An unguarded Stefan Dennis chats about new directions, past flings and playing a bad boy

You're what some might call a Neighbours veteran. After all this time, are you still enjoying playing Paul Robinson?
I love it. But I have to admit, it has been a difficult transition going from "evil Paul" to this "new age Paul". It's actually really confusing because the producers talk about "new Paul", and I'll be like, "Is that new Paul, evil Paul, or new Paul, nice guy Paul?"

Are you disappointed that he's so, well, nice now?
Playing evil Paul (was great). He was such a good character to play and it was such fun. I got to kiss so many good-looking women! There's something about an evil one-legged man - he's obviously very attractive to the ladies! But when they said they wanted to stop making Paul so evil, I understood completely. Let's face it: it was all becoming a bit Dallas. As an actor, I prefered playing evil Paul but, at the end of the day, I have to do what's put in front of me.

Do you think he might turn nasty again?
It's interesting you should say that. I got new scripts the other day and it actually points towards that. I said to the writers, "Look, what we have to realise is that the audience loves Paul being evil. They don't like him being nice anymore." I find that really bizarre... but I kind of understand it because there are a lot of nice characters on the show so they need to have a villian.

It's interesting times for Neighbours at the moment. How do you feel about the direction it's taking?
I don't know. Are you asking the right person? I obviously have my own opinion about what the show is and could be. I think, overall, it's the right way to go. But to compete with shows like Home And Away, I think it's the wrong way to go. (Before the overhaul, the storylines) were becoming a bit unrealistic. For most of us, it was certainly exciting and fun to play, but silly stuff was happening. And now they've realised that you can only do that for so long before the audience goes, "Come on!" So we keep getting the phrase "bringing it back to the heartland." I think they're trying to bring it back to where it was in the late '80s, which is very sensible.

Let's talk about the early days. Everyone still wants to know what it was like.
It was the same as it is now!

Really?
Well, yes and no. We were actors on a very successful, tiny TV show in Melbourne. I suppose we weren't aware of the success until later.

... when everything just exploded.
I don't know if you're aware of what Beatlemania was like, but that was literally what was going on. I think the culmination came in 1988 when we did the Royal Command Performance in London. The entire cast went over to the UK and we had to be shipped around in buses - with bodyguards. And the screaming! Oh my God! We couldn't understand it. We were like, "We're just actors from Melbourne. Don't get excited." We weren't prepared for what happened to us in the UK. And sadly, there were so many stories...

In the papers?
The tabloid press over there are ferocious. They just don't care. I know I shouldn't be speaking this way about them because they're my bread and butter, but they tried to destroy me and they tries to destroy all of us. It's like, "They're up there; now let's bring them down."

What exactly did they do?
The lengths they went to, planting kiss-and-tell stories... I had a dispute with one newspaper which went on for years. Eventually my lawyer, who'd been fighting for me for five years, said, "Stefan, walk away from it." And I was like, "But I'm in the right." The stupid thing was, they did this story about me and I wasn't even in the country at the time they claimed! So because of this, I don't have the best respect for the press over there.

I suppose there was no precedent for the kind of fame you guys were coping with?
No, because no one else had been that big. And I really can't think of anyone since who's become as big as we were.

And you were all so young...
Yeah, young and stupid. And completely unprepared for the onslaught. No one sat us down and told us, "When you get to the UK, this is how you should behave." So consequently, even Kylie was bombarded. She was fortunate that she had some very savvy people around her and that's why, to this day, she's still squeaky clean.

Squeaky clean, huh? So you never had a fling with Miss Minogue?
No! I think she was probably the only one I wasn't with... did I just say that out loud? It's weird because I think I'm the only guy in the world who Kylie doesn't do it for.

So who else were you with back in the day?
I'm not saying! I believe I had a reputation, let's just say that. Put it this way, some of them would surprise you!

Ooh... Mrs Mangel?
No! I didn't go for older women. (laughs)

No one still on the show?
Well, it was fairly well publicised that I was with Gayle Blakeney (who played Christina Alessi). That was one... I'll let you keep guessing on the others.

Were you with her twin, Gillian?
Not telling!

Classic. But seriously, your life was really in the spotlight back then. Would you say that the kids coming up through Neighbours now are more aware of how things are?
Yeah, probably. Now for example, we have a UK publicist here who handles all the UK stuff. She's on top of everything that's happening and readies people who want to go over for holidays or work - as will the older members of the show who've been back and forth a number of times. We say, "Look, be prepared for such and such." It's nowhere near as hysterical but, yes, they still get bombarded - especially the new heart-throbs.

Do you dispense advice to some of the younger cast members?
I suppose I do give them some career advice. Like with Pippa Black, she was my protégé, basically. I took her aside and said, "Tell me if I'm overstepping it with my advice," and she was like, "No, anything you can tell me is great." But I don't need to anymore. I think Pippa's very good - I say she's going to be the next Nicole Kidman... and not just because she looks a bit like her!

What about romantic storylines for Paul? What's coming up?
Paul and Jane Hall's character, Rebecca: I think that's going to be a good marriage... not in a literal sense. Actually, I was thinking last night that it's probably going to be inevitable in the not-too-distant future that the writers say, "Right, we're going to have to marry Paul and Rebecca off." But I'm going to go against that. I think this should be a relationship that's strung out for a long time. That way the audience gets to a point where they say, "Oh, I wish they'd just get married", rather than it just becoming another wedding. I remember in the old days, a wedding, a birth or a death were huge things.

Like Charlene and Scott's wedding...
Yes. And I would like that to happen again.

Speaking of weddings, you married a woman... called Gail!
And wait for it: one of my sons is called Cameron and the other is called Declan! Jane's character's son in the show is Declan and my character's son is called Cameron!

How funny! After all this time on the show, you must be a walking Neighbours encyclopaedia!
Yeah, a little bit. But, of course, there's a gap that I've missed. And the funny thing is that people come up to me and ask me what's happening on air, and I don't know because we shoot five months in advance!

Let's talk about your music. Have you kept your old records?
I hate the songs! Apart from the cynics - and that's probably almost everybody - I was the person who hated those songs the most! I liked the second single ("This Love Affair"), which never saw the light of day. Well, it did, but it bombed.

What's next for you? Any plans to leave the show again?
If my wife has her way, I'll die on this show because, as she says, "You have children to feed and educate!" I have to say there was a time - the last time I was here - when that would have been a hideous thought! I was like, "I'm an actor, darling. I have to do real work." Now it doesn't bother me. I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth!