Kylie: I didn’t want to let Charlene down by returning to Neighbours
The actress turned pop music sensation explains why she didn’t spin around and go back for the 30th birthday edition of the Australian soap – and won’t be going back to Erinsborough anytime soon...
She’s one of the most famous exports Neighbours – and perhaps Australia - has given to the world of pop culture. But no matter how much people keep asking, Kylie Minogue insists she won’t be returning to the role that made her famous, Charlene Robinson (nee Mitchell) of Ramsay Street in Erinsborough.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Minogue told The Graham Norton Show, when asked by the host about her absence from the recent 30th anniversary special, and the possibility of returning in the future. “I felt Charlene existed then and that I’d probably let her down.”
But despite having fond memories of the character, she does have some reservations about the name. “If I’d known I would ever be famous I wouldn’t have chosen that name ever.”
“There was a period when people named their babies Kylie-Charlene.”
Minogue joined Neighbours as a teenager in 1986, capturing the hearts of the nation as sassy garage mechanic Charlene Mitchell whose wedding to Scott Robinson (played by Jason Donavan) was watched by 20 million people on BBC1 in 1987, the most viewed television show of the year.
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She released her first album a year later and has gone on to become one of the best known solo artists in the world of pop music.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, 15th May at 10.35pm
