Neighbours Craig McLachlan is unrecognisable after assault acquittal 34 year since exit

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Henry Ramsay was the loveable, blond curly-haired joker in popular Aussie soap Neighbours – son of Madge (Anne Charleston) and brother of mechanic Charlene, famously played by Kylie Minogue.

Played by actor Craig McLachlan, he was brought in by show execs in 1987 as a new hunk to replace the recently-departed Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien). And he got viewers' pulses racing over the course of more than 800 episodes, with his hapless plots and schemes and his flirty ways – not to mention his dungarees.

Craig went on to win three Australian TV Logie awards for the role, before leaving the soap in in 1989, and appearing for a while in TV rival, Home And Away.

He even went on to enjoy UK chart success with the song Mona (I Need You Baby), touring the UK and Europe with his band, Check 1-2. And in 1993 he starred in the London West End revival of the musical Grease, as well as appearing in The Rocky Horror Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Chicago.

Fast forward 34 years, and the actor looks completely different. Sporting a bushy grey beard, Craig, 58, is a world away from his soap heyday – and it seems a lot has happened in his life since departing Ramsay Street.

British TV viewers may remember Craig from when he competed in ITV"s Dancing On Ice back in 2011 with dance partner Elen Rivas.

Sadly, the pair were voted off before the main competition even really began, with Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe and her partner Sylvain Longchambon narrowly made it through to the next show after a tense skate-off.

Since then, Craig's hit troubled times, as in 2023, he was awarded a $500,000 payout after being acquitted of sexual assault charges.

He had previously been charged with assault and indecent assault following complaints from female co-stars in a production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Melbourne in 2014, during which he played the role of Frank-N-Furter.

He strongly denied the allegations against him.

He was cleared of seven counts of indecent assault and six of common law assault by a court in Melbourne, following a four-week hearing in December 2000.

In a video filmed afterwards, Craig broke down in tears as he said it had "ruined" his life.

"You see this is not just about a headline for the day, this is ruining lives," he said in the video filmed with his partner Vanessa Scammell.

He continued: "Not just me, you want to crucify me? Fine. Look what it's done to my beautiful partner, look what it continues to do to my family every day."

Back in 2022, Craig said that "cancel culture" had led to him being barred from the then-final episodes of Neighbours.

He said he was shunned as a result of the assault allegations, and had to watch his co-stars including Kylie and Ian Smith (who played Harold Bishop) appear without him.

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