Melissa Tkautz’s latest TV stint is on SAS Australia, but it’s certainly not her first time on our screens.
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The actress and singer initially gained notoriety from her role as Nikki Spencer on popular Australian soap opera E Street, which she starred in from 1990 to 1993.
Alongside her acting career, Melissa saw success as a model and on the ARIA Singles Chart, earning a number one with the song Read My Lips, a number three with Sexy (Is The Word), as well as a number 16 with Skin to Skin.
Her debut album, Fresh, released in 1992, peaked at number 15 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Speaking to Seven about her music career, the SAS recruit described herself as “naïve” during that period of her life.
“I didn’t have much street smarts about me at that age when I look back now,” adding that her “sheltered childhood” made the industry difficult to navigate.
She went on to say that while she enjoyed the experience, she wishes she had been a “bit more intelligent” and less trusting of everyone.
“I was taken advantage of 100 per cent by many managers, and emotionally as well.”
Apart from her popular discography, Melissa delved back into the TV industry, appearing on Paradise Beach, Pacific Drive, All Saints, Swift and Shift Couriers, Housos, and, most recently, Real Housewives of Sydney in 2017, as well as Aussie horror film The Possessed, alongside Lincoln Lewis and Angie Kent.
As for her personal life, Melissa once dated a couple of her E Street co-stars, including Simon Baker and Marcus Graham.
“Simon was the first person I could say I was madly in love with,” Melissa told Stellar in 2020. “I’d never had a teenage boyfriend or anything like that. He was a beautiful man and such a sweet guy.
“And Marcus, he was [11 years] older than me when we were dating. It was very short; I think we dated for three months or something. He was a bit older and a lot wiser. He was lovely, too – very respectful. I haven’t dated a lot of men.”
Following these two relationships, Melissa had one more partner before she tied the knot to her now husband, Kwesi Nicholas, in 2009.
The couple wed in an intimate ceremony at the sandstone Cardinal Cerretti Chapel in Manly, Sydney.
“Melissa looked amazing in her couture dress,” her agent, Stephen Bennett, told our sister publication Woman’s Day at the time. “Many guests had tears in their eyes during the service.”
The star shares two kids, Ayla and Cuba, with her hubby, telling Stellar they are “everything” to her.
“They know that I work on TV and they know that I sing. They get a kick out of it. I hope they don’t ever want to be in this industry, though. It’s too bloody hard.”
In 2018, Melissa spoke to 9Honey about the possibility of having more kids, revealing that having a third child wasn’t off the cards.
“I’d love to have a baby; I’m so clucky I literally stop women in the street.”
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