Kylie and Co feel ‘duped’ as Neighbours is resurrected

IT WAS a springboard that launched their careers, so when it was announced last March that Neighbours was to be axed after 37 years, the show’s stars flocked back to Ramsay Street for a stellar finale.

But some are now furious after it emerged the Aussie soap is to be resurrected on Amazon Freevee.

Guy Pearce, who returned for the last three episodes before Channel 5 pulled the plug, was first to take a swipe at production chiefs.

The 55-year-old Hollywood actor, who played brooding heart-throb Mike Young, remarked caustically of the supposed finale: ‘It’s hard to watch, isn’t it? Knowing we’ll never see another episode again?

‘Unless Amazon makes our finale look like a rather expensive exercise. I don’t want to say waste of time. But still.’

Meanwhile, sources in Melbourne, where Neighbours was filmed, claim Kylie Minogue – who starred as mechanic Charlene Robinson between 1986 and 1988 – also felt she was ‘duped’ into going back.

One told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Kylie has apparently got a bit of the hump about it all. It’s a case of why did she and others make the effort to go back. They were told it was the end.’ Ms Minogue, 54, returned for the final episode last July along with Jason Donovan who played her husband Scott. Other Neighbours veterans who appeared in the finale included Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance.

Another ex-Ramsay Street star, Margot Robbie, tried to change her schedule so she could travel from Los Angeles for filming, but when this proved impossible she sent 37 bottles of champagne – one for each year the show was on air.

The source added: ‘Imagine if Margot had managed to swing it so she could travel from Hollywood to Melbourne and it came back after all? She would have been fuming.’

Last year’s decision to scrap Neighbours came after Channel 5 and production company Fremantle failed to reach a new deal.

However, last month it was confirmed streaming giant Amazon would be bringing the show back.