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Reference > Erinsborough News > Shattered Dreams

Breaking up is hard to do as love struck teen Danni Stark is about to find out.

Only three months ago, Danni kissed Michael Martin goodbye as he left for school in the Outback, but now he’s returning to Erinsborough she can’t wait to see him, despite the tragic circumstances.

When Michael arrives for his step-mum Julie’s funeral, Danni expects their romance to resume. But Michael’s time away has changed his ideas about love as Eliza Szonert, 21, who plays Danni explains.

“Michael is very distant with Danni and doesn’t want to spend any time with her,” she says. “Then he admits that their relationship is over and naturally she’s devastated.”

But Danni won’t believe that he wants to call it quits so she tries to change his mind. Her pleas are in vain – Michael isn’t in love and they have nothing in common any more. To mend her broken heart, Danni decides to concentrate on a new venture – jewellery making! But whether baubles and beads can help her forget her first love remains to be seen.

In real life Eliza – whose unusual surname is an inheritance from her Polish father – is single and perfectly happy with her independence.

“I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment but I’m so busy, that to be honest I wouldn’t have the time,” she grins. “Working on Neighbours just gets better all the time. By the end of this year, I’ll have been in the show for almost two years and I’m quite happy to stay.” It’s not surprising that Eliza is so happy with her role. Since joining the soap, her character has had plenty of ups and downs.

First of all, she was suspected of being a junkie (in fact, she was injecting insulin, not heroin!), then she was discovered having sex with Michael by her mum! There’s little to tempt Eliza away from Ramsay Street, except, she says, the chance to pursue a musical career. But unlike Danni who passed up a record deal because she couldn’t sing a note, Eliza says that she comes from a rich musical background.

“I play the guitar,” says Eliza, “and I’ve been writing music for a long time!” But she’s quick to point out that she’s not about to become the wild woman of rock!

“I’m a real homebody,” grins Eliza who still lives in Sydney with her family. “I’m looking for my own place to live. I did think of sharing a flat with Brett Blewitt who plays my brother on the show but we decided that we see enough of each other at work! Also, he’d get really sick of living with me because he’s a real party animal and I’m far too boring for him!”

This article originally appeared in Inside Soap magazine, dated June 1995, and written by Victoria Ross

Article submitted by Steve