Melissa Tkautz opens up about E Street and her first real love

Melissa Tkautz opens up about the long-lasting repercussions of her “wild” time on E Street and why she’s sick and tired of hearing about a supposed comeback.

You got your big acting break playing Nikki Spencer on ‘E Street’ back in 1990. Can you believe that was 30 years ago?

That’s f*cking crazy. That makes me feel so old – it sounds older than how I feel.

Looking back now, what do you recall from that time?

I was 16, an absolute baby. It was such a wild time in my life – good and bad things happened. I had a few dodgy managers at one point, people trying to rip me off and that sort of stuff, so all of that stayed in my mind for years to come. Looking back now, though, it was the best time ever.

I was on a hit-rating show working with some great Australian actors and I loved every minute of it. It did get out of control at some point when I released a song [the 1991 hit ‘Read My Lips’, for which she won an ARIA Award for the highest selling single] and I was getting pulled from pillar to post.

“I still see the ugly side of the industry.” (Picture: Jedd Cooney)

It was a different time. There wasn’t social media, for example.

It was the real deal back then. When you had to promote something, you literally had to go to 300 shopping centres to promote it. Now, you just do a post on social media. It’s crazy.

For one song, I’d have to travel the whole of Australia, to do the shopping centres, schools, in-store signings – you name it, I had to do it to promote it.

That level of fame must have been pretty intoxicating?

At the time you don’t realise what’s going on, it’s just all so surreal. You take each day as it comes. You’re so tired and exhausted, you adapt to that lifestyle quickly. It was amazing.

Did you see the ugly side of the industry?

I still see the ugly side of the industry. It’s everything that you know about the industry: people backstabbing each other; people trying to sabotage others; people on drugs; people not turning up; people not remembering their lines because they had a big bender the night before.

The people I worked with on E Street were very professional. I was very young and very innocent, and I needed that. If it had been too wild, it would have freaked me out because I came from a very sheltered childhood.

I wasn’t allowed to do anything and then all of a sudden, I was on a TV show, going to events in a limousine. It was crazy.

“Simon was the first person I could say I was madly in love with.” (Picture: Jedd Cooney)

You had some famous romances during your time on the show, and dated both Simon Baker and Marcus Graham. What was that like?

Simon was the first person I could say I was madly in love with. I’d never had a teenage boyfriend or anything like that. He was a beautiful man and such a sweet guy.

And Marcus, he was [11 years] older than me when we were dating. It was very short; I think we dated for three months or something. He was a bit older and a lot wiser. He was lovely, too – very respectful. I haven’t dated a lot of men.

It was Simon, then Marcus, then I had another relationship and in the next one, I got married [to now-husband Kwesi Nicholas, who she wed in 2009].

Three decades later, you’re still working hard for the money. How have you survived?

I try not to involve myself in the industry too much, other than working. I’ve lived it and breathed it since I was a young girl. Sometimes, I’ve got everything and other times, there’s not much work around.

I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve continuously worked – whether on prime-time TV or presenting or gigging, I’ve always found something that I can do in the industry. That’s why it’s very frustrating when people talk about “Melissa’s comeback”. Comeback from where? I’ve always been here.

It’s just perseverance. People get deterred when they’re not splashed all over the place or all over the media. You can’t give up. I just keep going. I love it and I don’t know how to do anything else.

“It’s very frustrating when people talk about ‘Melissa’s comeback’.” (Picture: Supplied)

You’re currently filming. Can you tell us what you’re working on?

I’m doing a movie called The Possessed directed by [Australian horror filmmaker] Chris Sun, who wrote a role for me. I also did the movie Boar with him in 2017.

You have two kids – son Cuba, 7, and daughter Ayla, 10. What do they make of what Mummy does for work?

They’re everything to me. They know that I work on TV and they know that I sing. They get a kick out of it. I hope they don’t ever want to be in this industry, though. It’s too bloody hard.

Musically, what are you working on?

Funnily enough, I did have a song that I was about to release just before COVID hit, and of course the music industry is doing it tough at the moment because nobody can gig, so we’re going to wait until next year and see how it goes.

Melissa Tkautz features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

You were on the one and only season of ‘The Real Housewives Of Sydney’ in 2017. What did you take away from that experience?

I struggled with it at the beginning, with all the bitchiness and nastiness, but I did make some beautiful friendships. I found it tough because I didn’t like all of that confrontation.

I know that’s what was needed for the show, but that’s what freaked me out. I felt like I couldn’t express who I was because there were so many dominant people in the room.

Later on, I realised that I’m entitled to a voice as well. I wish I’d used it a bit more. If there had been a second series, you would have seen that come out.

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