Over the weekend, it was announced that Australian actor Julian McMahon had passed away after a private battle with cancer.
The 56-year-old’s wife, Kelly Paniagua, broke the news through a statement to entertainment website Deadline.
“I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer,” the statement read. “We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy.”
“Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible,” it continued. “And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy, to continue to find joy in life.”
Julian, who was the son of former Australian prime minister Billy McMahon, first rose to fame on Home & Away before heading to Hollywood and starring in some of the biggest TV series of the 1990s and 2000s including Charmed and Nip/Tuck.
Most recently, he played the Australian prime minister on the first season of the Netflix series, The Residence.
Behind the scenes, Julian was a husband and a father to his 25-year-old daughter Madison.
Here’s everything we know about Julian’s life out of the spotlight.
JULIAN MCMAHON’S FIRST MARRIAGE TO DANNII MINOGUE
In 1988, when Julian was working on Home & Away, he met and fell in love with fellow actor and singer Dannii Minogue.
“He stopped me in my tracks,” Dannii later told Channel 7 of their first meeting.
The pair shared a whirlwind romance and tied the knot in 1994 but their marriage only lasted 18 months.
Speaking to Mamamia’s No Filter podcast in 2019, Dannii said that Julian’s mother, Lady Sonia McMahon, never approved of their relationship.
“There was no relationship, she wouldn’t speak to me, I wasn’t allowed to be near her in the house, she said she wasn’t coming to the wedding,” she told the podcast. “We just had no idea how to handle it — we were just trying to.”
Just five weeks before Julian’s death, Dannii spoke further about Julian’s mother’s disapproval, claiming Lady Sonia didn’t want her entering the political world that his father, former Prime Minister Sir William McMahon, dominated.
“[Sonia] thought that I was wanting to be part of that world, that I was going to take, take, take from them,” Dannii recalled on the How to Fail podcast on 27 May. “And it was the furthest thing from the truth and not what I wanted at all. So she made it very clear that I was not to be around and she didn’t want me a part of anything. Yet Julian wanted me to be his wife.”
She added, “I knew that their relationship – a lot had gone on and he loved and adored her, but they were not close in many ways. So it was a wild time. I mean, it was a lot to take on and that’s how swept off my feet I was and thought that it could still work.”
The now 53-year-old said the cost of travelling to LA to visit Julian while he tried to break into Hollywood also put a strain on their relationship.
“I was travelling every two weeks to see him, and I not only ran out of money – I was in debt,” she said.
“I thought, ‘I’ll support you until you get on your feet. Then we can support each other,’” the singer added. “Then the marriage was off… it was a huge struggle emotionally, physically, mentally, financially.”
JULIAN WELCOMES A DAUGHTER WITH SECOND WIFE, BROOKE BURNS
After the split, Julian met Baywatch actress Brooke Burns.
The pair married in 1999 and welcomed a daughter, who they named Madison, the following year.
Unfortunately, their marriage didn’t last and the couple filed for divorce just one year later.
Julian later spoke openly about co-parenting with Brooke.
“We just go day by day, basically. Whoever has the most amount of work will not have the child that day or night,” he told Ocean Drive Magazine in 2003. “It basically stems from the fact that we want our daughter to spend as much time with each parent as she can.”
“If it comes down to trying to give your child the best life you possibly can, then it kind of comes easy,” he added. “It’s not about arguing, fighting and trying to manipulate each other anymore. It’s just about trying to make sure that our little girl grows up with everything we can offer her.”
After news of Julian’s death broke, Brooke shared a photo of Julian and now 25-year-old Madison on Instagram, with a broken heart emoji.
JULIAN’S LASTING RELATIONSHIP WITH KELLY PANIAGUA
In 2003, Julian met model and children’s book author Kelly Paniagua.
Ten years later, in 2013, the couple became engaged during a trip to Melbourne to visit Julian’s family.
The following year, they tied the knot at Lake Tahoe, surrounded by close family and friends, from both Australia and the US.
After two high profile marriages and divorces, Julian kept his relationship with Kelly fairly private. The pair rarely attended events together and didn’t really speak about each other in interviews.
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