Neighbours Star Reveals Major Spoiler Before Finale

Beloved Neighbours star Stefan Dennis has dropped a major spoiler about the soap’s finale.

Stefan, 66, was part of the original Neighbours cast when it debuted in 1985, left in 1992, but returned in 2004. 

The soap star appeared on UK chat show Loose Women this week, where he discussed the end of the long-running series as well as his upcoming appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.

The actor revealed that it will be his iconic character Paul Robinson that will have the last say on Ramsay Street.

‘I’m going to give it away. I say the very last line in the show,’ Stefan revealed.

He added that he was chuffed with the honour, given he is the only current cast member to have appeared in the series’ debut episode.

‘It was a nice tribute Jason [Herbison], our executive producer, gave to me because he said: “You were in the first episode; it’s a no-brainer that you have to say the last thing.”‘ 

While Stefan did stop short of divulging any juicy plot points, elsewhere in the chat, he expressed his confusion over the show’s demise.

‘It’s really weird, without getting into the politics of it, but none of us kind of really know why it got axed this time around,’ Stefan said.

‘It was actually rating really well – all over the world. So, we’re all sort of scratching our heads going: “why?”‘

It comes as Stefan recently vented his frustration over the axing as the show.

Speaking with TV Tonight in March, Stefan said any celebration to mark the show’s four decades on air would feel hollow.

‘It’s really made the 40th anniversary a bit wishy-washy now,’ he said.

‘It’s a bit of a shame, because it’s an incredible accolade for an Australian show to say they’ve been going for 40 years, other than news and current affairs.

‘But unfortunately, that’s now being completely and utterly overshadowed by the fact that the show is now on its way out.’

He also criticised Amazon for pulling it from Prime Video – even after it remained a ratings winner in the UK.

‘Amazon, don’t own it. Amazon just buy it to show it… but they are not producing the show and that’s where people get confused,’ he said.

‘Free to Air television is on the way out. As soon as the Free to Air television stations start realising that, and stop trying to drag their heels, like one particular one I won’t mention, they’re just sticking their head in the sand.’

News broke in February that streaming giant Amazon would not be renewing the Neighbours’ production deal. 

In a heartwarming post on Instagram and Facebook, the crew assured fans that new episodes from the 40th anniversary season would continue to be broadcast on Prime Video and Ten, with ‘all the big soapie twists and turns that our viewers love.’ 

The final ever episodes will air at the end of 2025 with fans forced to say goodbye to Ramsay Street for a second time.

Neighbours nearly ended forever two years ago when Channel 5, who part-funded the soap for UK viewers, pulled out of their deal.

The final episode aired on July 29, 2022, and saw a host of famous faces return including Margot Robbie, Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce.

The 2022 finale proved to be a huge hit as a peak of almost 3million UK viewers tuned in to watch lovebirds Scott (Jason) and Charlene (Kylie) back in Erinsborough.

In Australia, the episode, which was aired on Channel 10 and 10 Peach, drew 873,000 metro viewers across both stations, largely thanks to the cast of returning favourites.

And mere months after its ratings success, it was confirmed that Amazon Freevee had given the show another lease of life and brought it back under a revamped production.

The newly-rebooted Neighbours premiered on Amazon in September 2023, but just less than two years on, it will be leaving screens for good.