Alan Fletcher and Jackie Woodburne have lifted the lid on the final ever episode of Neighbours. The legends, who play Dr Karl and Susan Kennedy, appeared on ITV's Lorraine to discuss the long-standing soap ahead of its last show, which will air on Monday, August 1 in the UK.
Neighbours first aired in 1985 and has been on screens for 37 years. In March Channel 5 announced the Australian series was being axed after 9,000 episodes and promised it would end on an "incredible high".
And now, ahead of the last instalment, Alan and Jackie have revealed the cast were close to tears during filming of the final ever episode. The pair appeared on ITV's Lorraine to speak about the iconic show, with Alan accompanying host Carol Vorderman in the studio, while Jackie joined the conversation from her home in Australia.
Read more: When is the final episode of Neighbours in the UK as cast film final scene?
Jackie revealed: "I cannot tell you how emotional it was. The challenge for all of us filming that very last episode was that the scene is actually a very joyful, happy scene, but we were all feeling so emotional.
"We were like a second away from tears the whole time. So it was a huge acting challenge to not bring our own sadness and emotional context into the scene because as I say, it was a happy thing. But I was thrilled to be given that opportunity to kind of narrate that last scene."
On seeing many faces return to the soap, including Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, Alan said: "Of course it's wonderful to see them. I love seeing Guy Pearce [Mike Young] as well, Peter O'Brien [Shane Ramsay]- so many people came back.
"They all said to me that they were delighted to come back because they have such gratitude towards Neighbours. They recognise the fact that Neighbours helped to train them and gave them huge success in the industry. So they all just said, 'Yep, of course we'll come back', which is fabulous."
Their appearance on Lorraine comes after Alan's emotional interview on ITV's This Morning. After viewing a montage created by the show on Monday, July 11, Alan said: "Oh man, that was a trip wasn't it," before sharing that the clip had made him shed a tear. He added: “It’s wonderful to be here, I’ve got a bit of a tear going on here now.” You can read more on this here.
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