It was the fairytale wedding McLeod's Daughters fans had been waiting for - but in real life, Simmone Jade Mackinnon was hiding a secret
EXCLUSIVE: Back to Drovers Run is a brand new weekly video series exclusively on nine.com.au. Each week, Simmone Jade Mackinnon will be reflecting on her role as Stevie Hall in the beloved Aussie series McLeod's Daughters.
Watch Episode 3 in the video above.
For McLeod's Daughters fans, the wedding of Stevie Hall (MacKinnon) and Alex Ryan (Aaron Jeffery) remains one of the most cherished moments in TV history.
But while Stevie was experiencing a fairytale wedding on-screen, Mackinnon's real life at the time felt like the total opposite.
"It was the end of 2006... in real life for me, I had a relationship that had just fallen apart. I was heartbroken," Mackinnon recalled in the emotional video above.
After years of 'will they, won't they', Stevie and Alex finally got married. Nine
The contrast between her personal grief and her character's joy led to unexpected challenges on set.
"I was playing this giddy bride... but because of the relationship falling apart in real life, I then started suffering these panic attacks," she continued.
"I was this bride that was joyous and happy all the time, but that was a really, really hard time [for me]."
Despite the emotional toll, MacKinnon poured her heart into Stevie's love story and delivered a performance that would be etched in fans' memories forever.
But as if the emotional strain wasn't enough, Mackinnon also faced a physical hurdle when an accident happened in the middle of filming.
"I literally couldn't walk. I think I've still got Drovers Run dirt in my back – a couple of rocks, maybe – but they didn't quite pull out," she light-heartedly recalled about the incident.
The wedding was loved by so many, but in real life the actress was struggling. Nine
The accident happened on Stevie's wedding day, and you can hear Mackinnon tell the story in the video above.
There's also an on-set secret that no one knew that might surprise you.
"It was such a beautiful storyline to be part of, and even with everything going on, we pulled it off," Mackinnon added.
Catch the entire emotional story by watching the video above.
There was an accident on-set during filming. Nine
Simmone will be sharing more stories about her time on McLeod's Daughters next week – join us then for Back to Drovers Run and watch Episode 1 and 2 below.
Stream every episode ever of McLeod's Daughters for free on 9Now.
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