fictional character soap opera neighbours played january announced quit role decision recast taken making screen appearance october announced character leave neighbours final appearance march character originally portrayed teenage later settled involved series controversial storylines including teenage pregnancy caused upset conservative family groups wife death relationship fellow character kate initially received unbelievable australian viewers whilst played good looks physical appearance subsequently branded popular characters character creation casting neighbours suffered significant decline ratings plans series basics approach storylines controversial return focus relationships family dynamics point character created actress play screen mother characters create family unit existing character cast character appeared year played character nearly years decided quit series pursue career outside acting instead character departing series confirmed decision recast role cast role began filming immediately departure production statement press office stated character extremely popular sensational storylines planned decided character recast expressed delight character continue series saying happy character going continue producers writers given fantastic storylines proud popular time noted occurred repeatedly history programme creator neighbours previously explained thought saying believed pity actors chose leave serial character lot time money invested character decided recast character important future storyline explanation backed recast explained hand process simple adding day day erin pretty simple works continue erin comes picks think easier viewers accept simple change recast upset fans character portrayal response said erin come play version play exactly producers expect way supporters erin terrific surprised felt strange played saying course strange playing started basically created life studio street restaurants hand difficult felt humble viewers thought character played actor adding lot people think understand fans feel way starred past years knows later stated know auditioning recast stated wasn sure successful role start watched hours footage previous episodes idea portray making statement fans reading sure initially people confronted new face character hopefully people come accept compared versions saying writers said meeting day james best described james playing strong liked things new grown mature thinks head knows wants doesn use force vision portrayed year old october announced leave neighbours members cast decision leave said absolute ball playing guy needs rest new friends daughters miss wonderful watch grow develop lives character development characterisation personality evolved given storylines teenage time face harsh realities life thrown subsequently channel publicity describe depth identity changes stated dark learnt relationship branded disillusioned result product struggling single parent family learnt mask dark persona confidence abilities branded gets close girls dark pushed away official website states portrayed character early stages modern day commit petty crimes gain finances help mother run household soon relationship helped mature character stated knew bad boy heart decided later seen facing life single parent changed accepted responsibilities teenage pregnancy high profile storyline character got girlfriend pregnant storyline progressed saw couple decide child caused controversy outcry conservative family groups australia accused programme characters teenage pregnancy speaking behalf groups director said teenage pregnancy considered norm programmes like neighbours lead teenage pregnancy normal acceptable lot kids aren ready head details explicit sexuality neighbours executive producer quick defend character storyline stating sure lot people happy storyline decided teenagers lives added storyline shallow vulgar adding wouldn liked film storyline branded showing emotional spectrum pregnancy justice critics slammed noting neighbours rated storyline lead teenage young viewers storyline continued regardless controversy father shortly died car accident left single parent relationship kate character later center disapproval viewers felt moving fast death developed feelings kate backed storyline wanting character stating difficult situation truly love lucky ones found soul mate early life time live life adding lot people think soon relationship assure added explanation feels adding feels cheated hasn long able showing proper respect love life left confused upset scenes storyline began air comment storyline viewers adding think okay think accepting slowly characters don rush portrayed having trouble battling feelings kate tried hard forget explained glad months track wasn forgotten sad situation like kate feels way heart won let couple began dating attracted bigger mixed response viewers felt soon spoke defending character stating storyline carried progressing viewers saw characters grow closer started relationship despite mixed response received fans august kate relationship ended kate chose break began pushing away starts new job later lies family said pushing kate away going life holding massive pieces information feels share kate kate sees lying mother believes boy fell know trust said prepared moment kate breaks confused goes night meets kate rival makes clear attracted later share kiss kate sees said gets talking wants comfort makes split second decision kiss doesn think consequences know kate saw added hoped work couple storylines backstory raised single mother moved lot running away abusive partner father richard knew richard fact referred monster struggles pay bills turned crime raise money meets tries help revealed oliver barnes mother eventually gets meet brother starts dating meets richard discovers raped tries richard fishing trip revealed richard kidney failure offers richard kept alive punished refuses permission oliver instead richard health grows worse dies attend funeral begins spend time banned seeing pursued police meet argue leaves hit car body suspect hides kidnapped want money paul eventually found paul oliver believes handle disability starts dating illegal dance party trapped roof falls manages carry coming tells problem disability start relationship discovers pregnant tells runs away arrested kisses football later returns commits baby tries rescue black cat receives electric shock makes think life proposes accepts months later marry friends gives birth daughter india shortly dies injuries sustained car crash initially blames fixing parker family car properly discovers car thinking belonged lucas scott major develops feelings accompanies week kisses leaves feeling guilty tells okay asks kate date eventually begin dating tells declare feelings kate kate know feels calls kate girlfriend step brother andrew andrew steals ideas neighbour day fight moves kate days later returns home kate later decides ready sleep time discovers paul having financial difficulties tells paul gets dispute builder site follows paul angry injured site paul decides frame footage finds asks help tells paul money tells diana comes tells mistake protect diana believe finds evidence paul paul asks place manager months diana team bring paul kate ends relationship later kisses kate witnesses paul discovers diana plan threatens paul later pushed questioned detective accident kate sleep kate tells mistake encourages divorce paul tells paul knows tells need leave kate finds packing tells pushed paul covering mother devastated best friend dies kate tells happy starts dating mark lies mark threatened punched kate discovers lied tells stay away realises happy paul confronts step father paul tells tell mark pushed tries leave discovers having affair warns careful leaves paul gets india hotel paul manager verbally attacks job moves kate calls oliver arrives help escape paul tells india leaving oliver later makes decision leave reception character popular terms appearance nick_levine media reporting website digital_spy claimed section aimed specifically gay readers played time main reasons tune neighbours commenting character appearance favoured character different occasions branding nice look commented said reason popular viewers acting abilities good looks spoke character neighbours popular characters website praised character heroism scenes rescued wheelchair bound dance party roof collapse said character memorable scenes entertainment website included february feature soap characters behavior finding pregnant said don got girlfriend pregnant deal
Declan Napier