Neighbours star Jackie Woodburne discusses "great sadness" on set after show axe news

 "It was just a shock initially."

As the air date for the final ever episode of Neighbours approaches, star Jackie Woodburne has shared her thoughts on the soap's end as well as revealing how the news was received on set.

"I think it took quite a long time for everybody to get their head around the fact of it," she said.

"It was always something that could happen one day. Maybe it will be this year, maybe it will be next year. But for it to actually happen, I don't know that you can ever kind of be completely prepared for that. It was just a shock initially."

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She continued: "It's a job not like any other. Because a lot of us stay for a very long time, that cliche of you becoming a family is absolutely true. But in a way it's kind of bigger than a family, because you don't choose your family, but you choose to go to your workplace every day.

"We just felt very sad, but at the same time there was this sense of we are all going to pull together, and we are going to make however much time we've got left to do this, we're going to give it 150%."

Despite the devastating news of the show's cancellation, Woodburne said she'd found viewers' reactions to the series ending to be very special.

"We knew that they were going to be upset, but I don't think any of us could have anticipated the level of their passion. The petition, the push, the belief that we can do it, we can save the show. It was so heartwarming," she explained.

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"It was incredibly humbling, you know, that people watch the show. Particularly in the UK, our fan base over there, they're so loyal. They're so staunch and true."

Neighbours' final episode will air in the UK next week on Friday, July 29, brought forward from the original date of Monday, August 1.

The finale has also been rescheduled in Australia, with the last episode airing one day before on Thursday, July 28, meaning Australian viewers will say goodbye to the beloved show ahead of the UK audience.

Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 6pm on Channel 5 and streams on My5. The series finale will air in the UK on July 29 at 9pm on Channel 5.