EXCLUSIVE: The troubled signs Home and Away heart-throb was on a ‘downward spiral’ after being abruptly ‘killed off’ from the career-defining soap – before allegedly being arrested with ice and pills
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Friends feared former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger’s life was on a ‘downard spiral’ before he was charged with possessing methamphetamine – the deadly drug ice.
A chiseled Adonis on the outside, Pledger allegedly set off alarm bells late last year while in Sydney filming Channel 7’s The All New Monty: Guys & Gals.
A glorified strip show, Pledger appeared to relish his time getting his gear off on camera for his adoring fans.
Pledger’s Home and Away character Mason Morgan (left) was killed off in the 2019 season finale. He was caught by uniformed police allegedly in possession of meth.
Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger appeared in Channel 7’s The All New Monty: Guys & Gals last year
Pledger quit Home And Away in 2019 after deciding he wanted to pursue a career in music. He is pictured here with his former co-star Olivia Deeble
His Home And Away character had been killed off in 2019 and Covid had seen Pledger reinvent himself as an Instagram star and part-time music producer.
In October, he made headlines when he announced a new love interest and Pledger was reportedly ‘the most happiest’ he’d been in a long while.
But last month the 28-year-old raised eyebrows when he revealed a lot more than he bargained for while filming himself in the shower.
Pledger briefly exposed his manhood in the raunchy clip.
He had been showing off his jacked physique before stepping out naked and preening in front of the bathroom mirror.
While laughed off at the time as a playful mishap, Daily Mail Australia has been told those closest to Pledger held deep concerns for his welfare.
On Wednesday, Pledger appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on two counts of drug possession.
Police had arrested him on February 19 in Prahran – just outside of Melbourne’s CBD – where he was allegedly found with a little over half a gram of meth and 30 Diazepam tablets.
Pledger appeared in court via videolink with his cat
Pledger in Channel 7’s The All New Monty: Guys & Gals
He asked the magistrate to ‘be gentle’ on him during a bizarre court appearance which saw him suck from a vape and stroke a black cat.
A source close to Pledger, who asked to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia this week the actor had been struggling since leaving Home And Away in 2019.
‘Orpheus has been exerting this problematic behaviour for a while, since he relocated back to Melbourne after his character was killed off,’ the source said.
This increasingly unpredictable and worrisome behaviour continued with his split from his partner late last year, sources said.
Pledger had appeared in court before Magistrate Hugh Radford via videolink from his loungeroom- due to Victoria’s ongoing Covid-19 threat.
Dressed in a black t-shirt and wearing dark spectacles, Pledger’s cat could be seen wandering past as he asked for his matter to be adjourned to allow him to seek legal advice.
Pledger contested details of his alleged offending be released to the media.
‘Well, seeing as though I don’t have counsel present, I would like to keep things out of the media until the matter is resolved,’ he told the magistrate.
Sources claim they have been worried about Pledger’s since his character was killed off in 2019
‘That well may be your wish,’ Mr Radford replied, ‘but the issue is … if we were in normal times, the media is quite entitled to sit at the back of the court … so I don’t believe I could restrict them from at least obtaining a copy of the charges.’
A despondent Pledger reluctantly accepted the magistrate’s call, before pleading for mercy.
‘Be gentle, your honour,’ he said.