Australian actress and singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte opened up about her pregnancy at 19 during an affair with a married man who was 55.
She discussed that period on The Inherited podcast. The experience later echoed one of her best-known soap plots.
Natalie, now 50, played Izzy Hoyland in Neighbours from 2003 to 2007. She later returned for guest appearances.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte opens up about teen pregnancy with older married man
Natalie, who later found success in the 2000s band Rogue Traders, described the emotional strain in direct terms. She focused on the guilt she carried at the time.
She said: “The hardest part was feeling deceitful because I’ve always felt like that’s not who I am as a person to the core.
“I just fell in love with a person who told me I was amazing and beautiful and talented and funny.”
Natalie wrote about the relationship in her memoir Love Like This. In the book, she said she became pregnant during the affair.
The Voodoo Child hitmaker later miscarried the baby, and that loss made the chapter even more painful.
Why Natalie Bassingthwaighte’s shock pregnancy story felt so familiar
Fans quickly linked the revelation to one of Neighbours’ biggest storylines when she played Izzy, one of Ramsay Street’s most memorable troublemakers.
On screen, Izzy had an affair with Karl Kennedy, played by Alan Fletcher. That plot became one of the soap’s most talked-about twists.
Izzy later fell pregnant by Karl. The storyline led to the birth of their daughter Holly Hoyland.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte played Izzy Hoyland in Neighbours between 2003 and 2007, with later guest returns.
- Izzy Hoyland began an affair with Karl Kennedy, one of Ramsay Street’s longest-running characters.
- The relationship became one of the soap’s major storylines during Natalie’s original stint.
- Izzy later became pregnant by Karl.
- The storyline led to the birth of Holly Hoyland.
- Karl Kennedy was played by Alan Fletcher.
Fans spotted the overlap straight away and several reacted under a podcast clip on TikTok.
One viewer wrote: “Not her living her Neighbours storyline IRL.”
Another commented: “Wait, her affair with Karl Kennedy was real?”
A third joked: “Yeah his name was Karl Kennedy we all watched it happen.”
Natalie Bassingthwaighte is best known in soap for playing Izzy Hoyland in Neighbours.
- She appeared as Izzy Hoyland from 2003 to 2007.
- Izzy became one of Ramsay Street’s most recognisable troublemakers.
- The character was involved in several high-profile storylines, including her affair with Karl Kennedy.
- Natalie later returned for guest appearances after her original run ended.
- Neighbours has aired in the UK on the BBC, Channel 5 and Amazon Freevee.
For the first time in 15 years, Natalie and her Rogue Traders members released a new studio album, Midnight Alarms, last month.