bliss is arguably one of the most popular characters on Neighbours, so when the show ended in July 2022, fans wanted to know why she wasn’t featured.

**CONTENT WARNING: This article references to sexual abuse and may be triggering to some readers.**

Now, the 42-year-old has finally revealed why she didn’t make a comeback — and the reason is a lot more serious than we thought.

Speaking to Anita Anabel on The Entertainment Hotline podcast, West revealed that she was dealing with a personal battle that she hadn’t previously disclosed in public until the beginning of this year.

When the now mother-of-six was a child, she was sexually abused “many many times” by one man and is still dealing with the trauma today.

“I was beginning my journey with facing my monster when the Neighbours finale filmed and so I wasn’t able to be a part of it,” she revealed. “Now I can explain why I wasn’t there.”

Her absence, of course, raised many questions from fans, “particularly from the UK”, where people were asking: “Where’s Dee? Where’s Dee?”

And when asked how she felt about the series coming to an end (even though it is now getting a reboot at Prime Video and 10), West said she was “shocked”.

“It was the ultimate immersive television experience because they are people you saw every day,” she said. “They’re closer to you probably in this day and age where we’re all quite separated.

“We don’t know who our neighbours are and yet we know who Doctor Karl is. So, we’re talking about 30 years of collected history. It was a safe place where people could go.”

Madeleine West used her experience as a catalyst for acting

Elsewhere, West revealed that acting — a profession she began at age five — was a “safe place” for her.

“It’s the place where dreams could come true,” she said. “Where I could lose myself against the lines of a script or the score of a song, or step into the skin of any character that was assigned to me.

“[I could] walk in someone else’s shoes and see the world through different eyes and tell a story that was far removed from my own own. Being able to wear someone else’s skin was comforting.”

Predatory Podcast and The Last List of Vivian Walker

West’s podcast Predatory with former homicide detective Gury Jubelin, where she shares her own powerful story of survival for the first time and Gary shares his experiences hunting down predators as a homicide detective.

She is also about to star in The Last List of Vivian Walker, a live musical and theatrical performance of Megan Albany’s acclaimed novel, which is touring Australia before heading to the UK and Europe.

You can purchase tickets here.

Listen to Episode Two — Madeleine West, of The Entertainment Hotline below.

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