Melissa Bell (born 7 November 1972) is an Australian actress and fashion designer. She is known for her roles of Bonnie Tait in '' E Street'', Lucy Robinson in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'', and Emily Harris in ''

Paradise Beach ''Paradise Beach'' is an Australian television series made by Village Roadshow Pictures. It was made in association with America's Genesis Entertainment which later merged with New World Television for the Nine Network, and aired between 1993 ...

''. Bell also made appearances in ''

Home & Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...

'' and '' Water Rats''.

Career

Acting

Bell had earlier appeared in the soap opera '' E Street'' in the guest role of Janine. She left the role of Lucy in ''

'' to return to ''E Street'' to play new character, the eco-crusader Bonnie Tait. After ''E Street'' ended Bell made several brief returns to ''Neighbours''. She also acted in another soap, ''

'', playing surfer Emily Harris. She later appeared in several lifestyle programs, such as ''

Celebrity Overhaul Celebrity Overhaul was a reality television and infotainment show on Australia's Nine Network in which celebrities undergo a rigorous exercise and diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or ...

''.

Fashion design

Bell later become a fashion designer, selling

kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's l ...

s and party wear from a boutique in

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Personal life

Bell was married to Jason Redlich from 1996 to 1998. They have one son. Following the end of her marriage, Bell suffered from

body dysmorphic disorder Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), occasionally still called dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one's own body part or appearance is severely flawed and therefore warrants exceptional meas ...

and depression. In 2000, Bell married Gary Dickinson. They had three children and lived on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. In November 2015, Dickinson, then 57, suffered a heart attack which left him in a coma. Dickinson died on 13 February 2016. In 2020, Bell became engaged to Grant Thompson, and the couple married in 2022, with Bell wearing the dress her ''Neighbours'' character wore in her on-screen wedding.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1972 births Living people Australian television actresses Actresses from the Gold Coast, Queensland {{Australia-tv-actor-stub