Lynne McGranger has spoken up about the day in 2019 when she found out her character on Home and Away was on the verge of being axed.
In her new memoir, Acting Up: Me, Myself, and Irene, the 68-year-old actress, who has portrayed Irene Roberts for almost 30 years, mused on the revelation.
According to News.com.au, an excerpt from the book describes how she learned she was almost fired from the programme during a live radio discussion with WSFM’s Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones in 2019.
Lynne remembered her astonishment when the radio hosts, evidently for the first time, brought the news to her notice.
Lynne stated, “I consider myself really fortunate to be able to say that I’ve gone to work every day feeling confident, proud, and secure in my position. That is, until I was interviewed on WSFM in 2019 by radio talents Jonesy and Amanda.”
The celebrity went on to say: “‘How does it feel to be the longest-running female cast member?’ she’s been asked for decades. ‘Do you still like being on the show?’ and ‘Do you still enjoy being on the show?’ I knew I could have this small talk in my sleep. I believe I was preparing breakfast at the same time as I was conversing.”
According to Lynne, the revelation came “totally out of the blue” when Jonesy said, “It’s incredible to think they nearly wrote you off in 2002.”
Lynne’s response was, “I’m sorry, what?”
Jonesy said, “Yeah, it’s on Wikipedia.”
While navigating the news, Lynne said that the producers planned to “write Irene out” since she “didn’t have someplace to go now that her kids were gone.”
Surprisingly, a new script writer named Coral Drouyn joined the show and was opposed to the concept, so she appealed with the producers to keep Lynne on the show, saying she had “great ideas” for Irene.
