Neighbours star Rebekah Elmaloglou reveals reboot triggered family’s move back from NSW

When Neighbours was axed, soap royalty Rebekah Elmaloglou made a dramatic lifestyle change that came undone when the reboot was revealed.

Rebekah Elmaloglou, star of the rebooted Neighbours on Channel 10.

Aussie soap royalty Rebekah Elmaloglou is relieved that she still hasn’t had to find the back-up plan to acting.

She hadn’t even had time to consider the possibility of switching careers if acting roles completely dried up after she left Ramsay St.

The 49-year-old had sold her home in Melbourne and moved to the NSW mid-north coast to be closer to her family after the iconic soap famously wrapped.

It had been a rollercoaster of emotions from when the news first hit that its UK broadcast partner had withdrawn funding for the 37-year-old show to the final episode airing in July last year.

Rebekah Elmaloglou will star of Channel 10's rebooted Neighbours.

Elmaloglou needed time to decompress, enjoying time with husband Kane Baker and their teenage son Kai, walking their dogs on their beach. And hanging out with her mum and dad and her brothers. There were some auditions and she did an independent film, but it was the longest stint she’s ever had off work and she absolutely relished the downtime.

“We were just grieving,” she shares.

“So to be honest, I was very much like ‘I don’t care if I’m not working at the moment’.

“So I never got that far into thinking ‘what if there’s no work out there for me?’.”

Elmaloglou laughs as she shares that she thought it was just silly talk when rumours first started to filter through that Neighbours was coming back.

It was after dinner one evening and the group chat was going off with all the speculation from former castmates. The disbelieving Elmaloglou put her phone face down and settled into watch TV.

“About 20 minutes into our show, I couldn’t help myself I had a little peek at my phone and sure enough there was a text message confirming the rumours,” she shares, and her agent called in the next couple of days saying they wanted her back.

While Elmaloglou concedes it was a little annoying after packing up their entire life in Melbourne, to do it all again in reverse, there was no hesitation to step back into Terese Willis’ boss lady shoes once more.

Rebekah Elmaloglou, star of the rebooted Neighbours on Channel 10.

“She’s a full-on character – there’s the boss side of her, but then there’s the family side and the emotions and the drama.

“I could never get bored of playing her that’s for sure.”

That first day back on the sprawling Neighbours Nunwading set was surreal.

“It was really weird saying hello to the building again and setting up our green room and our dressing rooms,” Elmaloglou shares.

“It was just a lot of ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we are back’.”

While there was so much familiarity such as reuniting with long-term castmates including her on-again, off-again on screen love interest Stefan Dennis, and the other originals Jackie Woodburne, Alan Fletcher and Ryan Moloney – there’s a distinctly different feel to this new chapter.

“There’s a lot of new crew and some have come off some big American jobs,” Elmaloglou explains.

“And also because Amazon is involved and we’re being launched in America, and while we haven’t been Americanised by any means – it really feels like we’re on quite a big, big production.”

The first episode picks up two years after the events of last year’s grand finale. We know it’s a wedding day and there’s been plenty of talk about bold new storylines – what can Elmaloglou hint at?

Rebekah Elmaloglou, star of the rebooted Neighbours on Channel 10.

“Have you heard that Jason (Donovan) and Kylie (Minogue) are back as regulars?,” she says, tongue firmly planted in her cheek.

While the stars are definitely not reprising their roles as Scott and Charlene Robinson again anytime soon, there are some bold storylines set to unravel in this new chapter.

“I just feel like they really wanted to grab attention,” Elmaloglou says.

“And I think viewers will be pretty shocked. They’ll go through a heap of different emotions, but ultimately I think they’ll be excited.”

(This journalist has seen the first two episodes and yes, yes, viewers will be absolutely shocked by the wedding.)

Special guest star Mischa Barton also makes her debut as a mysterious American businesswoman, staying at Lassiters. Elmaloglou said she was so very lovely to work with.

“Some of the younger cast and crew were absolutely beside themselves,” she says.

“I think she had such a lovely time on the show. She was really professional and got into 100 per cent.

“I mean I think it would be great to get her back at some stage.”

Elmaloglou’s full of gratitude as she reflects on just how fortunate she’s been in her career. And it’s not something she’ll ever take for granted.

“In this industry to be in full time work is pretty amazing,” she shares.

“It’s just constant pinching myself and appreciating that I did Home and Away 25 years ago. And then again having the opportunity 10 years ago to get full-time work on Neighbours,

“And then that show ended but now I’m getting another opportunity to have full-time work. I mean, it’s really wild.

“You know, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t really appreciate my situation and how lucky I am.”

Neighbours: The New Chapter, Monday, 4.30pm, Ten (encore, 6.30pm 10 Peach)