Neighbours icon Natalie Bassingthwaighte looks unrecognisable in a 1999 throwback photo from her days as a theatre star in Rent
Natalie Bassingthwaighte has been a household name in Australia for over two decades.
And the 45-year-old was overcome with nostalgia on Thursday, sharing a throwback photo with the cast of the 1999 musical Rent, in which she got her first big break.
‘#RENT days when I had my belly button pierced!!’ The Neighbours icon wrote in the caption.
Back in the day! Natalie Bassingthwaighte has been a household name in Australia for over two decades. The 45-year-old was feeling nostalgic on Thursday, sharing a 1999 throwback photo alongside the cast of the Australian tour of Rent
She was barely recognisable in the black-and-white image, her ’90s style in full swing with a pair of round-rim glasses, crop top and acid wash jeans.
Natalie started her career at beloved, now-defunct Sydney theme park Wonderland, where she performed in a variety of Hanna Barbara-themed stage shows and musicals.
After a short stint in at a comedy restaurant, she auditioned for the role of Ms. Cohen in the 1998-1999 tour of the hit musical Rent, beating out 6,000 other hopefuls.
Natalie went on to have an illustrious career, both as the lead singer of successful 2000 pop group The Rogue Traders and as Izzy Hoyland in Neighbours from 2003 to 2007.
Back in the day! Natalie started her career at beloved, now-defunct Sydney theme park Wonderland, where she performed in a variety of Hanna Barbara-themed stage shows and musicals. In 1998 she beat out 6,000 other hopefuls to secure the role of Ms.Cohen in Rent
Just over a year ago she stepped away from the spotlight and relocated to Byron Bay with her family.
In March, she told WHO magazine she felt like she ‘needed’ to embrace a more laid-back lifestyle after spending years living in Melbourne.
Making the big move: Natalie, 45, recently moved to Byron Bay, saying she felt like she ‘needed’ to embrace a more laid-back lifestyle after spending years living in Melbourne. Pictured with her husband, Cameron McGlinchey, and their children, daughter Harper, 10, and son Hendrix, 7
‘I’d done a retreat up here four years ago and just had this overwhelming feeling that we needed to move here. Then, six months before Covid-19 hit, we did it,’ she said.
Natalie is married to her Rogue Traders bandmate Cameron McGlinchey and they share two children, daughter Harper, 10, and son Hendrix, seven.
The singer revealed that she and Cameron, 45, try to make sure they don’t take on too much work that will impact their family time.
Acting heyday: Natalie became a household name in the mid-2000s when she played ‘homewrecker’ Izzy Hoyland on Neighbours. Pictured with her co-star Alan Fletcher