Ally is a hopeless romantic. She had no choice, it was in the blood, as she was born into a family of romance reading women.

She remembers bag loads of books being passed on at family gatherings from her mother, her cousins, her aunt, even her grandmother. She also remembers slithering under the spare bed at her grandmother’s house and finding an ever evolving treasure trove of Mills and Boons. Still today, when staying over at her folks place, there are always a couple of Mills and Boon must-reads left waiting by her bed.

Ally’s first real job after completing her Bachelor of Arts degree was as a professional cheerleader. And yes that's a real job! For three years she danced for a grand final winning rugby league football team, a basketball team and on a weekly television show.

Beyond dancing came acting. What an unusual progression I hear you all say with more than a hint of sarcasm. Ally was quite happily roped into acting in friends’ short films. She even wrote numerous scripts herself to try to give herself a better angle at becoming a rich and famous Academy Award winning actress. And that was how she met her husband. He was the big new thing at a local television station and Ally was a bright-eyed and bushy tailed newcomer who fell for his big talk and his big heart.

A couple of years ago, she married her hubby Mark in Las Vegas, and it was a blast! Their families and a couple of close friends came along for the ride. They traveled around California (where she developed an unhealthy addiction to Starbucks frappucinos) together before the wedding. And after the gorgeous ceremony (which was organized THAT morning) and dinner in the Brown Derby restaurant in the Mirage (the day after Tiger Woods ate there) and after having Frank Sinatra (she swears it was him!) serenade them, they traveled the length and breadth of the United States. They met Hugh Hefner in Disneyland and Tony Curtis in Las Vegas - and this time they were definitely the real deal