OUT OF AFRICA
Wild at Heart star looks unrecognisable as we reveal where cast are now… from Corrie pair’s split to surprise new career
IT was the Sunday night show that gave us serious wanderlust for six years.
Wild at Heart followed the Trevanion family as they ditched their lives in the UK to set up a game reserve in South Africa.
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Starring household names Stephen Tompkinson and Amanda Holden, the ITV show ran from 2006 until 2012 and attracted 10million viewers at its peak.
ITV never officially confirmed the show had ended for good, and many fans have been clinging to the hope that it may one day return.
But what became of its cast? Here we take a look at what happened after it wrapped.
Stephen Tompkinson - Danny
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Stephen, 57, played British vet Danny who was the driving force behind his family's move to Leopard's Den.
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Already a big name before joining the show, he went on to star in detective series DCI Banks, which ran for five series.
Stephen was married to radio producer Celia Anastasia but following their divorce in 1995, he got engaged to his Ballykissangel co-star Dervla Kirwan in 1998, but they split two years later.
He married Nicci Taylor in 2001 and they have a daughter, Daisy, but they split in 2006.
In May 2021 Stephen was accused of battering a drunk man, who fell to the pavement and fractured his skull, during a late-night bust-up, said to have happened outside a house where he was living in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
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He pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and was found not guilty in May, after claiming he had acted in self defence.
Stephen told the court he had lost acting work because the pending trial put his career "on hold".
Amanda Holden - Sarah
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Amanda Holden, 52, has found the greatest success of all her former cast members since the show came to an end.
She played the role of Sarah, Danny's wife, who was killed in a bush fire when she tried to save their pet cheetah in season three.
These days she is best known as a co-host on Heart's breakfast show and as a judge on Britain's Got Talent.
She was written out of Wild at Heart so she could focus on BGT, which started the same year.
Amanda, who has two daughters - Alexa, 17, and Hollie, 11 - with record producer husband Chris Hughes, looks very different from her stint on the ITV drama, having undergone a glamorous makeover.
Her daring BGT frocks constantly hit the headlines and have even landed her in trouble with Ofcom after viewers complained they're too revealing.
Hayley Mills - Caroline
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Hayley Mills' career has spanned 64 years - she was a famous child star and even won the award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 1959 Baftas, and a Golden Globe in 1961.
By the time she joined Wild At Heart, playing Caroline Du Plessis, she was already a huge name in Hollywood.
In 2008 the 77-year-old actress revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was set to undergo surgery and chemotherapy.
Although she stopped the treatment after three sessions due to severe side effects, she announced in 2012 that she had fully recovered.
Hayley still acts today - her most recent TV role was as Emma Hume in the fifth series of the ITV crime drama Unforgotten.
Lucy-Jo Hudson - Rosie
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Lucy-Jo, 40, played Katy Harris in Coronation Street before landing the role of Rosie Trevanion in Wild At Heart.
She has also appeared in Casualty, Dance Dance Dance and Doctors, in a recurring role that won her an award for Villain of the Year at the British Soap Awards in 2017.
Since 2018 she played Donna-Marie Quinn in Hollyoaks and appeared in the anthology series Moving On in 2019.
Lucy-Jo was married to fellow Corrie actor Alan Halsall from 2009 but the pair announced they were separating in 2016.
Although they rekindled their romance for a short period of time in 2018, they eventually announced they were divorcing.
They share a daughter - nine-year-old Sienna.
Deon Stewardson - Anders
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Unlike most of his cast mates, Deon was actually born in South Africa and was the son of Joe Stewardson, a well-known actor in the country.
Before Wild At Heart, in which he played kind-hearted Anders, he had made appearances in projects such as Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell and American Kickboxer.
His role in the ITV show was described as being perfect for him as he had a passion for wildlife, much like his character.
In October 2017, it was reported by local media that Deon had been found dead in the bathroom of a hotel at the age of 66, leaving behind his long-term partner Marianne Meijer.
Police later confirmed his death was being treated as a suicide. Per his request, there was no funeral arranged by his family.
Luke Ward-Wilkinson - Evan
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Although his role as Evan Adams in Wild At Heart was huge, Luke, 29, is arguably best known as teenager Simon Doonan in the BBC comedy series Beautiful People, which aired for two seasons.
Some of his other notable projects include Sharpe's Peril and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
Although it appears he took a break from acting, he made a return for the UK tour of Lord of the Flies, starring as Ralph.
He also featured in an episode of Doctors and had a guest role on BBC One's Luther opposite Idris Elba.
The actor, who has undergone a hunky transformation, has kept his personal life under the radar and has an Instagram page that's set to private.
Dawn Steele - Alice
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Already an established actress thanks to roles in Sea of Souls and Monarch of the Glen, Dawn joined Wild At Heart during the show's fourth season.
She played Alice, who eventually became Danny's second wife after Sarah's tragic death.
These days she is best known for starring as Ange Godard on Holby City, until it was axed in 2022, and as Annie on the Scottish soap River City.
Fitness enthusiast Dawn has a daughter called Coco and regularly posts about her life on Instagram.
Thapelo Mokonea - Cedric
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South African-born Thapelo, 40, is best known for his role as William in the third season of Bulletproof - but before then, he was the presenter of the South African version of Fear Factor.
He played Cedric in Wild At Heart from 2007 until it ended in 2012 and has since set up his own production company.
He has also ventured into movies and starred as anti-apartheid activist Elias Motsoaledi in the 2013 biopic, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, alongside Idris Elba.
Thapelo is married to Lesego -Tshepang and they have two boys - the family often show their lavish lives on Instagram and even have a page dedicated to their children.
Rafella Hutchinson - Olivia
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Rafella played the role of Danny's stepdaughter Olivia for the first three seasons of the show.
After that she stepped away from the spotlight, but returned to appear in Doctors and on the Channel 4 horror show Fright Bites.
It appears Rafella, 29, who now looks unrecognisable, has once again shunned the limelight and hasn't been seen on any new showbiz ventures since then.
Olivia Scott Taylor - Olivia
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Olivia stepped into Rafella's shoes when she left the show and played the role from season five until it ended.
Since then she has continued acting and has appeared in Holby City and Doctors, like her predecessor.
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Olivia appears to have ditched acting altogether and branched into the world of interior design.
The 31-year-old even owns her own furniture business, called Scott & Taylor.
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