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Reference > Erinsborough News > Goodbye Dan!

Dan Falzon leaves Ramsay Street to get stuck into some new projects!

At the tender age of 20, Neighbours star Dan Falzon is one of the longest-serving cast members of the hit Aussie soap. But his record run is all set to come to an end this month when Rick Alessi turns his back on both his girlfriend Cody and life in Ramsay Street.

“Rick heads off into the sunset like a true romantic hero – but without the girl! There’s a Lassiter’s in every capital city and Rick gets sent packing to Darwin,” laughs Dan, who actually quit the soap in Australia nine months ago.

After three years in Neighbours, Dan admits that leaving the show took a lot of courage since he has nothing but fond memories of his Ramsay Street days.

“Before I left I thought very hard about the future and what I’d do next,” he admits. “I had a phenomenal run on the show and leaving was a big decision to make but there comes a time when you know that it’s finally right.”

Not that Dan has been idle since bursting the soap bubble. He has been inundated with TV offers and recently presented The Big Breakfast on Channel Four. But despite his success on the small screen Dan has plans of his own.

“Presenting The Big Breakfast was the only job like that which interested me. It was fantastic to do but I decided it would be better to make my own programme with my own production company, Oxygen,” explains Dan. “We’re currently selling an idea to the Australian TV networks for a sports show so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’ll work out,” he adds. “There’s a lot of money in developing ideas for TV and fortunately we’ve got at least four good ideas!”

And if that wasn’t enough, Dan’s about to add yet another string to his bow. He is all set to launch a pop career with his band Milk. “I’ve been playing in the band for years so I thought it was about time I concentrated on it,” explains Dan. “Five years from now I’d really like to see us at the top of the charts.”

In the meantime, Dan’s legions of fans who are sadly counting down the days to his Neighbours departure need not despair. They’ll still be able to get a regular fix of their favourite star thanks to the November publication of Dan’s autobiographical My Diary, The Intimate Secrets of Dan Falzon.

“I’ve always kept a diary or jotted things down so that I’d remember them and this book is a compilation of all those different diary entries from my life,” explains Dan. “It’s all about growing up in Australia and working on Neighbours. It’s been a bit of an ordeal trying to get everything together because there’s over 20 years of stuff there, but I’m really proud of it.”

Dan admits that he just can’t wait until people get to read the no-holds-barred account of his life, even it if does mean laying himself open to public scrutiny.

“I didn’t write everything down, but I did write down some emotional stuff in my diary just to work out how I felt at the time,” admits Dan. “My privacy is about to be blown but I’ll save the ghosts for the second volume!” he chuckles.

This article originally appeared in Inside Soap magazine and was written by Richard Arnold

Article submitted by Steve