Five launches UK search for a new Neighbours star

Neighbours has given us Kylie and Jason and teatime escapism to sunnier climes; now the Australian soap is offering UK fans the chance to audition for a cameo role.

As part of the show's 25th anniversary, TV channel Five has launched a search to find a female star to play Poppy Rogers, a friend of Mal Kennedy.

Poppy will be staying with the popular Kennedy family during her time on Ramsay Street, alongside characters Karl and Susan.

Aspiring actresses can download the audition script for Be A Star On Neighbours from the Five website and are asked to upload their audition tapes on to video-sharing site YouTube.

A panel of representatives from Five and Neighbours producers Freemantle will pick their top five candidates, then the final two will be decided by public vote.

They will be flown to Melbourne, Australia, where the soap is filmed, and put through their paces by the show's producers, who will have a week to decide who takes on the month-long role.

The episodes featuring the competition winner will be screened in November in the UK, just one month after the programme's 6,000th episode.

Five's channel controller, Richard Woolfe, said: "Neighbours has launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce, so this really is a life-changing opportunity for Five's viewers. Neighbours is loved and watched by millions in the UK. There's a huge amount of untapped talent around the country and I'm thrilled we have the opportunity to find a brand new star and hand them the international stage Neighbours provides to show off their talents."

Viewers will be able to keep track of the competition on Five during its 'Aussie Hour' of soap, which screens on weekdays at 1.45pm and 5.30pm, and on Live From Studio Five, which is on each weekday at 6.25pm.

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