Neighbours icon Alan Fletcher had to "fight back tears" during final scenes

 "There were hundreds of people in the studio to watch that final piece."

Neighbours wrapped up filming last month ahead of airing its final ever episode later this month, and it was an emotional experience saying goodbye to the Australian soap for the cast.

Alan Fletcher, who is one of the longest-serving actors on Neighbours having played Karl Kennedy for 28 years, has admitted to tearing up as the camera rolled for the last ever time.

"It was very hard to fight back tears as we were saying the dialogue for what was going to be the last moments of the show," he told The Mirror.

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"There were hundreds of people in the studio to watch that final piece of filming. We had some speeches, I said a few words. There were some tears. There were some celebrations."

Plenty of former cast members are returning to Ramsay Street to see the show off, including Ian Smith returning as Harold Bishop from this week, to Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan filming a brief cameo.

"One of my favourites was Guy Pearce," Alan said. "There wasn't a single person who was asked to do something for the end, who was available, who said no. Everybody wanted to help out."

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The final episode was originally set to air on August 1, but now it's been brought forward to the end of this month, with Australia airing it a day before the UK.

The Australian industry's relationship with the show is a bit of a contentious issue, with the cast feeling like they were recently 'snubbed' by the Logie Awards despite its long legacy.

Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 6pm on Channel 5 and streams on My5. In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 6.30pm on 10 Peach and streams on 10 Play.