Rachel Amanda Friend (born 8 January 1970) is an Australian actress and journalist.

Early life

Friend completed her HSC at Sacré Cœur School, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, and deferred a commerce course at University of Melbourne.

Career

Friend began her screen career with roles in Zoo Family, Prime Time and The Bartons. She also starred in the 1986 family adventure film Frog Dreaming. Friend joined the cast of the soap opera Neighbours in 1988, when she was eighteen. Friend chose to postpone her university degree to join the show as Bronwyn Davies. Friend quit Neighbours in 1990. That same year saw her win the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress. After leaving Neighbours, Friend starred as Annette in the telemovie Mission Top Secret, alongside Beth Buchanan. Other roles include Golden Fiddles (1991), and a brief appearance in Round The Twist as a mermaid. Friend hosted the Seven Network show Saturday Kitchen with her husband Stuart MacGill on Saturday afternoons. In 2003, Friend established her own PR company, "Media Friendly", and in July 2007 produced and presented the Seven Network parenting show, Mums and Bubs. In 2009, Friend began hosting a television show on the Seven Network called New Idea TV alongside Barbara Northwood, Tom Williams and a variety of other presenters.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

Personal life

In 1993, Friend married Australian actor-singer Craig McLachlan whom she had met on the set of Neighbours. They divorced the following year. McLachlan's hit song "Amanda" was about Friend, which is her middle name. Friend married Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill in 2000 after meeting in 1999 when she interviewed him for A Current Affair. They have two children together – a boy born in 2003 and a girl born in 2006. The pair separated and subsequently divorced in 2013.