LEARNING FROM MISTAKES
Bonnie Anderson tells
Bonnie Anderson has several tattoos. Her first, which the Neighbours star had inked on her wrist when she was just 17, reads ‘Music heals’. They all mean something, such as the one the singer-actress has of a gun and a rose on her right arm. No, it’s not a nod to notorious LA hard rockers, Guns N’ Roses. “The gun … there are harder situations in life you might go through,” the 25-year-old tells WHO, “and the rose is what I like to think is me blossoming or coming out of that or overcoming those situations.”
Those situations she’s referring to involve the former Australia’s Got Talent winner facing court in July last year charged with lying to police in 2017 in order to protect her then-boyfriend Matt Arnautovic, the son of convicted drug baron Dragan ‘Machine Gun Charlie’ Arnautovic. Anderson pleaded guilty after she failed to tell police Arnautovic was driving a car which sped off from officers. She escaped conviction but was put on a good behaviour bond for three months. “I made a mistake which I put down to my naivety and being overly trusting,” Anderson told the Sunday Herald Sun at the time.
No doubt it was a harrowing experience for the young star – and one she is determined to move past.
“Last year was definitely a good learning curve for me and something that really shook me,” she says candidly. “I don’t want to be a baddie. We all make mistakes and I think everyone learns from mistakes. I’ve always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve and I always want to be someone who can speak openly about experiences and situations because everything I have done in my life I have learnt from.”
Anderson’s rose tattoo is also a reminder of her godfather, former champion boxer Lionel Rose, who passed away in 2011. Anderson sang the song ‘Desperado’ at Rose’s funeral. “The rose has a really strong meaning for me,” she says.
Keen to move on from her challenging year, Anderson is fronting a campaign called Kind is Cool. “This is something I’ve always believed – kindness overrules everything,” she says. “In life, there can be so much hate and unfortunate things that go on in people’s lives. But kindness is the number one thing.”
The campaign is the brainchild of Anderson’s older sister Amber Wilkinson. For Kind is Cool, Anderson designed an oversized T-shirt featuring a rose (of course) and the phrase ‘kindness never dies’. “That’s something I believe in very strongly,” she says. “Leaving people better than you found them, that kind of thing.”
Anderson has been a familiar face on our screens since she won AGT in 2007, when she was just 12. Starting her career at such a young age, she was forced to grow up quickly in an often-unforgiving industry. “I was overseas in LA and there were a lot of things I was doing as a young girl that an adult would be doing,” she recalls. “And I was on my own at times. My 18th birthday I celebrated in a hotel room in LA and I remember my parents calling me and sending me gifts.”
Things weren’t all bad last year for Anderson. She did get to perform on stage on Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions, where she says judge Simon Cowell offered her some wise advice about “keeping things simple” when she sings.
“Last year was definitely a good learning curve for me”
This year, Anderson will release more music and she’s excited about her time with her second family in Neighbours. Contrary to speculation, she has not quit the show.
And she has found love with new beau, Jordan Simi. “He’s a great laugh and we’re great mates,” she says. “I feel like he motivates me every day to be a better, stronger person. It’s good to have someone like that who builds you up. He believes in me and he is my No. 1 supporter.”
A tough period behind her, Anderson is feeling positive about her future. “I’m definitely in a good place,” she says, smiling. “I feel proud of myself and I feel happy.”