Neighbours’ Kyle and Roxy exits confirmed by Colette Mann

Colette Mann, who played Sheila Canning on Neighbours from 2012 until 2022, has confirmed the upcoming exits of Kyle Canning and Roxy Willis, with the pair set to leave the show next month.

Sheila Canning has been a formidable presence on Ramsay Street since her arrival on Aussie screens in May 2012. However, she’s been notably absent in recent weeks, making a sudden departure from screens in a rare example of a long-term character having an off-screen exit.

Sheila’s off-screen exit saw her leave for New York to visit her daughter Naomi, whose partner was ill in hospital. Sheila jumped on a plane to join her in the states, initially temporarily, but extended her stay after Naomi’s partner died, leaving Naomi to parent three children.

Now, Colette Mann, who played Sheila, has revealed that she won’t be the only Canning to be leaving Erinsborough in the coming months, as the show edges towards its final episodes.

In an interview with Hospital Radio Reading’s Isolation Interviews, Colette revealed that Chris Milligan (Kyle Canning) and Zima Anderson (Roxy Willis) are also leaving the show in the near future, and that their exits played a part in her decision to leave Neighbours.

“Another reason for me wanting to leave is that Kyle and Roxy leave fairly shortly,” Collette told host Matthew Rolland. “And Richie playing Levi was up in the air as to whether he would stay on till June, and so I didn’t want to be there just being the woman behind the bar saying ‘What can I get you, love?”, with no family.

“And so, I thought ‘it’s time for me to go, and it’s best that I go first.'”

Fans have long been speculating that Chris Milligan would be departing the show, and it was widely believed that his character Kyle would be the death at the beginning of the 2022 season.

Instead, Kyle went on to make a full recovery from his testicular cancer diagnosis, and it ended up being Britney Barnes (Montana Cox) who died after a telegraph pole struck the Flamingo Bar.

However, the rumours of his exit continued, and it seems fans were right to be worried. Shortly before the news broke that Channel 5 would stop broadcasting Neighbours this summer, a decision which has led to the show being cancelled entirely, a number of the cast were spotted at what was widely believed to be a leaving party for actors Chris and Zima.

Viewers are currently watching newlyweds Kyle and Roxy try to get become parents, with Roxy wanting to get pregnant as soon as possible. With their exit rumoured to be just a month away, it seems that the characters may well have a happy ending in store.

Kyle and Roxy’s departure wasn’t the only reason for Colette’s departure, as she hinted that Neighbours’ gruelling schedules contributed to her decision to leave.

“I’ll be honest with you, like any job it wore me down,” Collette said. “And after 10 years, doing any job would wear you down, but just the hours and whatever were just getting to be too hard.”

When asked whether she would miss Sheila, the character she played for ten years, it was a resounding “no”.

Laughing, Colette said, “the fans take it so personally when you leave, and it’s a job. You leave any job. You know, if I worked in a bank and I left, they wouldn’t be so upset.

“I got to the point where she couldn’t do anything else, and I was just saying the same thing week in, week out. I was doing the same storylines just with slightly different people, and – I’m not complaining, I had a fantastic ten years in the show – but I just suddenly get to the end of it and think ‘I think i’ve done it all, I don’t think there’s anything else I can do,’ and that’s how I felt with Sheila.”

She also revealed that she’s happy with her character’s sudden exit.

“The fans seemed to think I needed to get into that dreaded taxi on Ramsay Street, and I didn’t want that, so I was very happy the way it happened.”

Discussing her favourite thing about being a part of Neighbours, Colette said: “Well, I loved my family, and I loved working with people like Chris Milligan and Damien Richardson, and Morgana O’Reilly, and then of course of late, Richie Morris, and then just towards the end of my time, Roxy Willis, which is Zima Anderson [who] came into the family as being married to Kyle.

“I was really lucky that everybody who came into my family, we got on really well with, and I was lucky that I got really good actors to work with.

“That was the joy of turning up to work every day, seeing those people.”

Colette also revealed that she isn’t an avid Neighbours viewer, and won’t be watching it until the very end.

“I don’t watch it every night now,” she revealed. “I used to, but I don’t. I watch it every now and again if Richie [Morris] texts me and says ‘I want you to watch tonight,’ or whatever, I’ll watch it, but no, I won’t watch it till the end.”

Kyle and Roxy’s departure is expected to air on UK screens in mid-April.

The departure of Sheila, Kyle and Roxy leaves relative newcomer Levi as the only remaining Canning on the show, and the only remaining resident of No. 26 Ramsay Street.

This has led to speculation as to who will move into No. 26, assuming that Levi doesn’t intend on staying there on his own.

As we discussed in our recent Neighbours Arrivals and Departures article, there is speculation that the Rodwell family – Sergeant Andrew Rodwell (Lloyd Will), wife Wendy (Candice Leask) and daughter Sadie (Emerald Chan) – will be moving to the street.

With only around 5 months left until the show’s final episode airs on UK screens, it’s likely that if the Rodwells are set to call Ramsay Street home, that the move will be happening sooner rather than later.