Neighbours star Alan Fletcher is celebrating the soap’s return to our screens in the most fun way possible.
The actor, who is also a singer/songwriter, is releasing a musical tribute to his on-screen wife Susan Kennedy, played by Jackie Woodburne.
Fletcher, who has played Dr Karl Kennedy on the soap for 28 years, is releasing the single ‘(I’ve Got a) Crush on Susie K’ on September 8, just over a week before Neighbours returns on Amazon Freevee.
Fremantle
//Channel 5
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The single will be released on all streaming platforms. It’s also included in Fletcher’s album The Lighter Side of Alan Fletcher, available on his online shop.
Announcing the song’s release, Fletcher said: “I sang the song every night on the Neighbours Celebration tour and fans loved it! I was overwhelmed with the number of requests to record and release the song.”
Meanwhile, Neighbours‘ return will see the soap revisit a Karl and Susan storyline that was dropped ahead of the show’s cancellation by Channel 5.
Early last year, the couple’s marriage was tested when Susan found out Karl had gone behind her back to invest in Montana Marcel’s doomed business plans.
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Speaking earlier this month about the couple’s return storyline, Fletcher teased: “They’re not actually in a remarkably different place. I mean, having lost $200,000 is not something that Karl’s going to get away with lightly! But when we come back, the Kennedys are surrounded by drama — more so than causing it.”
He continued: “[Executive producer] Jason Herbison’s brilliance —and the whole story department’s brilliance — is that they never forget anything. So what they can do is they can bring back things from the past.
“In our case, the fact that Karl lost $200,000 is still not wasted on Susan. That’s good because you shouldn’t go through those sorts of things and then suddenly everyone goes: ‘Oh, let’s pretend it didn’t happen’. It’s huge.”
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Woodburne also shared: “Susan does start to act out in a way that is completely out of character. By spending an awful lot of money on tat, really! She doesn’t know why she’s doing it and doesn’t really want it.
“But it’s because she’s still carrying anger about Karl losing that $200,000. It’s an interesting story to tell about how we repress stuff. We think everything’s okay and we’ve moved on, but sometimes we haven’t. So that’s an interesting story.”
Neighbours returns on September 18, with new episodes streaming on Mondays to Thursdays for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. Network 10 will retain first-run rights in Australia for the new series.
Read more Neighbours coverage on our dedicated homepage.
Stephanie Chase
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stephanie is a writer who specialises in pro wrestling, covering everything from AEW and WWE to NJPW.
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