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Neighbours brings in Sharon Johal's real husband as body double

From Digital Spy

Neighbours has inducted Dipi Rebecchi star Sharon Johal's real-life husband into the soap as a body double, hiring him to perform kissing scenes with the actress.

The soap has confirmed that a new storyline will see Dipi and Pierce Greyson (Tim Robards) embarking on a shock affair as both of their marriages struggle. Dipi and Pierce will soon be seen sharing a passionate kiss, which they decide to keep secret from their respective spouses, Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) and Chloe Brennan (April Rose Pengilly).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, intimate scenes are currently off the table for all soaps with actors having to socially distance from one another on set, but Australian newspaper Sunday Herald Sun has revealed that Neighbours is making Dipi and Pierce's romantic scenes look more realistic by hiring star Sharon's finance executive husband, Ankur, to film on-screen kisses with her.

Photo credit: Fremantle - Channel 5
Photo credit: Fremantle - Channel 5

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Ankur revealed to the paper that Sharon actually made him rehearse for the scenes, saying: "My wife made me practice 'pretend kissing' the night before, which is such a weird concept. I thought my kissing skills were up to scratch but obviously not."

He added that Sharon is delighted to be working on such a big story, saying that "her pride in her work requires her to tell the story and perform to the best of her ability however she can, (and) on this occasion that included having me to help in those pivotal scenes".

Sharon joked that the affair story has seen her having to kiss too many men, particularly since Tim has now left his role as Pierce and actor Don Hany has taken over as the character.

"I had to be intimate with four men over the course of this storyline – my on-screen husband Shane, Pierce played by Tim Robards, Pierce played by Don Hany and my real-life husband," she said. "There were definitely three men too many for me."

The actress has also shared a photo on Instagram of herself sitting on a bed with Ankur, who is dressed in the same suit as the real Pierce actor in the background, which she captioned, "Um. WHAT IN THE WORLD is going on here?!"

Neighbours isn't the only soap that has decided to use the real-life partners of its actors in order to film intimate scenes, with the UK's own EastEnders and US soap Bold and the Beautiful also adopting the tactic in order to film romantic moments safely.

Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 (UK) and 6.30pm on 10 Peach (Australia).


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