Daniel O'Connor is an Australian television actor and singer. He was one of the top 12 finalists in the 2004 series of

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

's reality talent contest programme ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

'', aired on

nationwide in Australia, finishing eleventh. He then launched an acting career, appearing as

Ned Parker Ned Parker is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Daniel O'Connor. He made his first appearance on screen on 9 August 2005, arriving to see his brother, Stuart. He departed on 31 July 2008. Casting Foll ...

on the soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that 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 and ...

''.

''Australian Idol''

O'Connor auditioned for ''Australian Idol'' in Sydney. He auditioned with the church classic, "

I Surrender All "I Surrender All" is a Christian hymn, with words written by American art teacher and musician (1855–1939), who subsequently became a music minister and evangelist. It was put to music by Winfield S. Weeden (1847–1908), and published in 1896. ...

" written by Judson W. Van DeVenter. All 3 judges were thrilled by an impressive performance. Despite Dicko's dislike of religious songs, he gave O'Connor a 'yes' along with Mark and Marcia sending him into the top 100. Later, Dicko advised O'Connor to change to songs that would influence the "world" to vote for him. During O'Connor's Top 30 performance, he performed "Amazing" by Josh Kelley. The judges were impressed by a fine performance and so were the voting public as he was voted into the Final 12. Also put through to the Final 12 from his group of ten, were Casey Donovan and

Ricki-Lee Coulter Ricki-Lee Dawn Coulter (born 10 November 1985) is an Australian singer-songwriter, television and radio presenter. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand, raised in Gold Coast, Queensland, and began performing at age 15. Coulter rose to fame in ...

. During his ''Australian Idol'' journey, O'Connor showed an ability to work the crowd and to dress for the occasion. However, he was told on numerous occasions by Dicko that he did not have a superstar voice. O'Connor was eliminated from ''Australian Idol'' on 13 September 2004, placing him in 11th position.

Acting

O'Connor has appeared in the mobile soap opera, ''Random Place'' where he played the character of Bo Edwards. The series was viewed via mobile phones and provided a fly-on-the-wall view of the lives of five twenty-somethings sharing a house near

Bondi Beach Bondi Beach () is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of ...

. This was Australia's first mobile soap opera, a format which originated in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. O'Connor then took on a regular role as

in the soap opera ''

''. In his three years in the show, his character had several relationships, was mistakenly believed to be homosexual, discovered he had a son, and survived a fire. In one particular scene, he was pictured half-naked with a towel around his waist. "I actually thought I had to be completely naked," he explained when he was told he had to drop the towel. "Ever since that scene, I've had a lot of people who want me to take my shirt off!"'. He did a cameo in

Can't Touch It "Can't Touch It" is a song by Australian singer and songwriter Ricki-Lee Coulter. It was written by Coulter with Brian Kierulf and Joshua M. Schwartz of KNS Productions, who also produced the song. "Can't Touch It" was released as the ...

music video in 2007, as a bartender and her love interest. He has also appeared on ''Ready Steady Cook'', ''

Thank God You're Here ''Thank God You're Here'' is an Australian television improvised comedy program created by Working Dog Productions, which premiered on 5 April 2006 on Network 10, where it aired for the first three and from the fifth season onwards; the fourt ...

'' and '' Australia's Brainiest'' quiz show among other things. Having left Neighbours, he appeared in

CelebAir ''CelebAir'' is a reality television series in which 11 celebrities perform the duties of cabin crew and check-in attendants. The series was presented by Angellica Bell and aired on ITV2 from 2 September 2008 until 23 October 2008, when Lisa Maf ...

, but was evicted in the 7th week. In Autumn 2011 he appeared in BBC One'
Death in Paradise Episode 2
In December 2011 it was announced that O'Connor had joined the cast of British soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' as Ally Gorman. He left the show in late 2012. O'Connor went on to star in

Mr & Mrs Murder ''Mr & Mrs Murder'' is a 13-part Australian crime comedy television series produced by FremantleMedia Australia in association with Bravado Productions. It originally ran on Network Ten on from 20 February to 15 May 2013. The murder mystery seri ...

as Brody Bennett in 2013 followed by

Winners & Losers ''Winners & Losers'' is an Australian television drama series first broadcast on the Seven Network on 22 March 2011. It was created by the producers of ''Packed to the Rafters'' and is aired in the show's former time slot. ''Winners & Losers'' ...

in the same year in the role of Nate Simpson. His most recent acting role was in the film ''The Green Door'' which was released in May 2020 portraying the character Greg.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Daniel Australian Idol participants Australian male television actors Australian people of Irish descent Australian soap opera actors Living people Male actors from Sydney Singers from Sydney 21st-century Australian singers Year of birth missing (living people)