Simmone Jade Mackinnon was about to marry Jason Momoa when he 'left suddenly'.

In the early 2000s, Simmone Jade Mackinnon was at the height of fame. 

She was riding high off of the success of Baywatch: Hawaii, which aired from 1999 until 2001. The Australian-born actor then embarked on the Aussie drama classic McLeod's Daughters, which aired from 2003 to 2009.

But it wasn't just her time on TV that tabloids became fascinated by. It was her Hollywood relationship with Jason Momoa.

In 1999, the pair met on the set of Baywatch, and began dating. They were engaged in 2004, but their relationship ended two years later.

Just a few days after their split, Mackinnon had to film a major wedding scene for her McLeod's Daughters' character 'Stevie Hall' who was getting married on the show.

"He flew into Australia to break up with me. We were about to be married, we were talking baby names. He was my world. He left on the Friday. The very first thing I had to do on the Monday was try on my character's wedding dress," Mackinnon recounts this week on Mamamia's podcast MID.

Watch the trailer for Mamamia's podcast MID. Post continues below. 

"I think I just drank myself into a bit of a stupor the entire weekend. Somehow I got through it. I was a mess trying on the wedding dress, it was my first time wearing one. I was sobbing and they were trying to hold me up. I'd never even tried my real wedding dress on. I hadn't bought one yet."

It's been reported that Momoa was unfaithful after he met his childhood crush, Lisa Bonet in 2005. Momoa and Bonet were romantically connected soon after meeting, and later married (they're now divorced).

Mackinnon adds: "We didn't break up, he left. And he left very, very suddenly. It catapulted me into a world of anxiety that I didn't know existed. It also opened the door to panic attacks."

18 years on from their breakup, Mackinnon has happily moved on. 

As she says to Mamamia: "I'm so glad he left, because I wouldn't have Madigan [Mackinnon's son] if I had stayed in that relationship or if I had gone to America."

After McLeod's Daughters wrapped up in 2009, Mackinnon said she wanted to take a break from acting and focus on raising her son who would "more than likely be my only child," she said per The Advertiser. 

Apart from a few minor roles in City Homicide in 2010 and Neighbours in 2012, she hasn't returned to acting since.

She confessed that during the hiatus, she ended up staying hidden "away from everything and everyone for years."

In 2016, Mackinnon bought a caravan to road trip across Australia with her son but instead of that, it was semi-permanently parked on family property for two years when her father became ill.

While dealing with that, she took a job working at a cattle station in Rockhampton, Queensland, as a jillaroo (which is working on a sheep or cattle farm) and described the lifestyle as "priceless" despite making less money than she had in the acting industry.

Recently, Mackinnon has opened up about life away from the spotlight, saying she's dealt with "really, really intense" financial pressure.

She confessed on Nine's reality competition show The Summit that she has dealt with "severe anxiety" that led to "massive hair loss".

Simmone Jade Mackinnon on The Summit. Image: Nine.

"The last three years have been the hardest of my life," Mackinnon said, per 9Now. "And that caused severe anxiety. After a week of back-to-back panic attacks that led to massive hair loss. There was big chunks just falling out so I had to shave it all off. You lose your hair and it's a massive psychological hit."

"Rock bottom is where I found myself. And there's really only one way you can go from there... and that is up."

The former actor won $100,000 on The Summit's grand finale, which she described as "life-changing".

Mackinnon tells MID: "There used to be times when I'd have to go without heat and air con. That's just what I had to do to get by. There was another time when I was like, 'Oh my god, how am I going to afford my medication?' You have to become very resilient, and you have to take the knocks and get back up."

"I just want to live the best life that I possibly can while I'm here, and I want to do as much as I possibly can with my son and give him the best start to life." 

This article was originally published in May 2024, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty.