There was sad news for soap fans when it was confirmed that Neighbours is really going off air for good.
The popular Aussie soap has been axed for good after Fremantle Media failed to find a new home for the Australian soap.
Neighbours will end this summer after four decades on our screens.
While we prepare to say goodbye to our good neighbours and good friends, let’s look back at some of the global superstars who got their big break on Ramsay Street.
Celebrities who first appeared on Neighbours
The Aussie soap has been the catalyst for true A-listers. From Princesses of Pop to Academy Award winning actors, who has appeared on Neighbours?
Kylie Minogue
Of course we had to start with Kylie – a woman so popular she fended off Kylie Jenner’s trademark application for the mononym.
And part of Kylie’s dominant claim to the name is because of Neighbours kickstarting her career.
Kylie Minogue became an instant favourite when she appeared on the show as Charlene Mitchell, the big-haired tomboy mechanic whose relationship with Scott (Jason Donovan) captured the hearts of every viewer. 19.6 million Brits tuned in to watch Charlene’s wedding.
During her time as Charlene, Kylie also started singing and released two successful pop singles while appearing on the show.
She left to pursue her pop career and the rest, as they say, is history.
Kylie is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide.
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe is an Oscar, BAFTA, SAG and Golden Globe award winning actor, acclaimed for roles in movies like Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.
One of the first tastes of acting fame for the New Zealand born star was appearing in Neighbours back in 1987.
Crowe plated Kenny Larkin, Henry Ramsay’s former cellmate. He was only in four episodes.
Liam Hemsworth
The Hunger Games star appeared in 24 episodes of Neighbours as Josh Taylor in 2007 and 2008.
Hemsworth’s character was an athletic paraplegic who dated Bridget Parker (Eloise Mignon) after a car crash left her paralyzed.
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth didn’t appear in Neighbours as frequently as brother Liam, but he did appear in one episode.
However, the episode could’ve helped him land the part on rival Australian soap Home and Away, in which he starred as Kim Hyde in nearly 200 episodes from 2004 to 2007.
Nowadays, the Aussie actor is known for playing the Mighty Thor across the MCU.
Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie is now one of Hollywood’s hottest new faces, having bagged an Oscar-nomination for I, Tonya, and appearing in hits like Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, The Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Robbie appeared in over 300 episodes of Neighbours as Donna Freedman, but was originally meant to be a guest star at most.
After her 2008 debut, she proved a hit and throughout her four-year stint, Robbie’s character got married, had an affair and shared a same-sex kiss with Sunny Lee (Hany Lee).
Delta Goodrem
Delta Goodrem appeared on the show as shy Nina Tucker.
First appearing on the show in 2002, Delta had to take some time out after a cancer diagnosis, but returned to wrap up Nina’s storyline in 2005. She has since returned for the 20 and 30 year anniversary episodes.
Goodrem is best known now for her music. Her debut album, Innocent Eyes, is one of the highest-selling Australian albums and is the second-best-selling Australian album of all time, with over four million copies sold.
Natalia Imbruglia
Long before she was The Masked Singer’s Panda, Natalie Imbruglia starred as Beth Brennan on Neighbours from 1992 to 1994.
After the soap, Imbruglia transitioned to her music career, releasing Torn in 1997.
The song was a huge smash, selling 4 million copies worldwide, including more than 1 million copies in the UK alone.
Imbruglia went on to release five more albums over the next 20 years, garnering eight ARIA awards, two Brit awards, a Billboard Music award and three Grammy nominations.
Guy Pearce
The Emmy winning star has appeared in films like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Iron Man 3 and Memento.
When he was 18, he began starring on Neighbours as Mike Young from 1986 to 1989.
Alan Dale
Alan Dale, who starred as Jim Robinson, went on after Neighbours to take on huge roles as Caleb Nicolls in The O.C and Bradford Meade in Ugly Betty.
Holly Valance
In 1999 Holly was cast as Felicity ‘Flick’ Scully.
She proved popular in the show and won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent in 2002 before leaving the soap in 2002 to launch a pop career.
In 2002 Holly’s debut single Kiss, Kiss went straight to number one.
In 2012, Holly married billionaire British property developer Nick Candy.
Jason Donovan
Playing Kylie’s beau on the show, Scott, Jason Donovan went on to carve out a pretty impressive career after leaving the show.
He is perhaps best known for his role as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat but Donovan has also starred in TV shows such as Echo Beach, Dial M for Middlesbrough, and MDA.
Donovan has also taken part in Strictly Come Dancing – reaching the final in 2011 – and competed in Dancing on Ice before having to drop out due to injury.
Murray Bartlett
Before checking into the White Lotus hotel, Bartlett starred in a handful of Neighbours episodes in 1993 as con man Luke Foster.
In 2000, he moved to the United States and landed guest roles in shows including Sex and the City.
More recently, he has appeared in Netflix’s Tales of the City and HBO’s The White Lotus.
Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn got his start as Warren Murphy on Neighbours from 1986 to 1987.
Warren befriends Charlene Mitchell (Kylie Minogue) and Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and soon develops a drinking problem, which leads to him breaking up their relationship by kissing Charlene.
Mendelsohn has gone on to star in Bloodline – which earned him an Emmy – as well as appearing in Star Wars: Rogue One and joining the Marvel universe as Talos in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
He is set to reprise the role in Disney Plus’ upcoming series Secret Invasion.
MORE : Kylie Minogue ‘moving back to Australia after 30 years’ in UK
MORE : Neighbours shares heartbreaking goodbye to fans after show axe
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