For a generation of Australian television viewers, Simmone Jade Mackinnon will always be remembered as Stevie Hall.

Her years on McLeod’s Daughters made her one of the familiar faces of one of Australia’s most-loved television dramas. Yet the years that followed took Simmone far away from the world audiences once knew her for.

Long after the cameras stopped rolling, she would reveal that life had become considerably more difficult behind the scenes.

And in September 2026, her family was confronted with another painful chapter.

From Stevie Hall to one of Australian television’s familiar faces

Simmone joined McLeod’s Daughters as Stevie Hall and remained a major part of the series from 2003 until its conclusion in 2009.

The role became closely associated with her career, and her work on the drama earned her multiple Logie nominations.

Even years later, Simmone acknowledged the unusually strong connection McLeod’s Daughters fans continued to have with the series.

Speaking ahead of The Summit in 2024, she joked that being recognised from the show might even help her during the competition because devoted McLeod’s viewers tended to remain loyal to the series.

But by then, her life away from television looked very different.

“The hardest of my life”

When Simmone returned to television for The Summit in 2024, she spoke unusually openly about what had happened during the years before the show.

She described the previous period as the hardest she had experienced.

“The last three years have been the hardest of my life.”

Simmone said prolonged pressure had affected her deeply. She revealed that she had experienced severe anxiety and, after a period of repeated panic attacks, began losing large amounts of hair.

Eventually, she shaved it off.

She later admitted that she had withdrawn from people around her.

“I just hid. I hid away from everything and everyone for years.”

Her appearance on The Summit therefore represented considerably more than simply another television job.

Difficulties within her family were unfolding at the same time

Simmone also explained that several family circumstances had contributed to that difficult period.

Her father had become unwell, while her niece had been involved in what Simmone described at the time as a “horrific accident”.

She and her son were also living in a caravan and shed on her father’s property while she dealt with the pressures surrounding a new business.

Speaking to Nine in 2024, Simmone said there had simply been “lots happening” at once.

It was a striking contrast with the glamorous television career many viewers still associated with her.

The Summit became an unexpected turning point

Simmone ultimately made it all the way to the top of The Summit alongside Mat Rogers and Charlotte Shelton.

The three reached the end with $536,000 remaining, although the final prize was not divided equally. Simmone received $100,000.

She admitted she had initially been disappointed by the split, particularly because she had hoped the money would allow her to build the home she had planned.

Instead, she said she intended to use her winnings to reduce her debts.

But the experience gave her something beyond money.

Looking back on the competition, Simmone said:

“It’s reignited this fire in me that had gone out long ago.”

She also described the experience as giving her a sense of her own power back.

Later, when a follower asked how she was doing after the program, her answer was considerably brighter: “Got my groove back.”

Then came another deeply personal family loss

More than two years after Simmone publicly spoke about those difficult years, her family faced another painful event.

At the end of August 2026, Simmone appealed publicly for help locating her younger sister, Kym Mackinnon, 51, who had been reported missing around Tamborine Mountain in Queensland.

“Have you seen my sister?” Simmone wrote as she shared information about Kym’s disappearance.

The following day, Queensland Police confirmed that Kym had been found deceased.

Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious and that a report would be prepared for the Coroner.

Simmone’s quiet farewell to her sister

After Kym’s death was confirmed, Simmone shared a short tribute that revealed another side of the family’s grief.

She remembered her sister as a performer and dancer before ending with a particularly personal farewell:

“Dance in peace Mimmy… see you in my dreams.”

The message came only shortly after Simmone herself had turned to the public in the hope of finding her sister.

Kym’s daughter, Rayne Johnsen, also paid tribute to her mother, recalling the support she had received throughout her childhood and the encouragement Kym had given her ambitions.

A very different story beyond Drovers Run

For viewers, Stevie Hall remains one of the characters most closely associated with Simmone Jade Mackinnon.

But Simmone’s own story after McLeod’s Daughters has unfolded far away from Drovers Run.

She has spoken about family illness, years of intense pressure, retreating from public life and eventually finding enough confidence to return to television.

The loss of her sister in 2026 added another deeply personal chapter to that journey.

And while audiences may still first recognise Simmone as the confident Stevie Hall, what she has shared in recent years offers a much fuller picture of the woman behind one of Australian television’s most familiar characters.

Sources: Nine / 9Now interviews with Simmone Jade Mackinnon, 2024; 7NEWS, September 2026; New Idea, September 2026.