Exclusive: Neighbours stars address David and Aaron return
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Neighbours spoilers follow.
Neighbours stars Matt Wilson and Takaya Honda have spoken out about their returns to the show.
The popular pair will be reprising the roles of Aaron and David, who were last seen in the 2022 finale episode.
Show bosses shared the news ahead of the upcoming Flashback Week, which sees Aaron and Nicolette (now played by Hannah Monson) head back to Ramsay Street alongside previously-announced returnee David Tanaka.
Speaking to Digital Spy about how the return came about, Takaya – who plays David – said: "I think it was December, so it was a few weeks after the actual show's return was announced at least, where it was initially just people being curious about whether we'd be interested or not.
"Matt had moved to Queensland by that stage, which is 2,000 kilometers away, so it's not a quick drive! We'd all moved on with our lives to a certain degree and so there was a question of, would you be interested?
"For both of us, it's always been about the story, so it's that question of, 'What's the story and how are we going to fit into this 'New Neighbours and what is this 'New Neighbours?'. We didn't know at that stage how many episodes were going to be on a week, how many episodes were going be on a year and it was like everyone was living in the dark. It was really then about, 'Okay, let's just get some information first because we're still trying to process the whole thing and then we can figure out from there where we go'.
"Ultimately, I think for both of us the story that Jason Herbison, our executive producer, pitched to us was something that was really intriguing to get us back onto the show and kick it off and the larger story that was happening on the show itself. We could tell that there was something different happening on the show, so we wanted to be a part of that really."
Matt – who plays Aaron – added: "With Amazon being involved as well, it's such an experienced company and group of people that just brought a complete new energy to it. We weren't going back to the same job, we knew we were going to something completely new and completely different and that made it even more exciting."
Discussing how they felt about returning at a later stage to their fellow cast members, Takaya said: " I thought it was a really cool idea, although we did have to execute not talking about the show whilst we've been filming it this whole time which is quite a conundrum.
"But I liked the idea of coming on a little bit later, creating an intrigue to begin with, of like, where have they gone and why have they gone? Ultimately that all unravels next week and the following weeks as well in quite a big way and we introduce some new other characters as well.
"I thought it was a really cool thing to be doing, especially that we could be in secret filming and stuff, and that's always fun. We were part of this big secret."
As for whether this is a full-time return for the couple, Matt teased: " Look, I'm still here. I'm still here. I moved 2,000 kilometers away and I'm still here in cold, cold Melbourne. Is that a clue?"
Takaya added: "And then he couldn't do much without his boo really, so..."
Neighbours releases new episodes from Mondays to Thursdays for free on Amazon Freevee in the UK and US. In Australia, the show airs from Mondays to Thursdays at 4pm on Channel 10, with a 6.30pm repeat screening on 10 Peach.
Read more Neighbours coverage on our dedicated homepage
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