Shane Withington has said that he kept his relationship with one of his co-stars under wraps whilst working together.
More than a decade before he joined the cast of Home and Away, the actor, now 65, rose to fame on the Australian show A Country Practice. He began playing the character Brendan Jones in 1981 and remained in the cast until 1986.
His character was married to Molly Jones, who was played by his colleague Anne Tenney, now 70. Shane and Anne developed a romance behind the scenes, with them now married and parents to Madeleine Withington, 32.
The relationship between Shane and Anne is said to have been kept “a secret for years,” especially when they were colleagues. Speaking about it, he told Starts at 60 previously: “We kept it under our hats, no one really knew.”
Shane added that the couple hadn’t wanted the media to “get a hold of it”. He continued: “We kept it a secret for years, we didn’t want to cheapen our relationship by doing a magazine cover saying ‘we found love on a soap opera’! We valued our relationship more than that, it’s a private thing and we’ve kept it that way ever since.”
Shane Withington (right) and his wife Anne Tenney (left) played a married couple on-screen in the Australian show A Country Practice (
Seven Network)
Their on-screen daughter Emily Nicol is said to have later revealed that she was “oblivious” to the relationship at the time of working on the show. She however told New Idea magazine in 2021: “There was a close bond with both of my on-screen parents.”
Anne left A Country Practice in 1985 when her character Molly died following a leukemia diagnosis. The episode in which the character passed away reportedly attracted more than 2 million viewers.
Speaking about the experience, Anne told the outlet that the “dying scene” was “such a huge thing” at the time. She added that Molly had been “so popular” among viewers and said that the impact of her exit storyline “was huge”.
Anne left the show when her character died following a leukemia diagnosis (
Getty Images)
The couple, pictured with their on-screen daughter Emily Nicol, are said to have kept their relationship ‘a secret for years’ (
newidea.com.au)
Her husband Shane shared in the interview back in 2018 that Anne is “a great one for research” and was “highly aware of what effect” Molly’s death would have on fans. He went on to describe his wife as a “very dedicated actress”.
Since leaving the series, Anne has appeared in films like the Castle (1997) and shows such as Headland and Underbelly: Vanishing Act. Her other credits include having played Liz Taylor on the show Always Greener from 2001 to 2003.
Shane left A Country Practice in 1986, a year after the death of his character’s wife Molly. He is now best known for his role as John Palmer on Home and Away. He joined the soap in 2009 and remains a cast member. The character became a widower, just as Shane had played years earlier, in 2013 when John’s wife Gina Palmer (played by Sonia Todd) died. The character later married long-running Summer Bay resident Marilyn Chambers (Emily
