Stefan Dennis reveals that he had first day nerves when real-life wife Gail Easdale shared scenes with him on Channel 5 soap Neighbours...
When it comes to working on a soap, Stefan Dennis is a pro – after all, the actor has been a regular on Neighbours since it’s very first episode 31 years ago.
But when his wife, Gail Easdale, started working on the show earlier this year, the seasoned actor admits he had to battle to control his nerves!
Speaking exclusively to What's on TV, Stefan, 57, said: “It’s been 25 years since Gail and I worked together. In the very first scene, even though we’d helped each other learn our lines, we were actually quite nervous. It was a little bit strange!”
Scottish-born Gail, 43, joined the cast as hotelier Julie Quill – who this week is taken in for questioning over the Lassiters’ blast that Stefan’s character, Paul Robinson, is currently serving 18 years in prison for!
Stefan, who lives in the suburbs of Melbourne with Gail and their three children, Cameron, 14, Declan, 10 and Darci, seven, laughed: “Our kids don’t give a rats about the fact I’m on it every evening, but now their mum’s on Neighbours they want to record it every day!”
Asked whether any of his offspring want to follow in their parents’ footsteps he said his eldest Cameron, who he describes as a typical teenager, 'A monosyllabic sloth!', is keen to go into acting,.
“I’ve given him the same advice my dad gave to me, which is get something behind you first because it’s such a fickle industry," said Stefan. "He also wants to be is a pilot so I said, ‘Ok, we’ll work on that’”.
The soap stalwart adores being a father although admits, just like every parent, it’s a constant battle to tear his kids away from screens and modern technology. He revealed: “Cameron and I fought and fought over it and it created angst in the house.”
Meanwhile Stefan, a self-confessed adrenaline junkie prefers speed to screens, and loves nothing better than letting off steam on one of his motorbikes on a racetrack.
When asked if he’d like to go on Top Gear his eyes lit up. “I’d love to!” he enthused. “I really like Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc, too.”
