Actor Kerry Armstrong talks of giving up great first love with Australian Crawl guitarist Brad Robinson

KERRY Armstrong has revealed the emotional story of how she was torn away from her first great love, a member of one of Australia’s biggest bands.

KERRY Armstrong has revealed the heartbreaking story of how she lost her first love.

At the age of 23 in 1981, the actor was married to Australian Crawl guitarist Brad Robinson.

The pair separated so Armstrong could give Hollywood a crack.

“It is interesting because when you are in here you have lots of time to think and lots and lots of stuff is coming up,” Armstrong, now 59, said on reality show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

Armstrong was based in the US for several years in the 1980s and was very close to becoming Australia’s next big Hollywood star. She appeared in hit US television series Dynasty and Murder, She Wrote but turned down a coveted job on Saturday Night Live to return to Australia.

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Kerry Armstrong has revealed some of the ups and downs of her career. Picture: Channel 10

After splitting from Robinson, she was briefly married to friend and actor Alexander Bernstein to sort her Green Card issues.

“What happened in Hollywood is I kept getting pulled out of play after play after play and someone pulled Brad (Robinson) aside and said the only reason she can’t work is because you are married and she needs to have a Green Card,” Armstrong explained.

“And so there was a great deal of pressure on us to not stay married. We had a pact that we would do it for a certain amount of time and get back together. As it is in life, that didn’t work out.”

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Guitarist Brad Robinson during his time with Australian Crawl. Picture: News Corp

Armstrong has three sons from two other marriages, the first to writer/producer Mac Gudgeon and twins to builder Mark Croft.

“I think everyone should hold on to their first great love and be grateful,” she said.

“I know there are no accidents because I have come out of it with these three absolutely gorgeous young men as sons.”

Of Robinson, who died of cancer in 1996 at the age of 38, she added: “Brad Robinson was my husband and the most spectacular man in the world. Everybody that knew him will tell you that. I’ve got pictures of him smoking and I’ve just realised he was such a movie star. I think because we grew up together, I didn’t realise, I knew he was beautiful but I didn’t know how beautiful.”

* The journalist is in South Africa as a guest of Channel Ten covering I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

Originally published as Actor Kerry Armstrong talks of giving up great first love with Australian Crawl guitarist Brad Robinson