Born in Sydney on the 5th July 1975, Kip had always wanted to act. However he was at first discouraged by his mother, who had studied at NIDA and her advice was that most actors are often out of work.
Kip Gamblin stars as Scott Hunter in Home and Away, a guy who first rides into Summer Bay on his white horse.
While growing up, Kip's interest in acting took a back seat for a while and he decided he wanted to study dance, which his mother approved of.
Kip started dancing at the age of 14 after watching his three sisters at various end-of-year performances and when he also saw a guy dancing in a lead role he decided that was what he wanted to do.
He attended the McDonald College School of Arts where he did a year of modern dance, classical ballet, drama and music.
He then auditioned for the Australian Ballet School, which he explains is like 'the Institute of Sport for Dance'. Kip was one of only 15 boys and 15 girls to be chosen each year from Australia and New Zealand.
So at the age of 15 Kip enrolled with the Australian Ballet School and moved to Melbourne alone to study dance. After four years' study, he then graduated as a dancer with The Australian Ballet for several years.
Kip then joined the West Australian Ballet for six months and at the age of 22, he decided to combine acting with his profession of dancing.
He was involved in the film Kick with Paul Mercurio, his first acting job, and then in the film Moulin Rouge in which he performed in most of the dance scenes.
Kip joined the Sydney Dance Company and stayed with them for another two and half years. He then freelanced with acting and dancing jobs, which included being the lead dancer at Barbara Streisand's Australian concert, where he opened the show and brought Barbara on to the stage in front of 40,000 people at the Sydney Football Stadium and Colonial Stadium.
Kip was also involved in the 'Kylie' show at the Closing Ceremony Show for the 2000 Olympics and in Christine Anu's live show.
In 2000 Kip actually had a 50-word acting stint in Home and Away where he got to kiss Gypsy (Kimberley Cooper) when they went out on a date.
Kip has also starred in various commercials including the Pizza Hut ads, where he played the Pizza Hut guy during the original Big Brother series (the guy trying to get into the house) and this year he completed the LG – Life is Good commercial.
Kip has also toured internationally with the Sydney Dance Company and The Australian Ballet, travelling to China, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, throughout USA and Singapore.
Kip has enjoyed being able to incorporate his dance with acting.
"It's been a great opportunity to be able to make that cross-over from dance to acting. Most of the acting roles in the past were for commercials and dance movies. Joining Home and Away however has enabled me to rid myself of that stereotype as I was chosen purely for my acting ability which was great for me", he says.
"Home and Away challenges me as there is a lot of work involved with the show and it's up to the actor to do the preparation. You sink or swim and have to be ready for it. It's a great training ground and there is nothing better than getting in there and doing it", Kip says.
When Kip is not learning lines for the show he loves hanging out with his wife Linda and their two boys, five-year-old Kelly, and baby Marlon. Kip feels he has truly been blessed and to top it all off he won the Most Popular New Talent category at the 2004 TV WEEK Logie Awards.
He also loves surfing, going to the movies and the theatre, playing a bit of guitar, 'stuffing' around in his garage, recycling furniture and riding his bike.
Kip still enjoys dancing and generally keeping fit.
Kip is currently the ambassador for the Heart Foundation, which promotes having a healthy lifestyle by being active. The Foundation says this not only benefits the health of the heart, but also reduces the risk of other medical conditions as well as helping your general well-being.
Kip was born under the Zodiac sign of Cancer, the Crab.
