Home and Away actor wanted on arrest after failing to appear in court on assault charges

Pledger’s manager, Craig McMahon, said he had not been in contact with his client this week but that he had been shocked by the assault allegations.

McMahon condemned violence against women and said that his client had suffered from mental health issues for a long time.

“We are absolutely devastated. This is a young man. It’s awful on every account for everyone involved,” he said.

McMahon said Pledger had previously attempted to access mental health treatment and had co-operated with his management team’s attempts to get him help.

McMahon said his team had been “roadblocked on every single occasion” by mental health services. He said the Pledger he knew was a “beautiful, creative human”.

“I have no doubt Orpheus has been completely let down by the system, and I can only imagine how many other people out there needing help – and needing help desperately – are not getting it,” he said.

Pledger was a child actor on The Secret Life of Us and played Noah Parkin on Neighbours in 2011, before starring as aspiring doctor Mason Morgan on Home and Away from 2016 to 2019. His most recent television appearance was in 2022 on reality show SAS Australia, where concerns were raised over his “erratic behaviour”.

He voluntarily left SAS Australia early in the series after being called on to discuss his lack of engagement.

When asked how he was handling the show’s training program, which is designed to reflect Special Air Service selection, Pledger surprised the show’s hosts by quitting.

“I want to go home,” he replied.

During the show’s exit interview, Pledger said: “Completing a course like this – if it’s exactly what I’m required to learn – then I’m gonna go for it. If I don’t wanna learn it, then I’m not gonna learn it. And if you call that quitting, then that’s quitting.”

His lawyer has been contacted for comment.

Pledger has been scheduled to appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 10.