10 October 2023 , 07:34
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Former Neighbours heartthrob Craig McLachlan has confessed he now struggles to trust women in the wake of being cleared of several serious charges.
The 58-year old, who is currently starring in SAS Australia, was charged with seven counts of indecent assault, and six counts of common law assault against four of his female co-stars of The Rocky Horror Show stage production in 2019.
The actor was cleared of all those charges a year later, however, and admitted to SAS host Ant Middleton on Monday that the trial took a heavy toll on his career. "When I started on Neighbours, I was in people's lounge rooms night after night, day after day," he explained during the season premiere. "But there was something that happened about five years ago that was shocking for the public and shocking for me."
Craig, who also stars as lead character Dr. Lucien Blake in The Doctor Blake Mysteries, continued: "Craig McLachlan, disgraced actor. Workplace bully, monster. So I'm here to exorcise some pretty extreme pain with some pretty extreme pain." Admitting to suffering from "extreme social anxiety" as a result of his ordeal, he added: "I find it very difficult to trust situations where there are a lot of people, especially women.
"I'm more anxious about being in a new group of people than I am about climbing up the side of a mountain. I know that sounds bizarre, but for me, I'm afraid it's true." One of a select band of stars to appear in both Neighbours and Home and Away, Craig told Ant that he lost friends when the charges came to light.
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Craig was later awarded $500,000 after a magistrate found him not guilty (Seven)"People who only months before looked me in the eye and said you create the most wonderful work environments imaginable... abandonment, total abandonment," he said. "A tiny handful of courageous people I have friendships with over 30 years were always there, but the vast majority - gone."
Craig's 2019 charges related to complaints dating back to 2014, when he played the role of Frank-N-Furter in Melbourne. After being acquitted, he was awarded $500,000 AUD (£262,000) in April 2023 when a magistrate found him not guilty of 13 charges following a four-week hearing in December 2020. Craig strongly denied all allegations.