Former Neighbours star Dan Paris reveals his surprising new career

He rose to fame playing handsome heartthrob Drew Kirk on the long-running Australian soap, Neighbours. 

And now Dan Paris has revealed his surprising new career, amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 47-year-old actor and photographer revealed to the ABC that after a downturn in work, he became a farmer and a market gardener, operating from his property in Esperance, Western Australia.

According to the ABC, Drew grows around 30 different types of fresh produce including herbs and vegetables, at his ‘Mystwood Harvest’ property.

Dan and his wife Tanya Jenkyn decided to dabble in community-supported agriculture (CSA) at the farm rather than selling at the local markets. 

CSA ‘asks consumers to invest in shares in a grower’s projected harvest for a set period and then when it yields, they receive regular deliveries.’ 

‘I guess it’s similar to crowdfunding, in that you can promote online in a forum, you raise an interest and you see who’s out there,’ Dan explained to the ABC. 

‘So they gave us capital up front, and that allowed us to get some structures in the ground, get through COVID as an unemployed photographer and start to do some work,’ he added. 

Dan lost a considerable amount of photography work during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘I think I had 12 jobs booked in for the next few weeks, and three a day [were] getting cancelled,’ he explained. 

So he came up with the idea of selling produce so that he could make ‘$500 every few weeks just to keep things ticking over.’  

Dan played to role of Drew Kirk on Neighbours from 1998 to 2002, until his character was killed off in a tragic horse riding accident. 

During his time on the show, Drew’s character married Libby Kennedy, played by Kym Valentine, and together had a son Ben Kirk.  

Dan revealed he never had plans to be an actor, but said he was at the right place at the right time after doing one audition, despite having no experience.

He admitted that he did find it challenging remembering his lines, but said he enjoyed his job.

After leaving the soap, Dan enjoyed travelling the country as a photographer in Western Australia. 

In 2017, Dan told News.com.au that the first thing he bought after leaving the Ramsay Street was a nice camera to fuel his passion for photography.

‘It started off as landscape and now I work a lot with marketing companies in Perth,’ he said, adding that he also does photo shoots for Tourism WA.

‘Most of my work is actually doing video now and that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing professionally since Neighbours. Life is great at the moment.’