Ex-Neighbours star spotted in news bulletin doing very different job

A former Neighbours star has made a surprise cameo in a news bulletin, as part of his new life working in a completely different profession.

There was a blast from the past on TV this week when a former Neighbours star appeared in a news bulletin on 10 News First.

Andrew Bibby, who played Lance Wilkinson on the show from 1995 and 2001 with the odd additional cameo over the years, popped up in a news segment about a shark attack that occurred in Gunyah Beach near Bundeena in Sydney’s south.

The attack left the woman with serious injuries, and a paramedic appeared on camera to discuss the incident. That paramedic was none other than the former soap star, who is now NSW Ambulance’s acting inspector.

Former Neighbours star Andrew Bibby made a surprise appearance on 10 News First as NSW Ambulance’s acting inspector. Picture: Ten

“She was able to tell us that she felt a strike to the leg very unexpectedly, with immediate excruciating pain,” he told the reporter.

Aside from a couple of cameos on Neighbours in 2018 and 2022, Bibby largely left actign behind shortly after portraying Detective Senior Constable Greg Locke in Underbelly: The Golden Mile.

The series recounted the rise and fall of former Kings Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim, who was played by Firass Dirani.

Bibby’s character Lance had an on-off relationship with Amy (played by Jacinta Stapleton) on Neighbours. Picture: Ten

On the set with Dan Paris (left), who became a love rival after Amy developed a crush on the mechanic. Picture: Ten

Ryan Maloney played Bibby’s on-screen best friend Toadie Rebecchi. Picture: Ten

While Bibby is no longer on TV, he still gets recognised by diehard Neighbours fans when on the job, especially by English tourists visiting our shores.

“They will get quite excited when they realise who I am and sometimes look around for the cameras, thinking it is a hoax,” Bibby told the Daily Telegraph, when he first embarked on his career as a paramedic a decade ago.

Bibby starred on Neighbours from 1995 to 2001. Picture: Tim Roney/Getty Images

“I like to think that if a patient can recognise me and want to talk about Neighbours and my former career, then they are not on death’s door and things aren’t too bad.”

Besides, Bibby is adamant that his acting skills have helped him with his career pivot from “Lance to ambo-Lance”, as he joked with the outlet.

Bibby began his ambulance career at the Paddington Ambulance Station in 2015. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“Being able to act like I know what is going on, like I’ve seen it all before and that everything is OK, actually comes in quite handy,” he said.

“I do know what’s going on, by the way. As paramedics we improvise a lot, like in acting.”

Bibby’s on-screen cameo comes weeks after it was announced that Neighbours was being axed again.

Just two years after Amazon revived the long-running Aussie series after it was dropped by Ten, it has been revealed that the streaming giant is also set to abandon production and say goodbye to Ramsay Street.

Production will cease in July this year, with the final episode to air in December.

Originally published as Ex-Neighbours star spotted in news bulletin doing very different job