Rachel Friend

Friend completed her HSC at Sacré Cœur School, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, and deferred a commerce course at University of Melbourne.

Friend began her screen career with roles in Zoo Family, Prime Time and The Bartons. She also starred in the 1986 family adventure film Frog Dreaming.{{cite magazine|last=Devlyn|first=Darren|date=2 July 1988|title=A Friend & neighbor|magazine=TV Week|page=25}}

Friend joined the cast of the soap opera Neighbours in 1988, when she was eighteen.{{cite news|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=Rachel+Friend+and+Neighbours&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news880625_0183_0393|title=Your New Neighbour|date=25 June 1988|work=The Sun-Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|page=51|accessdate=6 June 2011}} Friend chose to postpone her university degree to join the show as Bronwyn Davies. Friend quit Neighbours in 1990.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/TV--Radio/Role-of-honour/2005/03/13/1110649050747.html|title=Role of honour|last=Idato|first=Michael|date=14 March 2005|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=6 June 2011}} That same year saw her win the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress.{{cite web|title=1990 TV Week Logie Awards|url=http://tvweek.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=732945&showcomments=true|work=TV Week|publisher=tvweek.ninemsn.com.au|accessdate=6 June 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324005436/http://tvweek.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=732945&showcomments=true|archivedate=24 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web|last=Lewis|first=Rachel|date=2019-10-09|title=The Cast of Neighbours: Where Are They Now?|url=https://www.pensandpatron.com/lifestyle/neighbours-then-and-now-fb/|access-date=2020-09-01|website=Pens & Patron|language=en}}

After leaving Neighbours, Friend starred as Annette in the telemovie Mission Top Secret, alongside Beth Buchanan.{{cite magazine|last=Brown|first=David|date=5 May 1990|title=Rachel goes rustic!|magazine=TV Week|pages=4–5}} Other roles include Golden Fiddles (1991), and a brief appearance in Round The Twist as a mermaid. Friend hosted the Seven Network show Saturday Kitchen with her husband Stuart MacGill on Saturday afternoons.

In 2003, Friend established her own PR company, "Media Friendly", and in July 2007 produced and presented the Seven Network parenting show, Mums and Bubs. In 2009, Friend began hosting a television show on the Seven Network called New Idea TV alongside Barbara Northwood, Tom Williams and a variety of other presenters. {{citation needed|date=March 2015}}{{Update|section|date=December 2017}}

In 1993, Friend married Australian actor-singer Craig McLachlan whom she had met on the set of Neighbours.{{cite news|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=Rachel+Friend+and+Neighbours&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news001018_0022_4973|title=The Diary|last=Sharp|first=Annette|date=15 October 2000|work=The Sun-Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|page=26|accessdate=6 June 2011}} They divorced the following year. McLachlan's hit song "Amanda" was about Friend, which is her middle name.

Friend married Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill in 2000 after meeting in 1999 when she interviewed him for A Current Affair.{{cite web | url=https://www.mamamia.com.au/rachel-friend-divorce/amp/ | title=Rachel Friend confirms a split from former cricketer Stuart MacGill | date=31 August 2014 }} They have two children together – a boy born in 2003 and a girl born in 2006. The pair separated and subsequently divorced in 2013.{{Cite web|date=2014-08-30|title=MacGill and Friend pull up stumps|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/stuart-macgill-and-rachel-friend-pull-up-stumps-after-14-years-of-marriage-but-stay-mates/news-story/55ff353051e463901aecec8bc12c1eca|access-date=2020-09-01|website=www.dailytelegraph.com.au|language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.mediafriendly.com.au MediaFriendly website]
• {{IMDb name|id=0295547|name=Rachel Friend}}

{{Silver Logie Award for Most Popular Actress on Australian Television}}

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Category:1970 births

Category:Australian film actresses

Category:Australian soap opera actresses

Category:Living people

Category:Logie Award winners

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)