Neighbours' Toadie should be scared of "conniving Paul"
Fans have been shocked by a major episode one reveal. *SPOILER ALERT*
Neighbours star Ryan Moloney has weighed in on the revival's shocking twist, which sees his beloved character Toadie tie the knot with Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) – a development which is sure to stir up trouble with Paul (Stefan Dennis).
Fans were left with jaws on the floor after the epic reveal, given that the previous series finale saw Terese and Paul get engaged, making them the obvious participants of the wedding in today's premiere.
It's doubly strange as Toadie was also in a committed relationship when Neighbours wound down – having recently married Melanie (Lucinda Cowden) – leaving fans to wonder what on earth could have happened in the show's two-year time jump.
Many are concerned about how loveable Toadie would fare if the more formidable Paul were to come after him, but Moloney told RadioTimes.com that his character can – and will – hold his own.
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"Paul is a very conniving and scheming man," he began. "[Toady] doesn't take a backwards step, that's for sure. He's confronted Paul on a number of times about things.
Moloney continued: "And if he does kind of meddle in his relationship with Terese, then he almost kind of expects it because it is Paul... So, it's just trying to ensure that Terese is okay. [That's] really the biggest concern that Tony has."
The longtime Neighbours star and his screen partner Elmaloglou also said that, although the Toadie/Terese romance will come as a surprise, they wanted it to be far more than just shock value.
And so, they worked hard to make this new relationship for Neighbours feel organic in the hopes that viewers at home will become emotionally invested in the unlikely pairing.
Moloney added: "As soon as we found out, it was like, 'Alright, how do we make this work? What's the story dynamics? What's the character dynamics? What's the background to how these two have gotten together?'
"It was very, very important for us to have it not be a gimmick... That people actually buy in and they go, 'Ah, yeah, of course, they make sense being together'."
On potential fan backlash, Elmaloglou commented: "I think they're gonna be really shocked at first, but we've worked quite hard at making it real and authentic.
"These two people are genuinely in love with each other and have got together in a beautiful way... and the feedback we've gotten from all the cast and crew so far is, 'Oh, this is actually cool'."
Additional reporting by Helen Daly.
Neighbours returns on Amazon Freevee on Monday 18th September 2023. New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays. Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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