Scott Major – who played Lucas Fitzgerald on Neighbours – has revealed that he was left feeling dejected when he was let go from the soap.
Writing for the Daily Telegraph in Australia, he described being axed from the show as "kind of a rude shock".
He also compared leaving the show to the end of a relationship, saying: "It was like being in a relationship with someone who you're happy with and want to spend the rest of your life with, and then having them say, 'Sorry, I don't want you anymore.'
"The feeling of rejection was quite high. I put my heart and soul into my role. I worked very hard and I loved the job. I had to go through the break-up of giving my all and someone saying, 'I don't want your all; actually, I'm moving on.'"
He also revealed that one of the most conflicting parts of him being written out of the soap was the amount of notice he was given.
"They gave me six months' warning, which was both good and bad.
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"It was a double-edged sword because I was able to put some money away and sort my future out, but I also felt like a dead man walking around the corridors.
"Everyone would ask, 'Oh, how are you coping? Are you ready to leave? What's next?' No one likes to be looked at that way."
[Scott Major directing]
It wasn't all bad news for the actor though, as he is now a regular director of Neighbours.
He wrote that at the time, bosses said they wanted him to come back and direct and, true to their word, he did.
"I did a six-month directing internship," Major said. "I remember the first episode I directed by myself; I felt like somebody had given me the keys to the car and I was only on my L-plates!"
In the end, he says that the cast put him "at ease" and their support allowed him "to grow as a director".
Major appeared on Neighbours for five years between 2008 and 2013.
In the time since, he has started working on the Poppy Seed Theatre Festival [a month-long series in Melbourne], which helps independent artists remain sustainable in a difficult industry.
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