Neighbours fans everywhere were beaming with excitement when it was announced that Kylie Minogue would reprise her iconic role as Charlene in the highly-anticipated finale episode of the long-running soap.
But when Minogue took to the screen with her TV husband Jason Donovan, fans were left less than impressed with her lack of screen time and dialogue.
Between the on-screen couple, they had just a handful of lines, with Minogue – arguably Neighbours‘ most successful export – uttering just five words: “Home, sweet home”, “Jane!” and “Harold!”
Their brief return to Ramsay Street was flimsy in comparison to Guy Pearce’s storyline, which ended up being a major plot point for the finale episode.
Fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the finale, with one viewer saying, “Kylie Minogue saying absolutely nothing on the Neighbours finale is genuinely hilarious.”
Another said, “The Neighbours finale was great and Guy Pearce is an absolute legend for giving it his all. Presumably Kylie was being paid by the word.”
Neighbours’ executive producer Jason Herbison has finally responded to fans’ confusion, telling TV Tonight that it all boiled down to timing – and that the pair’s top-secret filming was completed before the rest of the episode.
“Our discussions with Jason (Donovan) and Kylie were always about making a small appearance,” he told the website.
“They didn’t want to overshadow the current cast or make the finale about them. We also filmed their scenes before I’d written the episode, so whatever we filmed had to fit in with that. I hate to see Kylie copping any criticism – she was nothing short of amazing on the day.”
Image credits: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.