What Neighbours stars did next – terrorist threat, secret wedding and addiction

Neighbours catapulted many of its stars to movie and music stardom.

The hit Aussie soap was a huge hit Down Under and quickly made a smooth transition to British TV screens, where it gathered a huge following.

The show was broadcast in the UK on BBC One for more than 21 years from October 1986 until February 2008 before moving to Channel 5.

If you weren’t watching Neighbours after school, then what were you doing?

And many of the show’s budding actors will be eternally grateful for their respective big breaks.

Broadcast daily Monday to Friday, the show spawned global superstars like pop stars Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Holly Valance, Natalia Imbruglia and Delta Goodrem.

And then there were Hollywood careers for Guy Pearce, Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth.

Here at Daily Star we take a look at where some of the stars of Ramsay Street are now.

Charlene Robinson (Kylie Minogue)

Everybody probably knows who Kylie is – she’s one of a special group of stars seemingly loved by everyone.

And she’s certainly come a long way since her days in Ramsay Street.

The icon forged a successful music career with her hit song I Should Be So Lucky and in 1998, after leaving the show, went to become one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

The Spinning Around hitmaker became the biggest-selling female Australian music artist of all time, having sold a whopping 70million records worldwide.

Sadly, in 2005, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer, leading to an outpouring of support – including from Australia’s then-Prime Minister John Howard.

She underwent therapy and chemotherapy and has since been credited for influencing younger women to get checked out.

Kylie has since gone on to work with a number of charities, including those dealing with breast cancer, and amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan)

Jason made it big in the music business after his breakthrough role on Neighbours, selling over 3million records in the UK.

He had four UK No1 singles including Especially for You, his smash hit duet with Kylie Minogue.

Jason has starred in a number of stage shows including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and returned to acting later in his career.

He famously appeared in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2006 as well as Strictly Come Dancing and, more recently, Dancing on Ice.

He was also interviewed by Piers Morgan for Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2012.

Jason has been honest about his addiction issues in the past, admitting to taking three grams of cocaine a day at the height of his problem.

However he has been drug-free since 2000 – which was the year his first child was born.

Kenny Larkin (Russell Crowe)

Not much needs to be said about Mr Gladiator himself.

Russell is one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and has appeared in a string of hit movies on the way to pocketing millions.

He won an Academy Award for his incredible performance as General Maximus Decimus Meridius in Ridley Scott’s smash hit Gladiator back in 2000, as well as two Golden Globes, one BAFTA and three other Academy Award nominations during a glittering career.

The action man is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year when he takes on the role of Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder.

Other career highlights include Les Miserables, Robin Hood, Man of Steel and The Nice Guys.

Aside from acting, Russell has had a colourful life, to say the least.

Back in 2005, he revealed the FBI once told him that terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him four years earlier.

He told GQ: “It was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan.”

Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie)

Blonde bombshell Margot Robbie made her debut on the show as a stalker of musician Ty Harper and quickly landed a regular role.

But after three years on the show she made it big in Hollywood.

Her confident and sexy performance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Hollywood smash hit Wolf Of Wall Street was the start of a successful movie career.

Margot, 30, has been nominated for two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes, having now worked with some of the biggest actors in the business including Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams, Jared Leto and Kristin Scott Thomas.

And her performances as DC Comics villain Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey won her a new army of admirers.

Margot quietly married her British assistant director partner Tom Ackerley in December 2016, without even announcing their engagement.

Mike Young (Guy Pearce)

Guy Pearce famously starred alongside fellow Neighbours actor Russell Crowe in the hit movie L.A. Confidential – and quickly became a respected Hollywood actor with a string of top performances.

He starred in movies including Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Memento, The Hurt Locker, The King’s Speech, Alien, Iron Man and Mary Queen of Scots.

Guy continues to be a big hit in Aussie movies and is currently starring in HBO hit Mare of Easttown alongside Kate Winslet.

The 53-year-old has won a Primetime Emmy Award and has received numerous acting nominations for Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and Australian Academy Film Award.

Away from acting, Guy confirmed in 2015 that he had ended his marriage of 18 years to his childhood sweetheart Kate Mestitz.

He is now in a relationship with Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten, with whom he shares a son, Monte, born in 2016.

Jim Robinson (Alan Dale)

Amazingly Alan played legendary character Jim for a staggering 860 episodes before his on-screen death from a heart attack in 1993.

But Neighbours helped the seasoned actor make it in America, starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland in his show 24 and also in smash series Lost, ER, Ugly Betty, The West Wing, Entourage, NCIS, The X-Files and The O.C.

The 74-year-old actor has starred in many movies since his Erinsborough days, including Star Trek Nemesis, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Indiana Jones and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Alan’s wife – former Miss Australia Tracey Pearson – is 18 years younger than he is, but he previously described their romance as “the most appropriate relationship he’s ever had”.

Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis)

The only original cast member still left on the show, Stefan took a break from the programme in the 1990s to follow fellow cast members into the UK Top 20 with one hit song Don’t It Make You Feel Good.

It reached number 16 in the UK charts.

The actor returned to Ramsay Street in 2004 where he has featured in a string of its most successful storylines.

Dennis has also appeared in a number of well-known shows including The Bill, Casualty, and Dream Team.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk