SAS star Dan Ewing on Home and Away fame: 'I really struggled'

He quickly rose to fame in 2011 as one of Summer Bay’s original bad boys, but Dan Ewing has now admitted he wasn’t prepared for the celebrity status that arrived with a starring role on Home and Away.

Speaking on the ImperfectlyPerfect Podcast, the 36-year-old opened up about dealing with the public’s attention as well as his mental health journey.

“I really struggled,” he admitted. “I was just some kid from the northern beaches, so then to shoot to fame on the biggest show in Australia in Home and Away, I wasn't ready.”

Dan played Heath Braxton on the long-running soap for three and a half years, before making brief returns in 2016 and 2021.

He was also nominated for two Logie awards: Most Popular New Male Talent in 2012 and the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor in 2014.

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“My partner at the time wasn't ready, and I didn't know it at the time, but I was really suffering with anxiety and I’d sort of just tip all this grog down my neck and just get absolutely written off on the weekend,” Dan continued about his 25-year-old self.

“You disguise it as, ‘Oh, it's blowing off steam, we all do it,’ and we all have done it. But for me, I just didn't understand there was a better way, there was a better process because it was just kind of the norm.”

He went on to say that despite “kicking goals work-wise”, he quickly learnt that his behaviour wasn’t conducive to a great marriage or lifestyle.

“It wasn't like I was a fully-fledged alcoholic, but I was just getting blind on weekends to subside this anxiety that I just wasn't ready for,” he said.

“I wasn’t ready for the notoriety… I’m very grateful for the job and the success of the show and the characters, but I certainly wasn’t ready and I didn’t have an awareness of what mental health was or taking care of that sort of stuff first was.”

Dan is currently starring on Channel Seven’s military-training series SAS Australia, where he is one of the 12 remaining celebrity recruits hoping to pass selection after the two-week experience.

“There’s no acting on this course for me,” he declared in an early trailer. “There’s no cut, there’s no trailer. This is Dan Ewing.

“I’m trying to become a better version of myself.”

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