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Julian McMahon Met His First Wife on a Soap Opera
Julian McMahon lost his very private battle with cancer on July 2, 2025. The actor is best known for his roles in “Nip/Tuck,” “Charmed,” and “Fantastic Four”; however, he began his career in the soap opera world.
His first acting gig was on the Australian show “The Power, The Passion,” and he met his first wife, Dannii Minogue, while acting on another popular Australian soap, “Home and Away.”
Julian Met Dannii Minogue in 1991
GettyThe actor first met Dannii on the set of “Home and Away” in Australia, and the two fell in love quickly. However, there were issues right from the start, and Danni explained things in an article for Women’s Day, years ago.
Dannii admitted Sonia, who was the wife of former Prime Minister William McMahon, wasn’t a fan of her.
“His family did not like me. There’s a certain social pecking order, and I was definitely not in that scene. She [Sonia] only spoke to me a couple of times,” Dannii revealed.
“On the actual day of the wedding, there was drama. [Sonia] said she wasn’t going to show up, so that’s quite stressful. Julian and I were going ahead with the marriage regardless. She did end up coming and was causing a scene … it wasn’t the greatest … it was hard. I just tried to stay away from it, I just wanted to enjoy the day.”
The strained relationship even escalated to the point that Dannii was banned from entering Julian’s family home.
“She would not let me go to the family house. Sometimes [Julian] had to go and collect something, and I was waiting in the car out front. It was as if I’d done something wrong to the family, but I hadn’t done anything wrong,” Dannii said. Sadly, their marriage only lasted about 18 months.
Julian’s First Big Break Was on ‘Another World’
Julian’s breakthrough role came in 1993 with “Another World” as Ian Rain. After romances with Judi Evans’s Paulina and Amy Carlson’s Josie, Ian left town in 1995.
In a 2020 interview with Soap Opera Digest, McMahon looked back on his AW days fondly. “Oh, my God,” he said of his debut on the Bay City scene. “The first thing I did was at the Cory mansion and my first scene was with Judi Evans — oh, what a sweet, sweet girl, she was so kind to me I can’t even tell you, she was so supportive and so caring — and here I was this 22-year-old dude from Australia and the first scene I had to shoot was in a Speedo, getting out of the Cory pool and I was like, ‘Oh, all right, I guess this is what you do. You put on your undies and you get out of the pool.’ ”
“The soap actors are kind of their own breed, and I’ve never met one who’s not ridiculously passionate about what they do. It’s almost like its own theater company or something. And I just really kind of thrived off of that…. I just considered it such a blessing,” said McMahon of the soap community.
“I remember the soap fans were great fans and I loved my time there, so I’m just glad to hear that some of the soaps are still going, and hopefully some of the fans still enjoy some of the work I put out these days.”
Julian McMahon Fought Valiantly
Julian died at the age of 56 on July 2, 2025. His wife, Kelly McMahon, confirmed the sad news to Deadline, saying, “With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer.”
She went on to say, “Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible. We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy. And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy to continue to find joy in life. We are grateful for the memories.”
