From military service to séances: What the cast of Aussie kids TV phenomenon Round The Twist are up to now

Sky News AU10-05-2025

Quirky TV phenomenon Round The Twist captured the imaginations of millions of Aussie kids during its memorable 11 year run.
The show followed the lives of 14-year-old twins Pete and Linda, their brother Bronson, eight, and sculptor father Tony in the fictional coastal town of Port Niranda in the iconic series that aired from 1990 to 2001.
The Twists shared the lighthouse with the series' conniving antagonists, greedy real estate agent Harold Gribble and his scheming wife Matron, who often tried to force the Twists out of their home.
Their school bully son, James, was the leader of the Gribble boys and Pete's taunter.
Wacky storylines, supernatural creatures, haunted outhouses, time-travelling Vikings, and even a case of the missing pants were brought right into the hearts of two generations of Australian children.
Now, 35 years after its premiere on Australian TV, the adaptation of author Paul Jennings' short stories remains cemented in popular culture.
But whatever happened to its stars? Here's everything you need to know. Richard Moir: Tony Twist, season one and two
Moir, 74, memorable for his mop of curly brown hair, played the Twist children's father in the first two seasons.
His character's wife died in an accident four years earlier before he became romantically linked to Bronson's schoolteacher, Fay James.
From 1982 through 1997, the father-of-two starred in a slew of series and films, including Jilted, Welcome to Woop Woop, and Dolphin Cove.
In the first season of Round The Twist, Moir was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which he successfully hid.
However, his speech soon became affected, and the generative effects of the disease gradually brought the actor's career to a premature end.
In 2022, Moir returned to the spotlight when he appeared in the short film Not Dark Yet, made by his filmmaker daughter, Bonnie.
He received praise for his portrayal of a man deteriorating from Parkinson's disease. Harold Gribble: Mark Mitchell, seasons two, three and four
Harrold Gribble's curly mop of yellow hair is synonymous with his constant scheme to exploit the Twist family for his own financial gain.
After hanging up his character's bright yellow attire, Mitchell achieved success through his best-known roles in SeaChange, The Genie From Down Under, and as Con the Fruiterer in The Comedy Company.
In 2015, the father-of-five told Network 10's Studio 10 he could see dead people.
Mitchell claimed his Aunty Mary, who had died in a car accident, appeared in "a ghostly form but looking really well" in the kitchen one day.
"I looked at (Aunty Mary) and smiled, and she smiled at me," he said.
"Then she turned to my mother and started speaking. My mother couldn't see her."
The 70-year-old continues to act and, most recently, starred in the Australian TV drama The Newsreader in 2025. Sam Vandenberg: Pete Twist, season one
Vandenberg, 51, played the gentle-natured eldest Twist brother in season one.
After leaving the series in 1993, the child actor starred in one episode of the TV drama Blue Heelers.
According to his IMDb biography, he also appeared on music quiz show Spicks and Specks in 2005.
After that, it's understood Vanderberg mostly retreated from life as an actor.
Instead, he pursued a music career, managing and coordinating various bands in Melbourne. Bronson Twist: Rodney McLennan, season one
The original youngest Twist brother disappeared from the public eye until he resurfaced in 2016, when he admitted he struggled in school after the show.
"I struggled with it and found it very emotionally challenging," he told ABC from his home in Brisbane.
"I missed fundamentals of maths, so I avoided maths, and that just perpetuated into high school."
The TV roles stopped knocking on his door when McLennan became a teenager.
"I was no longer a cute kid. I stopped meeting the preconceived notions of what they were looking for," he said.
The former actor joined the army as a rifleman and toured East Timor.
McLennon then worked as a triple zero call taker and police dispatcher.
His wife Corrine encourages him to keep the fan mail he receives continuously from around the world. Tamsin West: Linda Twist, season one
The bright, resourceful, and fearless Twist sister was played by Tamsin West in season one.
West, now 51, performed the lead vocals for the Round the Twist theme song across all four seasons.
'Once I'd sung 'Danny Boy' (a song in the show) and I wasn't terrible, then they asked me to do the theme tune," she said in 2020.
West said she and Vandenberg were 'gutted' they were too old to play Linda and Pete in season two of Round The Twist.
The actress went on to sing in the chorus for the 1992 Jesus Christ Superstar Australian arena production.
After starring in the legal drama Janus in 1995, West is understood to have stepped back from acting to pursue singing.
She resides in Melbourne, where she met her husband performing at jazz venues. Joelene Crnogorac: Linda Twist, season two
After leaving the set of Round The Twist around 2000, Crnogorac starred in several Australian productions, including Snowy River, Ocean Girl, and Blue Heelers.
After her last role in Prince of Peoria in 2019, it's understood she stepped away from the limelight to focus on motherhood.

