Madeleine West
West in 2001
Born	Melanie Ann Weston (1979-07-26)26 July 1979 (age 46)[1] Woodend,Victoria, Australia
Occupations	Actress author director
Years active	1999–present
Partner	Shannon Bennett (2005–2018)
Children	7

Melanie Ann Weston (born 26 July 1979), known professionally asMadeleine West, is an Australian actress, author and director. She is best known for her television roles, having playedDee Bliss andAndrea Somers on the soap operaNeighbours from 2000 to 2003 and on-off 2017 to 2020, high-class escort Mel onSatisfaction from 2007 to 2010, Dimity onHouse Husbands in 2013,Danielle McGuire inUnderbelly and laterFat Tony & Co. In 2016, West joined the cast ofThe Wrong Girl. She has also written a parenting book calledSix Under Eight. She played Sarah the wife ofStone Cold Steve Austin in the WWE produced filmThe Condemned in 2007.

Born Melanie Ann Weston, West was born and raised inWoodend.^[1][2] She attended Woodend Primary School and eight high schools because her family followed her stepfather's engineering work around the country.^[1] West began performing in front of family and friends at an early age.^{[1][unreliable source?]} In 1992, she entered theNew South Wales Talented Child Drama Ensemble and later studied atSwinburne University of Technology, Tamworth Conservatorium of Music, and Riverina Drama Ensemble.^[3]

After commencing a degree in law atDeakin University, West deferred her studies indefinitely to turn to acting.^[4] In 1999, West was awarded the 'Be Your Best' Performance Scholarship from theAustralian Drug Foundation. West's amateur theatre credits includeArsenic and Old Lace,Night Reflections,Theatre in the Raw,Bye Bye Birdie, andSnow Queen.

West joined the cast ofNeighbours asDee Bliss in 1999. Two years later, she was nominated for the "Most Popular New Female Talent"Logie Award.^[5] In March 2003, it was announced West was to leaveNeighbours after her contract expired.^[6] She filmed her final scenes in early April.^[7]

West appeared in crime dramaUnderbelly asDanielle McGuire in 2008.^[8] In 2011, she joined the cast ofWinners & Losers in the recurring role of Deidre Gross.^[9] West previously turned down a role with the show due to being heavily pregnant with her third child.^[9]

In 2013, West appeared in series two ofHouse Husbands as Dimity.^[1] She reprised her role of Danielle McGuire in theUnderbelly spin-off seriesFat Tony & Co..^[8] The series focuses on the rise and fall ofTony Mokbel, who also featured in the original series, played byRobert Mammone.^[8] She also made a guest appearance in an episode ofMr & Mrs Murder as a receptionist.^[10]

In 2017, West returned toNeighbours to play Andrea Somers, a lookalike who posed as Dee Bliss. West also joined the cast ofThe Wrong Girl as TV host Erica Jones.^[11] Her first book titledSix Under Eight was published in March of that year.^[11] West has since launched a series of children's books calledLily D, V.A.P. (Very Amazing Performer).^[12] The books focus on topics such as bullying, illness and body image, and are told through schoolgirl Lily as she takes on different characters for a play.^[12]

West worked with former detective Gary Jubelin on the 2023 eight-part podcast seriesPredatory, which brings attention to child sexual abuse.^[13] The podcast called for Australia's sex offender registry to be made public and for victims to be fairly compensated.^[14][15]

In 2024, West joined Broad Radio in a guest host capacity.^[16]

In July 2002, West was hit by a bus in Sydney. The actress was also robbed while she was unconscious.^[17] She needed reconstructive plastic surgery and had to be written out ofNeighbours but returned to the show a month later.^[17]

West was engaged toShopping for Love co-host Pete Lazer,^[18] before entering into a relationship withShannon Bennett, a restaurateur, in 2005.^[1][9] The couple have six children together.^{[1][19][11][20]} In September 2018, West confirmed that she and Bennett had separated, but were "striving to reconnect as friends and parents".^[21]

West was in a relationship with environmentalist Maximo Bottaro. They met in 2020 while West was volunteering at his organisation ReForest Now.^[22]

On 13 January 2025, West announced that she was pregnant, after initially assuming her symptoms were related to perimenopause.^[23] She announced that she had given birth to her seventh child on 20 April 2025.^[24]

In January 2023, West revealed she was sexually abused as a child; the abuse began when she was 4 years old and continued until she was 10.^[25] She said, "Part of the reason I went into acting was to wear someone else's skin, to hide what was actually happening in my life".^[14]

West's abuser was a man named Peter White, a former neighbour. In 2022, West decided to pursue justice against White, who was now a businessman, having formerly been a plumber. West met with White in his home, whilst wearing a recording wire.^[26] White did not deny the abuse, but claimed he could not remember it. He apologised to West and asked for forgiveness. However, West later said that the man was not truly remorseful.

The criminal investigation of White revealed that he had abused other children. Six other victims were willing to testify in court along with West. White, aged 73, was charged with 33 sexual offences. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a minimum of nine years to be served before he can be considered for parole.^[27]

• Madeleine West atIMDb
• Profile fromNeighbours
• Madeleine West's characterMel fromSatisfaction

• 1980 births
• Living people
• AACTA Award winners
• Australian soap opera actresses
• Actresses from Melbourne
• Swinburne University of Technology alumni

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2025
• Use Australian English from July 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Articles with hCards
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from November 2024