Neighbours star Stefan Dennis has revealed that his on-screen niece Ashleigh Brewer was delighted when she learned that her character Kate Ramsay would be killed off.
Brewer quit the soap late last year and show bosses decided on a tragic exit storyline as the actress had no plans to return in the future.
Kate's departure boosted ratings for Neighbours in the UK this week as 1.4 million viewers tuned in to see her pass away after being shot, though some fans were sad that she didn't get a happier ending.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Dennis commented: "It's a divided thing, because it makes incredibly dramatic television to lose a character by killing them off, but at the same time there's been a lot of people on social networks saying, 'Why did Kate have to die?'
"In a way that's actually good because it means it's affected them so greatly, so it's served the purpose of getting the dramatic television.
"The funny thing about it is that I remember talking to Ashleigh, and she was so excited on the day she found out that she was going to be killed.
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"She was pretty adamant that she didn't want to come back, and so when she found out that she was actually being killed, she was excited because she knew it was going to be a very dramatic exit. Not only was it good for the show, it was also a good opportunity for her to tackle that sort of material.
"If somebody does want to leave the show, you can talk to them forever and offer them as much money as you can, but if they're adamant about leaving, then as a producer you find the best and most entertaining way for that character to exit."
Dennis's character Paul Robinson has been left devastated by the loss of Kate. Earlier this week, he was seen destroying Kate's birthday cake as he went into a grief-stricken rage at Charlie's Bar.
The actor added: "They told me that I only had one crack at that scene, because they only had one of those cakes and it was bloody expensive! That put the pressure on me!
"When they said 'action', I brought the chair up to destroy the cake, but then when I brought it down, one of the legs actually caught on the table and it smashed in the wrong place - destroying a lot of crockery and glasses. It also caught the cake but just on the edge of it, so they were able to patch it up so we could have another go.
"If it had gone any further into the cake, it would have ruined that part of the scene, as they wanted a close-up of the chair hitting the cake. So thank God we managed to rectify the cake!"
Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 in the UK, and weekdays at 6.30pm on Eleven in Australia.
