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SO LUCKY
A NEIGHBOURS legend has spilled behind-the-scenes secrets as the show draws to an end - and says one of his co-stars outshone all the others.
Ian Smith - better known to the soap's fans as Harold Bishop - met Kylie Minogue when he was cast to play her stepfather.
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And he said it was immediately obvious there was "something special" about her.
"With Kylie, we knew that she was going to be a huge star — she was fabulous," he said.
"There was just something special about her that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.
"I was working with all the young actors who came into the show, and you could always tell the ones who just wanted to get into magazines and those who wanted to take the job seriously.
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“You’d be on the studio floor, doing your scene, and in the darkness you could just see this, sometimes a half-lit face.
"And it would be some of the youngsters having a look to see how it’s done or how other people do it.
"It's created so many stars."
Ian was 49 arrived on set in 1987, while Kylie, who played his tomboy stepdaughter Charlene, was just 18.
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But even then, he could tell she had the star-power that would enable her to tour the world as a singer and sell more than 80 million records.
"She was feisty," he said.
"She knew what she wanted, even back then.
“I remember sitting in the green room one day and she was on the phone. Somebody had called her and wanted her to stand behind a product.
“I think they thought they were going to get a pushover but, oh my gosh, I listened to Kylie lay down the law for what she would want if she did stand behind this product.
“I thought: ‘God, you could run classes on this girl!’ Seasoned old actors would stand by and watch."
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Ian, 84, and Kylie, 54, are returning to Ramsay Street to mark the end of Neighbours after 35 years.
The final ever episode will air on Channel 5 on July 29 at 9pm.
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