Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan return to Neighbours
Image credit: Closer
After more than 30 years apart, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will return to the long-running Australian TV soap opera Neighbours for its conclusion.
In the fictional Melbourne neighbourhood of Erinsborough, they will reprise their roles as Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell.
Their return to Ramsay Street comes after the show’s 37-year run was announced to be coming to an end this summer.
Before their departure in the 1980s, the duo was a fan favourite.
In a statement on the show’s official Twitter account, executive producer Jason Herbison stated that they would play “a very unique part” in the show’s conclusion.
On their Instagram profiles, Minogue and Donovan, both 53, shared a photo of what appeared to be a snippet of a Neighbours screenplay.
The two played Scott and Charlene on Neighbours from 1985 until their exits in 1989 and 1988, respectively.
When their wedding episode was initially aired in Australia in 1987, it drew over two million viewers, and when it was televised in the UK the following year, it drew nearly 20 million viewers.
Minogue and Donovan both rose to prominence as a result of their roles in the soap series.
Donovan went on to have a successful music career, with successes such as Ten Good Reasons, Happy Together, and Especially for You, a duet with Kylie Minogue. In the 1990s, he played Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and he has also acted in musicals.
Channel 5 indicated earlier this year that the show would be cancelled. Because the British network was a crucial broadcast partner in the series, this move left producers with a budget deficit.
Producers eventually apologised, saying they “had no choice except to rest the show.”
Donovan said it was “sorry” to learn that Neighbours was ending production, but that it was “time to celebrate” the series.
His father, Terence, played Doug Willis in the programme, and his daughter, Jemma, plays Harlow Robinson in the current cast.
Hollywood actors Margot Robbie, Liam Hemsworth, and Guy Pearce, as well as singers Natalie Imbruglia and Delta Goodrem, have all benefited from the show.