Strictly star Stefan Dennis' life from secret Neighbours sacking to family tragedy

Strictly Come Dancing star Stefan Dennis is known to many as the cold-hearted businessman Paul Robinson in Neighbours.

Stefan joined the cast on its very first episode, which aired in 1985, and became well-known as his villainous character Paul. But, Stefan is set to show Strictly Come Dancing fans his more sparkly side as he takes to the BBC Saturday night staple's dance floor.

While much is known about his soap character and acting career, there are some details about himself actor Stefan likes to keep a secret as he recently revealed he has hidden his age.

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According to Google, the soap star is 66, but Stefan recently remained coy about how old he was in a recent interview. Stefan refused to spill how old he was when he first joined Neighbours and said: "That’s gonna give my age away if I tell you," according to The Guardian.

But, there are some parts of Stefan's life he has been open about. Here, we take a look...

Family tragedy

When Stefan was a child, his older brother John was killed at the age of 12 by a drunk driver.

Speaking on the Jeremy VineShow previously, Stefan revealed how the drunk driver was fined just $200 AUD (roughly £95 in today's money) over the incident.

When asked how the tragedy affected him, he said: "What people don't realise is, yeah, it's all very well to talk about drink-drivers and 'oh don't do it' and all of that but the repercussions of somebody's actions by getting behind the wheel on drugs or drink, or any impairment to your driving, is devastating to the people involved.

"To the person they've killed it doesn't bother them anymore because they're dead but certainly the people around them – it affects them for the rest of their life. This happens decades and decades ago for me but it still affects me. It's actually – I'm more affected today than I was back then because I was only a little kid then."

Celebrity romances

Stefan has enjoyed a string of romances with fellow celebrities. He was first married to The Price Is Right host Roz Roy from 1979 until 1989.

He recently spoke about the surreal experience of a romance in the public eye, telling The Guardian: "I was doing Flying Doctors...

"And in the green room, I’m reading a magazine, and there was my wife on the cover, my first wife.

"And I turned round and said: 'That’s my wife!'"

Meanwhile, during his time on Neighbours the soap actor dated his co-star Gayle Blakeney, who played Christina Alessi. Meanwhile, he also recently confessed to a secret romance with Torn singer Natalie Imbruglia, who played Beth Brennan.

Stefan told Stellar magazine: "Because of my relationship with Gayle and later, in a well-kept secret, I was going out with Natlalie Imbruglia...

"There was a rumour that I was making my way through the female cast."

However, Stefan is now happily married to wife Gail Easdale, who he wed in 2000. The pair played business rivals on Neighbours, as Gail took on the role of Julie Quill. However, they didn't mean on the soap – instead Stefan and Gail first met while performing in a pantomime together in London, but they didn't get together for several years as Stefan was in a relationship with Gayle Blakeney, the actor who played his second wife Christina on Neighbours.

Stefan previously confessed to Herald Sun: "I told Gail that I was attracted to her, but nothing could happen because I was still in a relationship, so we became the best of friends instead. We were inseparable."

They share three children; Cameron, Declan and Darci, together.

Neighbours secret sacking

Stefan left Neighbours in 1992 and jetted to the UK to pursue several acting roles. But, his stint away from the soap wasn't a long one as he re-joined the soap in 2004.

However, in 2006, after two years and several wild storylines, including several marriages, affairs and scams, Stefan was sacked by soap bosses.

He recalled to The Guardian: "They said: 'We have to fire you, for doing your job so well.' 'Wait, what?' They said:'‘It doesn’t matter what we’ve thrown at you, and some of the things have been quite ridiculous and a bit over the top, you’ve always made it work. It’s our fault, not yours. The character has now almost become a caricature, he’s too big for what we’re trying to do'."

But, after he was given his marching orders, Stefan went back to the production company and told them: "I'm an actor. It's my job to make it work," he recalled.

And, two days later soap bosses decided that instead of getting rid of his character, they would make Paul an amputee.

He told Australia's TV Tonight: "Unbeknownst to a lot of people, I was actually sacked in 2006 because producers didn’t know what to do with the character anymore, because they’d made him too big.

"I was actually sacked for about three days before they changed their minds and got me back.

"Then I was sacked again when the show finished (in 2022), and now being sacked again.

"So this is five times that I’ve actually left the show. But it’s three times that this show has actually been axed which has created yet another piece of history.

"It’s the only show in the world, as an ongoing serial, that’s been axed three times."

Neighbours came to a dramatic end in 2022 when Channel 5 pulled funding, however after an emotional farewell which saw many characters return for the final episode, the soap was revived by Amazon's streaming service Freevee. But, the soap was axed once again and is set to come to another end in December this year.

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