Martin Dingle-Wall quickly shot to fame in the early 2000s when he earned a Logie nomination for his breakout role as the handsome social worker, Flynn Saunders, on Home and Away.

The popular character, who was the on-screen romantic partner for Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie), put Martin, 54, on the map and won him a devoted fan base.

But he soon stunned viewers in 2002 when he left the soap after only two years, leaving the role of Flynn to be picked up by Joel McIlroy from 2003 to 2006.

Now, 23 years after he captured hearts on the small screen, Martin has revealed to Daily Mail the real reason he left the series that skyrocketed his acting career.

‘I don’t know what happened to the storyline after I left,’ he said during an exclusive interview about his life and career on Thursday.

‘I tell you what, that was just politics. When you join a show like that, they lock you in with a three-year contract and they can get rid of you, but you can’t leave.’

‘I just happened to be one of those actors who wasn’t presented with that because I was teed up opposite Kate Ritchie,’ he added.

Martin said the Home and Away creators at the time didn’t want to lock him into an acting contract until they knew if audiences loved him or not.

‘It was all down to if the audience likes you with her [Kate], you can stay, but if they don’t like you with her, you’re gone,’ he said.

‘So I was cast in that supporting role almost. The first few months worked and they just kept extending it.

‘All of a sudden, I’d done a couple of years with ongoing six-month contracts.’

Then Martin was nominated for a Logie award – Most Popular New Male Talent – and he was suddenly at the centre of his own screaming fan base.

Producers pulled the trigger on a three-year contract, eager to lock Martin in as continuing talent, but the rising star wasn’t too keen on a five-year commitment.

‘I was like, “Oh, that’s five years all up… Let’s just do one more year to take me to three years and then we can talk,”‘ Martin recalled.

But the creators weren’t having it, telling Martin it was a three-year contract, or nothing.

He chose to move on.

‘It was just that discrepancy… There seemed to be no way to cut the cards, so I just said thank you and left at the two-year mark,’ he said.

But despite the disagreement and Martin’s subsequent exit from the series, the actor still credits Home and Away for many of the opportunities he has received over the years.

‘Due to the good graces of bloody Home and Away, people keep turning up and following my work and supporting me,’ he said.

‘It’s just beyond belief that something that’s 20 years ago could still be giving the way it does.’

And the proof is in his resume, with Martin going on to star in Aussie shows like Underbelly, Cops: L.A.C, and Satisfaction, as well as various screenplays and films.

He then moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to pursue bigger and varied roles, including in Strangerland with Nicole Kidman and a Russian-speaking lead role in All That Jam.

Martin also landed the iconic lead role of Warren Novak in Happy Hunting, which was written and directed by Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson, the son of Mel Gibson.

Most recently, he played Will Scott, one of the FBI’s leading crypto-analysts, in the popular TV series Cypher.

It was this big move to the US that led the father-of-one to start attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when he finally realised he was battling addiction.

‘I’m not at all a religious man… but it’s nothing short of a religious moment,’ he said of the time he decided to turn his back on alcohol.

‘I can’t put words to how my life changed when I got to stare my devil in the eye and realise I had this issue.

‘Fortunately for me, the decision was made before I became a father, so my son will only ever know this version of myself.’

The Bondi-born star has a 10-year-old son named Lakota, who he is currently raising in Australia with his now ex-wife, Peta Danvers, since their return Down Under in 2020.

With more than 10 years of sobriety under his belt, Martin said he ‘[doesn’t] even remember what it was like’, adding that he no longer battles addiction to alcohol.

Now, Martin spends his days continuing to work in the business of storytelling, taking on acting and writing roles as they speak to him.

He also runs his own production company, Alchemy Film Productions, which is famous for pioneering the revolutionary RED digital cinema camera in Australia.

Martin’s latest role is as Ned Campbell in This Bloody Country, a period drama about an Australian man on the US frontier in 1869.

‘That just sends you into history,’ Martin said of the unique role, adding that he was drawn to the idea of an Aussie making his way in the time of American settlements.

‘Were there Australians out there? You go digging and there were like five Australians out there and this is the story of one of them. I just found that fascinating.’

He said he was also a fan of the ‘fluidity’ of the script, and couldn’t deny his deep ‘desire’ to ‘play a cowboy’.

‘It was a perfect storm,’ he said.

The film, directed by Craig Packard and set for release on 17 October, tells the story of a family embarking on an arduous journey to establish a new outpost for their church.

When an encounter with dangerous outlaws turns violent, they’re left with no other choice but to defend themselves.