Neighbours legend Alan Fletcher comforted grieving fans after soap axe
NEIGHBOURS legend Alan Fletcher has admitted that he had to console fans after the beloved Australian soap was axed after 37 years.
The actor, 65, who is best known as Dr Karl Kennedy on the show, admitted that he was inundated with messages after the soap was axed by Channel 5 last summer.
Alan said: “For 28 years I had one-year contracts so you kind of just accept the fact that it could end and for every year that you get it is a blessing.
“My main grief that I felt was for the fans because through my website I am in constant contact with fans and I reach out to them all the time and they wanted to express their grief to me.
“I had no real response, it was just a shared grieving.
“It is easy to underestimate just what Neighbours means to people in the UK and Australia.
“It is not just a show – it is something which brings sunshine to people’s days and people are grieving the fact that they lost that.”
However Alan – who is currently on the road in the UK for Neighbours: The Celebration Tour – is set to join the reboot of the soap on Amazon Freevee.
The new series will see the return of old favourites including Dr Karl along with Susan Kennedy, Toadie and Paul Robinson.
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Neighbours helped launch the careers of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, both 54.
They returned to Ramsay Street in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough in July’s final episode, which aired on Channel 5.