Neighbours star Jackie Woodburne has opened up about the iconic soap ending later this week, admitting that saying goodbye to her character Susan Kennedy was “heartbreaking”.
Woodburne made the admission in an interview with the current issue of Radio Times Magazine, as the show heads towards its finale on 29th June after having been on screen for 37 years.
Woodburne said of saying goodbye to Susan: “I’ve lived with her for so long and been through so much with her. I feel like I’ve been her guardian and while she’s been living her life, I’ve kept watch. I’ve tried to keep her authentic, made tweaks to her character to keep her within the parameters of what the audience wanted her to be and what was truthful. And now I really miss her.”
It certainly feels like the end of an era… ????
— Neighbours (@NeighboursTV) July 25, 2022
Neighbours: The Finale | Friday at 9pm on @channel5_tv. #CelebratingNeighbours pic.twitter.com/3gC14NrX8k
In the interview, Woodburne also said the she and the cast “all felt those five stages of grief – anger, denial, acceptance and the rest – at different times over the last few months, and we helped each other through. We’re very much an ensemble and there’s no hierarchy on the show. That makes for a really strong support network.”
Woodburne joined the soap in 1994, and in 2007 became its longest serving female cast member, having been in the show for 13 years at the time.
When asked whether she has plans for the future of her career, Woodburne said that she’s “happy to stop for a bit” in order to “take stock and live my life.”
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She continued: “My own life is very low-key – just how I like it. I’ve never been a showbizzy person, so I’m going to enjoy that for a while. I honestly don’t know if she’ll cast a long shadow but I’d like the next work thing I do to be very different from Susan. An evil psychopath is top of my wish list. But I’m in no rush to do anything just yet.”
The Neighbours finale is set to be a star-studded affair, as A-listers who made their names on the show return to give the soap a proper send-off, including Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Margot Robbie.
Neighbours’ final episode premieres on Friday 29th July at 9pm, followed by Neighbours: What Happened Next? at 10:05pm and Neighbours: The Stars’ Greatest Hits at 11:30pm on Channel 5.
Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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