Trigger warning: this article contains references to drug use and addiction.
Back in the 1980s, Neighbours actor, Jason Donovan was one half of Australia’s most wholesome on and off-air couple.
As Scott Robinson, who married Kylie Minogue’s Charlene in one of the biggest TV weddings of the decade, Donovan was the boy-next-door turned Aussie heartthrob who captured the hearts of fans all over the world.
Behind the scenes, however, Donovan struggled with personal issues and has since been candid about his dependence on drugs.
In an interview with The Sun, the actor revealed that he once smoked marijuana on the set of Neighbours, sneaking around the back of the show’s fictional hotel Lassiters with co-star David Clenice to indulge in the drug during a break filming.
Unfortunately for Donovan, he was then called back to set unexpectedly. “I’d never smoked at work before but this was all too tempting,” the 52-year-old said.
“We were sitting on the ground, smoking, laughing and getting progressively more stoned when I suddenly heard my name called. I was wanted on set! There had been a change to the schedule.” he elaborated. “Having stubbed out my doobie, cleaned my teeth in the make-up room, put eye drops into my eyes and dusted myself down, I went back onto set.”
According to the singer and actor, “It was an absolute disaster. My head was a complete fog, my mouth was dry, my eyes were so pinned they looked like pissholes in the snow, I couldn’t remember any of my lines and I kept banging into people.”
Donovan, who wrote about the transgression in his 2007 memoir, Between the Lines: My Story Uncut, said: “After that, I made a decision – never ever mix drugs with work again.”
The actor has been incredibly forthcoming about his addiction to drugs in the past, revealing that it was only when his wife, Angela Malloch, gave him an ultimatum as they prepared for their first child that he decided to take control of his dependence.
Donovan’s memoir went into great detail about his drug addiction, including a story about how Michael Hutchence — the man Minogue had left him for — once put him into an ambulance after a drug-related seizure at Kate Moss’s 21st birthday at the Viper Room in Los Angeles.
The actor has lived in London for the past 30 years where he has appeared in numerous West End productions such as Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Sweeney Todd, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and War of the Worlds. He has also participated in the reality TV shows I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Strictly Come Dancing.
If you, or a loved one, needs help with issues relating to substance abuse or addiction, please call the National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline on 1800 250 015 for free and confidential advice.