Stefan Dennis had been planning to quit 'Neighbours' before it faced the axe.
Stefan Dennis was ready to quit Neighbours
The 65-year-old actor - who portrayed Paul Robinson from the show's first episode in 1985 until 1992 and made a brief return in 1993 before rejoining the cast permanently in 2004 - had intended to walk away from Ramsay Street in 2025 but his plans were brought forward when it was announced Channel 5 were dropping the show in 2022, and even when it was then brought back by Amazon in September, he still wasn't sure if he wanted to come back.
He told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: "What people don’t know is my original plan was to bow out on 'Neighbours’ 40th anniversary.
“Then the show was cancelled and I thought, ‘Oh well, they’ve just brought my retirement forward two years. I miss my big send off from the show but that’s showbiz.
“My dream was to semi-retire, do one or two films a year and travel but then Amazon picked up the show and here we are. When I was asked to come back I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go back."
But friends warned Stefan he would be "stupid" to turn his back on such a "great gig".
He admitted: “Then a few people got in my ear and said, ‘What are you doing? It’s a great gig you stupid old fool’. I came back, hit the ground running and haven’t stopped.”
The soap stalwart "never" wanted to appear in the show in the first place and couldn't have dreamed it would still be going strong today.
He said: “I never wanted to do the show. I was a young aspiring actor and thought it was corny and would only last six months.
“But 'Neighbours' has gone on to become my career and life. I also met my wife because of Neighbours. I was doing panto in Southampton and I wouldn’t have been there without 'Neighbours'.”
And while the programme made the cast huge stars in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Paul - who enjoyed brief pop success in the wake of his 'Neighbours' fame - never took things for granted.
He said: “We went from two-bit actors in Melbourne to being treated like rock stars.
“I revelled in it but I also had the common sense to keep pinching myself. I realised it wasn’t real, and wouldn’t last forever.”
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