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Iconic Australian migrant story returns to the stage

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an hour ago

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Iconic Australian migrant story returns to the stage

Stephen Nicolazzo felt like throwing away his culture as a kid but is now using it to bring an Aussie classic to the national stage. Born of Melina Marchetta's iconic 1992 book and award-winning film starring Pia Miranda, Looking for Alibrandi the stage show has embarked on a first national tour. The story follows feisty protagonist Josie Alibrandi as she navigates her final year at a prestigious Catholic girls' school in Sydney. Along the way she finds her father, falls in love and grapples with her identity as a third-generation Italian growing up in Australia. It's an experience Nicolazzo shared as the grandson of Italian migrants. In primary school, the now 38-year-old was embarrassed to pronounce Italian words his classmates struggled with. "You want to throw away your culture and your ethnicity when you're younger because of all of the pressures of being discriminated against," he told AAP. "That's a really strange feeling because you lock away a part of yourself as a result of the pressures of expectation." The lived experience of young Australians from Italian cultures has improved over the past 30 years. "But there are many other migrants who have come to this country since the book was written," Nicolazzo said. "They're experiencing the same discrimination and tensions that Josie faced." The production highlights important issues of acceptance and tolerance, and is relatable to a wide audience. Nicolazzo points to the story's universal recognition of concepts like having to deal with over-bearing family members or being spoken to in a certain way. "The people that watch it are sobbing and laughing because there's a familiarity to it that goes beyond nostalgia," he said. The show first graced Sydney and Melbourne stages in 2022 and has since undergone script changes to enrich one of Jose's love interests, John Barton. "The audience is getting the best version of the show, which is five years in the making," Nicolazzo said. Three new cast members have also joined the fold, including 23-year-old graduate Riley Warner, who plays Josie's knockabout boyfriend Jacob Cootes. The rising star is debuting in his first stage show, having met Nicolazzo as a student. "There's something about him that feels like a national audience needs to see him right away," Nicolazzo said. The show next appears in Sydney on June 11 before heading across NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Nicolazzo hopes audience members take one key message from his production. "It's about finding freedom from the shackles of a culture that doesn't want you to be a part of It," he said. "That's a hard thing to do but we can only do it by making art and talking to people." Stephen Nicolazzo felt like throwing away his culture as a kid but is now using it to bring an Aussie classic to the national stage. Born of Melina Marchetta's iconic 1992 book and award-winning film starring Pia Miranda, Looking for Alibrandi the stage show has embarked on a first national tour. The story follows feisty protagonist Josie Alibrandi as she navigates her final year at a prestigious Catholic girls' school in Sydney. Along the way she finds her father, falls in love and grapples with her identity as a third-generation Italian growing up in Australia. It's an experience Nicolazzo shared as the grandson of Italian migrants. In primary school, the now 38-year-old was embarrassed to pronounce Italian words his classmates struggled with. "You want to throw away your culture and your ethnicity when you're younger because of all of the pressures of being discriminated against," he told AAP. "That's a really strange feeling because you lock away a part of yourself as a result of the pressures of expectation." The lived experience of young Australians from Italian cultures has improved over the past 30 years. "But there are many other migrants who have come to this country since the book was written," Nicolazzo said. "They're experiencing the same discrimination and tensions that Josie faced." The production highlights important issues of acceptance and tolerance, and is relatable to a wide audience. Nicolazzo points to the story's universal recognition of concepts like having to deal with over-bearing family members or being spoken to in a certain way. "The people that watch it are sobbing and laughing because there's a familiarity to it that goes beyond nostalgia," he said. The show first graced Sydney and Melbourne stages in 2022 and has since undergone script changes to enrich one of Jose's love interests, John Barton. "The audience is getting the best version of the show, which is five years in the making," Nicolazzo said. Three new cast members have also joined the fold, including 23-year-old graduate Riley Warner, who plays Josie's knockabout boyfriend Jacob Cootes. The rising star is debuting in his first stage show, having met Nicolazzo as a student. "There's something about him that feels like a national audience needs to see him right away," Nicolazzo said. The show next appears in Sydney on June 11 before heading across NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Nicolazzo hopes audience members take one key message from his production. "It's about finding freedom from the shackles of a culture