Neighbours’ executive producer has explained why Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan had such a small amount of dialogue during their much-hyped return to the Australian soap.
After 34 years, the pair reprised their roles as 80s power couple Scott and Charlene Robinson for Neighbours’ final episode, which aired in the UK on Friday.
However, the pair didn’t have much to say, with Kylie only uttering five words: “Home, sweet home”, “Jane!” and “Harold!”.
After the episode, there had been much speculation surrounding their scenes – which saw them pull up on Ramsay Street in a green mini before reuniting with some old friends during a street party – with some fans joking about whether they were being paid by the word.
Neighbours boss Jason Herbison has now explained to Australia’s TV Tonight that Kylie and Jason filmed their scenes way in advance of the rest of the episode even being written, meaning their moments had to be slotted in.
“Our discussions with Jason and Kylie were always about making a small appearance. They didn’t want to overshadow the current cast or make the finale about them,” the executive producer said.
“We also filmed their scenes before I’d written the episode, so whatever we filmed had to fit in with that.
“I hate to see Kylie copping any criticism – she was nothing short of amazing on the day,” he said.
Jason Donovan previously described his and Kylie’s reappearance as “an homage rather than a sort of big moment”.
“This is not trying to recreate the past, this is actually giving a nod to those characters and what the street’s done for us,” he said.
The Neighbours finale saw the pair’s former co-star, Hollywood’s Guy Pearce, take a more central role, as he returned to Ramsay Street to reunite with teenage sweetheart Jane Harris, played by Annie Jones.
Many other faces from the soap’s 37 years also made appearances, including Margot Robbie, Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Valance, as well as Anne Charleston as the ghost of her character Madge Bishop, who died in 2001.
Neighbours: The Finale is available to watch on My5.