Yahoo News Exclusive: Neighbours star reacts to Natalie Imbruglia Ned Willis discovery
Neighbours star Ben Hall has revealed how he feels about former star Natalie Imbruglia's recent discovery that he is playing her on-screen son.
Ben's Ramsay Street character Ned Willis, who he has played since 2016, is the son of Beth Brennan (played by Natalie between 1992 and 1994) and Brad Willis (played by Scott Michaelson in the early 90s and by Kip Gamblin between 2013 and 2017), although he was not seen on screen as a child.
Earlier this year, Natalie was asked during a BBC Radio Wales interview whether she ever catches up with Neighbours to see how Beth's son is doing and the singer and actress revealed that it was the first she'd heard of Ned, saying: "I have a son? What? Oh my god. Oh my god, I didn't even know that. That is brilliant."
Related: Neighbours star on Ned story ideas he's pitched
Following the revelation, Ben has now exclusively told Digital Spy how he reacted to the news, saying that he was tempted to get in touch with his on-screen mum after hearing it.
"I saw that! I was tempted to reply and say hello – but I thought, no, I'll leave it!" he said. "I thought it was great. I'm glad that she finally knows that she's got a son on the show."
And in true familial fashion, Ben couldn't resist gently poking fun at Natalie for not knowing that Ned was back on the soap.
"She should really be keeping up to date and watching every night, come on!" he joked. "It was very funny to see her hear about that and say that she loved it and found it great. It was cool."
Related: Neighbours star reacts to new baby plot twist
Neighbours itself also took the opportunity to suggest that Beth was due for an Erinsborough comeback following the interview, tweeting from its UK and Australian Twitter accounts that "It must be time for a visit!".
Natalie is actually about to release her latest album, Firebird, so a Neighbours comeback might not be on the cards for now, but Ned is already busy enough handling his romantic situation.
Ned is currently in a polyamorous relationship with Amy Greenwood (Jacinta Stapleton) and Levi Canning (Richie Morris) and Ben told us that the arrangement initially "definitely solves" the problem of the competition between Ned and Levi, although there will continue to be "moments where they're feeling a bit more jealous".
Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm on Channel 5 (UK) and Mondays to Thursdays at 6.30pm on 10 Peach (Australia).
Read more Neighbours spoilers on our dedicated homepage.
You Might Also Like