that doesn't want you to be a part of It," he said. "That's a hard thing to do but we can only do it by making art and talking to people." Stephen Nicolazzo felt like throwing away his culture as a kid but is now using it to bring an Aussie classic to the national stage. Born of Melina Marchetta's iconic 1992 book and award-winning film starring Pia Miranda, Looking for Alibrandi the stage show has embarked on a first national tour. The story follows feisty protagonist Josie Alibrandi as she navigates her final year at a prestigious Catholic girls' school in Sydney. Along the way she finds her father, falls in love and grapples with her identity as a third-generation Italian growing up in Australia. It's an experience Nicolazzo shared as the grandson of Italian migrants. In primary school, the now 38-year-old was embarrassed to pronounce Italian words his classmates struggled with. "You want to throw away your culture and your ethnicity when you're younger because of all of the pressures of being discriminated against," he told AAP. "That's a really strange feeling because you lock away a part of yourself as a result of the pressures of expectation." The lived experience of young Australians from Italian cultures has improved over the past 30 years. "But there are many other migrants who have come to this country since the book was written," Nicolazzo said. "They're experiencing the same discrimination and tensions that Josie faced." The production highlights important issues of acceptance and tolerance, and is relatable to a wide audience. Nicolazzo points to the story's universal recognition of concepts like having to deal with over-bearing family members or being spoken to in a certain way. "The people that watch it are sobbing and laughing because there's a familiarity to it that goes beyond nostalgia," he said. The show first graced Sydney and Melbourne stages in 2022 and has since undergone script changes to enrich one of Jose's love interests, John Barton. "The audience is getting the best version of the show, which is five years in the making," Nicolazzo said. Three new cast members have also joined the fold, including 23-year-old graduate Riley Warner, who plays Josie's knockabout boyfriend Jacob Cootes. The rising star is debuting in his first stage show, having met Nicolazzo as a student. "There's something about him that feels like a national audience needs to see him right away," Nicolazzo said. The show next appears in Sydney on June 11 before heading across NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Nicolazzo hopes audience members take one key message from his production. "It's about finding freedom from the shackles of a culture that doesn't want you to be a part of It," he said. "That's a hard thing to do but we can only do it by making art and talking to people." Stephen Nicolazzo felt like throwing away his culture as a kid but is now using it to bring an Aussie classic to the national stage. Born of Melina Marchetta's iconic 1992 book and award-winning film starring Pia Miranda, Looking for Alibrandi the stage show has embarked on a first national tour. The story follows feisty protagonist Josie Alibrandi as she navigates her final year at a prestigious Catholic girls' school in Sydney. Along the way she finds her father, falls in love and grapples with her identity as a third-generation Italian growing up in Australia. It's an experience Nicolazzo shared as the grandson of Italian migrants. In primary school, the now 38-year-old was embarrassed to pronounce Italian words his classmates struggled with. "You want to throw away your culture and your ethnicity when you're younger because of all of the pressures of being discriminated against," he told AAP. "That's a really strange feeling because you lock away a part of yourself as a result of the pressures of expectation." The lived experience of young Australians from Italian cultures has improved over the past 30 years. "But there are many other migrants who have come to this country since the book was written," Nicolazzo said. "They're experiencing the same discrimination and tensions that Josie faced." The production highlights important issues of acceptance and tolerance, and is relatable to a wide audience. Nicolazzo points to the story's universal recognition of concepts like having to deal with over-bearing family members or being spoken to in a certain way. "The people that watch it are sobbing and laughing because there's a familiarity to it that goes beyond nostalgia," he said. The show first graced Sydney and Melbourne stages in 2022 and has since undergone script changes to enrich one of Jose's love interests, John Barton. "The audience is getting the best version of the show, which is five years in the making," Nicolazzo said. Three new cast members have also joined the fold, including 23-year-old graduate Riley Warner, who plays Josie's knockabout boyfriend Jacob Cootes. The rising star is debuting in his first stage show, having met Nicolazzo as a student. "There's something about him that feels like a national audience needs to see him right away," Nicolazzo said. The show next appears in Sydney on June 11 before heading across NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Nicolazzo hopes audience members take one key message from his production. "It's about finding freedom from the shackles of a culture that doesn't want you to be a part of It," he said. "That's a hard thing to do but we can only do it by making art and talking to people."