Neighbours star Takaya Honda on Nicolette's departure
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Neighbours spoilers follow for UK viewers.
Neighbours couple David Tanaka and Aaron Brennan are left devastated on UK screens next week as pregnant Nicolette Stone flees from Erinsborough.
In a chaotic week, Nicolette's world is turned upside-down when she discovers that Chloe may have cheated on her with Leo. Nicolette also realises that David and Aaron have been lying to protect Chloe.
An intervention from David's ruthless father Paul Robinson also makes matters worse, ultimately leading to Nicolette doing a runner.
David and Aaron are distraught as their baby agreement with Nicolette has crumbled at the eleventh hour, leaving them to wonder whether they'll ever get to meet their child.
Takaya Honda, who plays David, recently caught up with Digital Spy for an exclusive chat about the storyline.
As a cast, did you always know the baby story was going to reach this dramatic point?
"This story was plotted a long time ago. Back in December 2019, I knew about this storyline – although it actually wasn't with Nicolette. I won't go into who it originally was, but it originally wasn't her. I'd been told that this would be my big storyline for this year, but it ended fairly differently.
"The idea of a surrogate coming in and then ultimately running off, taking the baby with them, was something I knew about quite a long time ago. But as always on Neighbours, there are some bumps along the road that you don't expect and you have to navigate!"
How did you feel about taking on the story?
"When I first heard about it, I was really excited for it – especially seeing where David would go. There were opportunities for David as a character to break away from the mould that he has been in since he started on the show.
"The difficulty for me was managing David as somebody who's a moral centre for the show, but is now crossing over into areas which are immoral and doing things that you would feel are out of character. We had to make it seem reasoned and motivated."
We see David blame Leo and punch him, don't we?
"Yes, and at the start of my time on the show, I couldn't have imagined David doing that because the bond between the brothers is so strong. So that is an example of the extremes that David is pushed to, but also the difficulties we can face as actors to find a believable motivation for the audience to understand.
"Hopefully the audience goes along with the journey. If it's done the wrong way, the audience goes: 'He wouldn't do that, it's David!' But if it's done the right way, the audience goes: 'Oh my God, I can't believe he's been pushed into this position'. Then you've allowed them to believe in the story, which is the goal."
How does Nicolette's departure affect David and Aaron's relationship?
"Often Aaron is more of the hot-head in the relationship, but it's a little bit of a role reversal now. In this case, it's a matter of Aaron seeing where David is going. Aaron feels he's the one who has to have his head straight and try to bring some mediation to the whole situation.
"Aaron seems like the reasonable one, who still thinks things are going to be okay. But David questions him: 'Don't you really care? Why aren't you upset? Why aren't you punching someone? Why aren't you willing to go and jump on a plane with me to visit Nicolette's family and try to find her?'
"David wonders why Aaron isn't willing to go to the same lengths as him and that creates a tension."
How does that make David feel?
"David doesn't understand why Aaron doesn't seem to care. He feels like he's on this journey on his own and he's the only one who really cares. That puts him in quite a dark place."
Do you think there's any hope for a happy ending in this story?
"For a long time it won't feel like there is – and I won't tell you whether there is or there isn't! But I think in this type of situation there's no easy answer. Any positivity that might come from it, is going to be hard-fought."
The show has also caused a lot of speculation over Nicolette's future by taking her out of the opening credits...
"Well, Nicolette's not on the show so she's not in the credits! I think we need to show that bad stuff happens and sometimes it's never explained. That's a real possibility."
Are you pleased that Tim Kano has returned as Leo? Would you like his comeback to become permanent?
"Absolutely, I love working with Tim. We started on the show and we grew together. Although he grew more than me! (Laughs.)
"Tim is such a pleasant energy to have on set and everyone likes him. I'd really like to be working with Tim long into the future and I'm so happy he's back. I'd love for him to come back as a more permanent fixture."
There has been a lot of talk about how Nicolette's disappearance is just the beginning for this story...
"I'm excited for where it's all going. There's a lot to come. It's hard to even tease because we're still filming it really, so it goes on for a while.
"All I can say is that it's going to get a lot worse. It might get a little bit better but then it's going to get worse again! It's a huge rollercoaster.
"I think the audience really has to strap themselves in for this one. It's not one of those storylines you generally see on a soap, where something bad happens and then a few days later it's all resolved. Appearances are not what they seem sometimes, so there's a lot to come."
Could David forgive Nicolette if she ever came back?
"I don't know, would you? If someone ran off with your unborn child and then said they're never returning, that would be a very difficult bridge to cross and would take a considerable amount of convincing.
"So that's a tough question to answer and maybe one we don't even get to face, since she's not on the opening credits! We'll see where that goes, but I don't know if I could forgive someone for doing that. They'd have to have a very good excuse."
Neighbours' story editor Shane Isheev recently revealed on Twitter that we'll be seeing David and Aaron's bedroom for the first time – are you pleased about that?
"I think that came up because one of the fans screenshotted an Instagram Story from April [Rose Pengilly, who plays Chloe] where she was in our bedroom set, which in the actual geography of the set is where our front door is! It's really bizarre – you walk out of the living room and into the bedroom.
"I'm excited for David and Aaron to have a bedroom. The only bedroom David has been in is the one in the penthouse with Rafael. That was such a lovely scene with him, so it's nice to have a return of the bedroom.
"Whether the fans are going to get what they want from the bedroom, that remains to be seen…"
Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5.
Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Read more Neighbours spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Want up-to-the-minute soaps news, spoilers and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account.
You Might Also Like
