A SOAP legend has been dropped from their show after 37 years, saying “it wasn’t my decision.”
Neighbours icon Lucinda Cowden, 59, revealed she will no longer be playing her Melanie Pearson role and has already filmed her final scenes.
Amazon Prime Video revived the show earlier this summer.
Lucinda’s character, Melanie, is currently in a love triangle with Annie Jones’ Jane Harris and Craig Hall’s character Vic Stone.
However, her time on the show will soon end, as she’s set to depart from her role next month.
In a new chat with Ben Bone and Ben Fenlon, who host the NeighBens YouTube show, Lucinda revealed: “I’m unemployed! I’m off, it’s true. I’m sorry.
“I can’t do anything about it, it wasn’t my decision. Mel’s off in her truck and doesn’t have any plans to return, immediately.”
When quizzed about recent developments on the show, the star mentioned that it had been a “year of a lot of goodbyes.”
She added: “So I rang Ryan [Maloney] to say, ‘Sorry babe, I’m off’ and got the shock of my life when he said, ‘Me too! ‘ You know, you could’ve blown me over with a feather.
“It kind of made a little bit of sense for me rather than if it was just me.”
Lucinda speculated that the scriptwriters were at a loss about ‘what to do with Mel’ in the absence of Ryan’s character, Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi.
The actress shared that she found out the news of her departure in December 2023.
Upcoming scenes will see the the residents get together to throw Melanie a leaving party at the 82 tram Café before she droves off in a van.
Fans were heartbroken by the news as they took to the YouTube comment section.
One said: “Aww, sad that Lucinda is leaving.”
Another added: “Ffs!!! Start the petition, boys! Bring back our Mel.”
Neighbours stars who made it big
The long-running Aussie soap has launched the careers of some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Here are some of the Neighbours alums who went on to make it big after starring on the soap...
Kylie Minogue
- Before she hit the big time with her music career, Kylie shot to fame playing Charlene Mitchell on Neighbours. Shortly after her arrival, Kylie began an on and off-screen romance with co-star Jason Donovan, who played Scott Robinson, which gained the couple an army of adoring fans.
Jason Donovan
- After his stint as Scott, singer and actor Jason became an international popstar and had his pick acting of roles. He moved to the U.K., married, had children and has since starred in over a dozen West End show, most notably Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Alan Dale
- New Zealand born actor Alan was one of Neighbours 12 original cast members having made his debut as Jim Robinson on the soap’s first episode on 18 March 1985. As the head of the Robinson clan, widower Jim lived at Number 26 Ramsay Street with his children Paul, Julie, Scott and Lucy, and was a real anchor in the community. He stayed with the show for eight years, before his character was killed off in dramatic scenes aired in 1993 but which still reverberate through the soap to this day.
Margot Robbie
- Way before she was Barbie or Harley Quinn, Margot was best known as Ramsay Street resident Donna Freedman. Her notable storylines included her marriage to Ringo Brown and becoming a young widow following his tragic death. After three years she bid farewell to the soap and Australia with a plan to make a name for herself in Hollywood which she did when she bagged the role of Naomi Lapaglia opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Jesse Spencer
- Jesse rocked up on Ramsay street in 1994 with the rest of the Kennedy clan. He stayed for five years, literally growing up in front of the camera, but in 2000 felt it was time to spread his wings and head for Hollywood. It was certainly a smart move as he went on to bag leading roles in popular shows like House and Chicago Fire.
Russell Crowe
- New Zealand-native Russell had a brief arc on Neighbours, appearing in four episodes of the soap 1987 as Kenny Larkin, the former cellmate of Street resident Henry Ramsay. The role obviously got him noticed though because he quickly went on to become a fully-fledged Hollywood A-lister, winning the Best Actor Oscar for his standout performance as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator.
A third wrote: “Oh no! Gutted. Mel has been one of my faves for years and years and definitely a fave of the reboot.
“Rubbish. What a wonderful interview though! Love to Lucinda.”