Jason Donovan joins Emmerdale after secretly filming scenes for ITV soap
An iconic soap star is heading to Emmerdale for a special guest role in scenes already secretly filmed earlier this month, in a storyline focusing on Lydia Dingle
Emmerdale is set to welcome a very special guest star to The Woolpack as Neighbours legend Jason Donovan will soon be on the show.
After earning soap icon status as Scott Robinson in the 1980s on the Australian show Neighbours, Jason went on to have a successful career in music. Now he is returning to soaps by joining Emmerdale for a guest star role, where he plays himself.
Jason filmed his secret scenes on set earlier this month. In them, he surprises Lydia Dingle in The Woolpack after the superfan is unable to go to his concert. The episodes are set to air in December as part of the build-up to Christmas.
A source revealed to The Sun: "Everyone was really excited Jason was up for taking part. The plot sees superfan Lydia miss her opportunity to Jason in concert, so villagers organise for the popstar to surprise her. It was really fun and Jason was a real pro, he enjoyed the cameo.”
Jason is not the only Donovan to be on soaps recently, as his daughter Jemma was on Neighbours from 2019 to 2022 and Hollyoaks from 2023 to 2024.
The younger Donovan played Harlow Robinson on Neighbours, the secret daughter of Robert Robinson and their Scott's niece. Jason and Jemma did not film many scenes together, as he only returned to the show in 2022 for one episode.
At the time, this episode was believed to be the final episode. Neither has returned to the series after it was picked up by Amazon.
Jason and his character Scott had some iconic storylines on Neighbours. These wild storylines started in 1986 with Scott going missing and being presumed dead.
As Jason was taking over the role from Darius Perkins, the writers had Darius' Scott disappear from a school trip and return later, being played by Jason.
That same year, Scott met Charlene Mitchell, played by Kylie Minogue. The two went on to be the most iconic couple on the show, and Jason and Kylie started dating too. However, they broke up in 1989.
Also in 1989, Jason left Neighbours, as his pop career was starting to take off. He released several successful albums over the years and also had a career on stage, most famously as the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
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