\u201cMy agent called me one Friday night last year,\u201d recalls Sally. \u201cShe said, \u2018You probably know what this is about,\u2019 and I said, \u2018No,\u2019 as I live quite squarely in the present. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen she told me and I went hot, then cold. I was home alone too because my boyfriend Dan had gone out. So I spent the next few hours just pacing, walking from wall to wall in every room of our house.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried and tried to calm myself, as it was just such a surreal feeling. Not that I ever thought I was invincible, but it was still awful. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy brain spiralled into \u2018What will I do for money? What work am I even capable of doing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally with her beloved partner Dan. Photo \/ NZ Woman’s Weekly<\/p>\n
Once the news had sunk in and Dan had come home, Sally texted her friend Hannah, who\u2019s a script supervisor on the show, and Jess Sayer, who plays Maeve, her onscreen wife. <\/p>\n
\u201cI told them, \u2018FYI, this thing had happened,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t yet have any words I could say out loud.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver that weekend, I also spoke to my family, the producers and the head of writing. Everyone was genuinely gutted and so supportive.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sally, 40, also says that her nearest and dearest, including beloved partner Dan, heaved a collective sigh of relief. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe job took so much from me over the years,\u201d she reveals candidly. \u201cOh, my God, I loved it and I\u2019m so utterly appreciative for all it gave me, but it took so much. I missed momentous occasions and I suffered clinical burnout a couple of times. Yes, it was my choice to stay as long as I did, but the role took its toll.\u201d <\/p>\n
With Nicole\u2019s exit part of last year\u2019s Christmas cliffhanger, leaving the show also made for a dramatic change to Sally\u2019s life. <\/p>\n
So to recalibrate, she took a much-needed breather. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I wrapped, I spent some time with wh\u0101nau in my hometown of Lower Hutt and with Dan, who\u2019s my rock, plus this guy,\u201d says Sally, drawing Jimi, her \u201cother man\u201d, closer. <\/p>\n
Jimi is Sally\u2019s 6-year-old Staffy, who\u2019s wearing an elegant button-front sleeveless cardigan for the Weekly\u2019s visit. As she mentions him, the devoted dog gazes adoringly back at his mistress.<\/p>\n
Jimi is Sally\u2019s 6-year-old Staffy. Photo \/ NZ Woman’s Weekly<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m home most days, Jimi Houndrix here is getting lots of walks,\u201d laughs Sally. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to day care any more either, so he\u2019s stuck to me like Velcro instead!\u201d <\/p>\n
But Sally says she wasn\u2019t blindsided by her axing. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s been a professional actor since she was 15, including a year on Power Rangers<\/a> at 17, so she knows how precarious showbiz can be. <\/p>\n \u201cShortland Street has been through so much change lately,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s gone from five days a week to three. Other cast and crew members have been let go, so it wasn\u2019t just Nicole who was written out.\u201d <\/p>\n Sally says her heart goes out to her colleagues, whose fates continue to hang in the balance \u2013 even though the iconic soap will survive for at least one more year in its new pared-down format.<\/p>\n She knows she had a good run. Arriving in Ferndale aged 24 \u2013 her contract was meant to run for just three months \u2013 Sally never dreamed Nicole would survive as long as she did. <\/p>\n Over the course of more than 15 years, Sally would make some of her closest friends and experience some of her happiest days. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re like a family out there, partly because we spend more time on set than we do with our actual families,\u201d explains Sally. <\/p>\n