Kylie Minogue 'Forever Grateful' for Soap Opera Role That Launched Career After Its Cancellation After 30 Years

By Daniel S. Levine

A chapter in international television history will close in June when Neighbours ends, and Australian pop star Kylie Minogue is still grateful for the show that helped launched her career. The legendary soap opera, which ran for 37 years and nearly 9,000 episodes, will come to an end this summer after U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 said it was dropping Neighbours from its schedule. Producers tried to find a new financier but were unable to.

"I'll be forever grateful for the experience & the friends I made on [Neighbours]," Minogue tweeted on March 3. "We had no idea how big the show would become and how passionately viewers would take it to heart. Pure love! I can still hear Madge calling... CHARLENE!!!!"

Before Minogue became an international pop star, she played the tomboy Charlene Robinson on Neighbours from 1986 to 1988. Her relationship with Scott Robinson, played by Jason Donovan, was central to the character, culminating in their wedding in 1987. Minogue left the show in 1988 after her 1987 debut album Kylie became a smash hit.

After it was announced that Neighbours would be ending this year, Donovan told 98FM's Big Breakfast with Rebecca and Brendan that he hoped the finale would feature a reunion with Minogue. "Well look I'm not going to say there hasn't been a discussion about it because you know there is a possibility," Donovan said. "But I can't say it's going to happen because that wouldn't be the truth you know, so I don't know is the answer to that."

Neighbours debuted in Australia in March 1985 and was created by Reg Watson. In 1986, the show debuted in the U.K., where it was also a smash hit. In 2008, the show moved to Channel 5 in the U.K., and the broadcaster agreed to pay the majority of production costs with Fremantle Australia. Some of the biggest Hollywood stars who got their start on Neighbours include Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth, and Jesse Spencer.

In early February, Channel 5 said it would no longer air Neighbours after this summer. Producers were unsuccessful in finding a new financier. On March 3, they announced Neighbours will end this summer. "We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June," the statement read.

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