Jason Donovan: 'I enjoyed fame initially – until I left Neighbours'

Jason Donovan was born in June 1968 in Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The son of actors, he made his TV debut in 1980 in the Australian soap Skyways. He joined the cast of Neighbours in 1986, where his on screen romance with Kylie Minogue helped make him a household name at home and in the UK. In 1989, he released his debut solo album, Ten Good Reasons, which sold over two million copies worldwide. His run of hits over the following two years included four UK No 1 singles.

In 1991, Donovan took the lead in a restaging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Time Rice’s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The role led to an Olivier nomination and a best-selling soundtrack album. He has since gone on to star in The Rocky Horror Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Priscilla, Annie Get Your Gun, Sound of Music, The King’s Speech, Million Dollar Quartet, Grease the Musical and 50th anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Speaking to The Big Issue for his Letter to My Younger Self, Jason Donovan looks back at an idyllic youth, heartbreak and overcoming problem drug use.

At 16, I was very much involved with school. I wasn’t bright. But I was a hard worker. At 16 I actually, ironically, auditioned for Neighbours, and I got the part for a character called Danny Ramsay. I was then in the position where I had this full-time job opportunity which required me to leave school. I asked all the teachers what they thought and they all said, this is an opportunity, you should leave. I asked my dad, who has always been in my life, and a massive part of my world. He said, don’t take the job, it’ll come around again. He said, finish your school. And I took his advice.

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When Neighbours was first launched it was a flop. It got axed at Channel Seven in Australia. Twelve months later, I get a phone call from the original casting director saying, would you like to come back and audition for another character, called Scott Robinson? And the rest is history.

I went to a Catholic boys school but I mixed outside of my school circle, because a lot of my family were in the entertainment business. I was always a social character. I always engaged and was confident. I was also a surfer. I was inseparable from my best friend, a guy called James McGuire. I was probably experimenting with drinking and a bit of weed. Not overtly, and not in a mad way, but I remember those Saturday nights, trying to get into nightclubs to have a drink when I was underage.

I’ve always been close to my dad. My parents separated when I was five, and my dad got custody of me. It was quite unique for a male to get custody in the early 1970s. So my dad was really my life. He brought me up in a caring and sharing way. He was never really that strict. I mean, he was an actor; he was more worried about himself a lot of the time. But no, he was a great dad, and we were sort of best friends, brothers, really. And I owe a lot to that relationship. He’s been the only constant in my life. 

I loved every minute of Neighbours. It was fantastic. I was young, it was the dream job. I was in my home town. I didn’t have to move. I was on the cusp of something extraordinary though I didn’t know that at the time. I just immersed myself in the work, creating each scene, each episode, making the character believable. I had a great work ethic. But why wouldn’t I? I was living every 19-year-old’s dream. I didn’t get into acting to become famous though. That was just a byproduct of being an actor. 

Kylie [Minogue, with whom he had a three-year relationship] and I played brother and sister in 1980 in a different TV show. So when she came on set in Neighbours in mid-1986 she reminded me of that experience we’d had together. It didn’t really trigger anything at the time, but the more I look back at it, I mean, I don’t know about destiny or things being meant to be, but put it this way, it enabled us to sort of break the ice. That chemistry we created had its roots in our past. 

• Jason Donovan on how Kylie inspired his pop career and Joseph opened the door to the stage
• How Neighbours changed the world
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Was she my first love? Probably. And it was not an easy break-up. She and I were connected personally and professionally, it’s a very difficult relationship to escape. And not only that, we were in everyone’s living room across the world. It’s quite a unique position. I still have a great relationship with her and I’ve got so much respect and time and admiration for her as a person, and I think she would recognise the same in me. But our lives went in different ways. You know, as humans, we move in different ways and different shapes, different times and different lives.

Kylie and I spent a lot of time in cars, going up and down coastal roads and putting on records and cassettes. And you know, she would always sing. And I would sing. And when she got approached to record, I was competitive. I could see her having this opportunity. I’d always sung, but never really sort of taken it that seriously. But I wanted some of what she was getting! I was jealous I suppose. Then those opportunities started to flesh out for me as well. So I was like, right, well, why not? 

I think the 16-year-old me would never expect to be someone that moved to London, England. He’d expect to still be living in Melbourne. I didn’t really envisage this life of international travel. And also, I didn’t really set out to become a singer. That was unexpected. But as my dad said, versatility was important and I embraced that. And music is magic, you know? I mean, I grew up listening to everything from The Beatles to Bowie to Abba to Kiss to Midnight Oil and New Order. My taste in music has always been very eclectic. Hence why, in my music career, I’ve always been a little bit confused about which direction I should go in.

I decided to leave Neighbours because there were other opportunities available. I thought four or five years in a soap was probably about enough time. It was time to move on. I’d had a hit in the UK with Especially for You [a duet with Minogue which was a UK number one single in 1989]. The world was opening up for me. And I had a manager. I was starting to think internationally, not just Australia. I was offered a lot of films at that point. I was young, I had a certain look. I was capable. I had a lot of experience. There were some good film roles offered, but I was a bit cautious, I think, because I didn’t want to upset the music career I was having. Sometimes I do think that my life might have played out differently had I taken those roles. But it doesn’t bring me down. 

I didn’t drink until my mid-30s. My father loved to drink. He’s not an alcoholic, I’ll just be very clear about that. But I spent a lot of time with my dad, and when dad would drink, he would change. And I didn’t like that side of my dad. So I opted for smoking weed. And I think to suggest that one thing doesn’t lead to another is a little naive [he became a regular cocaine user in the 90s]. I was earning a lot of money at that time. And I’d worked extremely hard. I was ready to party. And that’s the bottom line. And it just sort of took hold. And I think ultimately, during what I call a very selfish period in the 90s, it was a kickback from that Peter Pan image that I had. I wanted to change the narrative. And maybe I thought I was cool. They were wasted years. But with the birth of my daughter I made a very clear decision to put that behind me.

I enjoyed fame initially. I don’t know many people that wouldn’t. Even Liam and Noel Gallagher talk about when they signed their first autograph. They’re two of the most down-to-earth, grounded people. But once I’d done Neighbours, I found it very claustrophobic. And I had an issue with a court case with The Face magazine [he sued The Face when they claimed he was homosexual]. The decision to sue is one I made and I have to ultimately take responsibility for it. My intentions were good. I was against the concept of outing people. It’s up to the individuals how they want to play out their sexuality, it’s a very personal decision. And The Face was suggesting I was lying about myself. I wasn’t. That’s the facts. It was never about sexuality. I was brought up in a very multicultural, multi-sexual environment.

If I could live one time in my life again it would be 1987, 88. I’ll tell you why it was special. It was just that everything was possible. There were no credit cards, there was no mortgage, there was no success to beat. No selfishness. It was a kind of innocence. I was in Australia, and I had a passion for what I was doing. Life was a beautiful blue sky and a great ocean with lines of waves. I can smell the salt now. Hey, that was fucking poetic, wasn’t it?

Jason Donovan is on his Doin’ Fine 25 tour now.

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