Neighbors veteran Alan Fletcher is the third longest-serving actor in Australian soap opera history, having starred on the iconic soap opera for almost three decades.
And following the long-running show’s emotional finale last week, which saw viewers say goodbye to the Ramsay Street residents after 37 years on air, the 65-year-old actor is considering a major career change .
Fletcher, who had played Dr. Karl Kennedy since 1994, told Magic Radio’s Breakfast show: “Now that I’m done NeighboursI’m thinking of actually going into medicine.”
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The Perth-born TV star added that she had always tried to keep her personal life separate from her on-screen persona, but was now changing her mind.
“While I have been Neighboursreligiously I don’t give medical advice, because I’m very worried that the authorities will locate me”, he joked.
It comes after Fletcher’s co-star Ryan Moloney, who had played Jarrod “Toadie” Rebecchi on the show since 1995, revealed his own big career move away from the small screen.
The 42-year-old actor said he planned to settle down in the post-Neighbours life as a humble tradition.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” Moloney said The Daily Telegraph. “I’m taking a civil construction course that involves driving bulldozers and building roads.”
Moloney added: “I like playing with these types of machines. I like doing earthworks, all that manual stuff.
“That’s where I am, but who knows where it will all end?”
After 37 years and 8903 episodes, Neighbours finally came to an end in a bang last week.
The nostalgic episode saw the return of Australia’s brightest names who got their big break on the soap, including Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem and alumna More celebrity from the show, Margot Robbie.
Up to 3 million people tuned in to the final in the UK, while almost 900,000 viewers watched it in Australia.
In March it was announced that Neighbours was being axed after Australian production company Fremantle Media failed to find a new broadcast partner, following Britain’s Channel 5’s decision to withdraw its partnership.
Channel 5 had been covering most of the production bill.