A former 1990s Neighbours star has resurfaced after decades out of the spotlight to make a career comeback at 50.
Emma Harrison, who played Joanna Hartman on the show from 1995 to 1997, revealed her career plans when chatting to The Morning Show co-hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies on Tuesday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Former Neighbours star chats to The Morning Show.
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Harrison was something of a 90s pinup girl, appearing in racy men’s magazines such as FHM, Ralph and Playboy back in the day.
Asked by Larry if she was nervous about making a comeback at 50, Harrison’s answer was a categorical “no”.
“Not at all,” she said.
“I’m super excited to be 50.
“For many years, women have been invisible once they turned 50.
“But I want to encourage women to celebrate it.
“Wear what you want, do what you want.
“Just be happy and enjoy this time of your life.”
Harrison said she was at friend and radio personality Bianca Dye’s 50th birthday party recently when she was approached by a talent agent.
“A lovely agent by the name of Tegan Glass approached me and said, ‘Emma, are you still acting?’,” Harrison shared.
“And she said, ‘You know what? You should, because there’s tons of roles for women your age’.
“So that’s how it all started again.
“I’ve gone and done some new photos and I’m auditioning for commercials and I’m just having a blast.”
Harrison said a dream role for her now would be a “psycho killer” like “Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct”.
Asked how she felt about doing men’s magazine shoots back in the 1990s — one of which paired her up with a young Isla Fisher, then starring in Home and Away — Harrison said the experience was “fun”.
“You know what, I was so young at the time and they were sort of telling me what to wear and how to act, how to pose,” she said.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing, to be honest.
“But I mean yeah, it was really, really fun. Isla and I had such a giggle doing our FHM photo shoot together.
“We were laughing so hard because we were trying to act all gorgeous and sexy but we were just, like, silly little young girls!”
After Neighbours, Harrison moved to the UK and hosted a handful of TV programs there, but dropped out of the spotlight in the mid-2000s.
Late last year, UK tabloid newspapers began running stories claiming Harrison was on financial skid row and living out of a shipping container.
That prompted the actress to emerge from obscurity to scotch those rumours and set the record straight.
“The media made it sound like I was some homeless, broke bum living in a storage shed,” Harrison told TMS last year.
“It was a bit crazy, but I had to have a laugh.”
As it turns out, Harrison is happily living in a “tiny home” in Queensland comprised of two separate 20ft custom-made “designer sea containers” boasting a kitchen, lounge, bedroom and bathroom.
“It’s definitely a lifestyle; it was a choice I made consciously and it’s something I wanted to do,” Harrison said.
As a rebooted version of Neighbours hits screens, Harrison said she wouldn’t rule out a return to the show if it was offered to her.
“Do you know what, I would love to,” she said.
“I played an aerobics instructor, so it would be so much fun to dress up in a little fluoro leotard with some legwarmers and a little headband and do some aerobics like Jane Fonda did back in the 80s.”
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