Madeleine West - SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT

THE ACTRESS EXPLAINS WHY SHE HAD TO RIP UP THE RULE BOOK TO START LIVING HER BEST LIFE

- Kylie Walters

In the past few years, a lot has been speculated about Madeleine West and why she walked out on her “perfect life”. But now, the beloved Aussie actress is telling her own story to try and help other women who might be feeling like “there is more”.

Five years ago, West’s life looked very different to the one she now leads as a laid-back single mum in Byron Bay. The 42-year-old appeared to have it all as one half of a celebrity power couple with husband Shannon Bennett, 46. She rose at 5am every morning to do an hour of yoga at her Melbourne mansion, before making it look like she was effortlessly raising their six gorgeous kids and juggling roles in some of our best-loved dramas including Neighbours, Underbelly and The Wrong Girl.

And then, one day, she realised she’d disappeared. She’d lost herself somewhere between making green smoothies and school pick-ups and her acting extended far beyond the screen.

“The joy of acting is walking in someone else’s shoes for a while but when I didn’t like myself very much or felt uncomfortable in my world, it allowed me to become a different person and hide from myself,” West tells WHO. “I was smiling during the day, but then hiding in my closet and crying at night,” she admits.