It’s officially happening Madeleine West will return to Neighbours after a 13-year absence.
Madeleine played the much-loved character of Dee Bliss on the iconic drama from 2000 to 2003 and was last seen on her wedding day to Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi (Ryan Moloney). Following the wedding ceremony, Dee and Toadfish were in a tragic accident when their car hurtled off a cliff face. Toadfish survived but Dee’s body was never recovered.
During the series’ 30th Anniversary celebrations in 2015, a national poll placed Dee and Toadfish’s wedding tragedy as one of the most popular Neighbours storylines of all time.
Over the years fans have speculated about what really happened to Dee. Many conspiracy theories have been floated, including the suggestion that Dee entered the witness protection program due to a run-in with the Mafia. and even I floated my own story just last year .
Madeleine’s much-anticipated guest appearance might finally solve Neighbours’ biggest mystery. Is Dee actually alive, or is there a bigger plot twist at play?
Neighbours Network Ten Executive Producer, Claire Tonkin, said: “Who can forget the iconic moment of Toadie and Dee’s car flying off the cliff after their wedding? For over a decade we have been left wondering about Dee’s true fate. We are overjoyed to welcome the wonderful Madeleine West back to Ramsay Street to provide answers and maybe some even bigger questions.”
Neighbours Executive Producer, Jason Herbison, said: “It has been a dream of mine to have Madeleine return and, who knows, finally lay to rest what really happened to Dee. Not since Harold and Madge Bishop’s return has there been a bigger comeback. The atmosphere on the set is electric having Madeleine back in the fold.”
Since leaving Neighbours in 2003, Madeleine has starred in countless Australian television dramas including Satisfaction, Underbelly, Fat Tony & Co, House Husbands,Rescue Special Ops, Winners & Losers, City Homicide and Low Down. Madeleine will also feature in Network Ten’s new contemporary drama, The Wrong Girl, as Erica Jones, co-host of morning television show The Breakfast Bar. Earlier this year Madeleine released her first book titled Six Under Eight, a celebration of the rollercoaster that is parenting in the modern era.
Madeleine said: “It is a very rare and wonderful thing when an actor has the opportunity to step back into the shoes of a character they created, even more so when that character had not been seen for some 13 years and was one as beloved as Dee Bliss. For me, this return to Neighbours is something of a homecoming, to the place where I took my first tentative steps into the entertainment industry and where I truly learnt my craft.”
Madeleine will appear on screen in December and again from early 2017.
Neighbours airs 6:30pm Weeknights on Eleven
