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Neighbours star's husband initially turned down body double idea

Susannah Alexander
·5-min read

From Digital Spy

Neighbours spoilers follow for UK viewers.

Neighbours' Dipi Rebecchi (Sharon Johal) and Pierce Greyson (Tim Robards) are about to embark on a shock affair, betraying their respective spouses Shane Rebecchi (Nicholas Coghlan) and Chloe Brennan (April Rose Pengilly).

The soap has found a very clever way to film the steamy scenes between Dipi and Pierce without breaking COVID-19 safety guidelines, which mean that actors cannot touch each other, as it has hired actress Sharon's real-life husband Ankur to be Pierce's body double in romantic scenes.

But Sharon has revealed on Instagram that Ankur was initially very reluctant to appear on the soap, though she eventually managed to persuade him to get involved.

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

Related: Neighbours star explains Pierce recast decision

"Then the producers ask you if your husband (who lets be honest, looks nothing like dear @mrtimrobards) will step in as his body double," she wrote, alongside a photo of herself with actor Tim and another featuring the back of his double's head as Dipi leans in to kiss him.

"Of course his first response was a 'hell to the no' (not his thing in the slightest) but after some convincing he agreed! (Smart man to do what his wife asks) because he knows how much pride I take in creating the best work I possibly can (for you guys), and the best work we can for the show, whilst keeping cast and crew safe. So he freaked the f*ck out and did it!"

The actress added that it was "such a mind trip" to go from not being allowed to touch during a scene to "going hell for leather when the love of my life (my husband) stepped in".

"Boy that was weird af!" she wrote. "It was like take your hubby to work day WITHOUT jumping his bones! Suffice to say I couldn't stop giggling and the crew and our beloved director were amazing (wayyy more professional than moi).

View this post on Instagram

TONIGHT’s THE NIGHT! Watch @10peachau right now (and @channel10au @10playau for catchups) *please disregard this post UK viewers, my apologies, it’s so hard trying to ensure no spoilers when it’s bloody all over the internet already!* Unless you’ve been under a rock, by now you would’ve already seen what’s to come for Dipi and Pierce on @neighbours. For those who need a catch up, I will be posting up the lead up to tonight’s “cross the line and never return” moment for Dipi. It’s been a long time coming but still, I can assure you, I had troubles getting my head around this storyline and how Dipi, after 20 years, after being so loyal to Shane (and literally on being with 3 men) she could cross the line with Pierce. It forced me to dig deep into the psyche of how something like this could happen and the lengths it takes to get there because the reality is, it can, and does happen. But that’s the joy of acting! And then the producers ask you if your husband (who lets be honest, looks nothing like dear @mrtimrobards) to step in as his body double. Of course his first response was a “hell to the no” (not his thing in the slightest) but after some convincing he agreed! (Smart man to do what his wife asks 😆) because he knows how much pride I take in creating the best work I possibly can (for you guys), and the best work we can for the show, whilst keeping cast and crew safe. So he freaked the f*ck out and did it! It was such a mind trip jumping from “trying” to be intimate with Tim whilst being carefully watched by the safety supervisor so we did not touch (and not having touched since March) - TO - going hell for leather when the love of my life (my husband) stepped in - and boy that was weird af! It was like take your hubby to work day WITHOUT jumping his bones! Suffice to say I couldn’t stop giggling and the crew and our beloved director were amazing (wayyy more professional than moi). So thank you hubby for stepping in for the show when you totally hated it, thanks @mrtimrobards for being my scene partner and thank you @neighbours production and crew for coming up with and adapting to crazy and wacky ways to make our dear show, even when the world is on fire! ❤️

A post shared by SHARON JOHAL (@sharonjohal) on Sep 23, 2020 at 1:35am PDT

"So thank you hubby for stepping in for the show when you totally hated it, thanks @mrtimrobards for being my scene partner and thank you @neighbours production and crew for coming up with and adapting to crazy and wacky ways to make our dear show, even when the world is on fire!"

Sharon also confessed that she had initially struggled with the idea that Dipi would cheat on Shane, saying that she had to "dig deep" to understand her character's actions.

"It's been a long time coming but still, I can assure you, I had troubles getting my head around this storyline and how Dipi, after 20 years, after being so loyal to Shane (and literally on being with 3 men) she could cross the line with Pierce," she wrote.

"It forced me to dig deep into the psyche of how something like this could happen and the lengths it takes to get there because the reality is, it can, and does happen. But that's the joy of acting!"

Sharon recently told Digital Spy that Dipi and Shane's relationship is in serious trouble, saying that there is "definitely a permanent crack in the marriage now".

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

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