Neighbours Spoilers: Val Lehman Arrives – Horror For Sheila Canning

Normally upbeat and feisty, Neighbours viewers will see a different side to Sheila Canning next week, after coming face to face with her childhood bully.

Sheila (Colette Mann) is forced to relive and confront some disturbing memories when she is visited by Joanne Schwartz (Val Lehman), who bullied her throughout high school.

The story arises when Shelia is rehearsing for a one-woman show. While she’s rehearsing Karl (Alan Fletcher) picks up a feeling that Sheila is very touchy about her teenage years, wanting to avoid any mention of them completely. After some typical Karl Kennedy probing and persuasion, Shelia opens up about Joanne. She reluctantly reveals that the two of them were once best friends, but Joanne later changed her attitude and began to bully Sheila so badly that she was forced to drop out of school.

Shelia is still visibly upset as she recalls the distressing experience, but granddaughter Xanthe (Lilly Van der Meer) suggests that meeting with Joanne could help evoke a sense of closure. Although Shelia understandably rejects the suggestion, Xanthe interferes by contacting Joanne herself. Not long after, she arrives in Erinsborough.

Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Joanne is still very much a mean girl – particularly when she cruelly reminds Sheila of her catastrophic attempt to take the stage in high school. Left embarrassed and downcast, Shelia decides she no longer has the confidence to perform in her one-woman show and so cancels it. Can her family and friends persuade her otherwise?

Rumours about this possible storyline began circulating in September, when Neighbours showrunners announced the casting of Val Lehman. This was much to the joy of Collette, as it will enable viewers to see a different side to the usually jokey and extroverted Sheila. Additionally, Collette had previously worked alongside Val 30 years ago on the popular Australian drama Prisoner: Cell Block H, so it was nice for the two to be working together again after all these years.

Speaking about joining Neighbours, Val said, “I was very surprised and delighted to receive the call about the role, something I thought would never happen. This is an interesting role because on Prisoner my character Bea played the protector of Collette’s Doreen character, whereas in this story, we are very much at odds.”

Will Sheila be able to find closure, or will meeting Joanne again make her childhood memories even more painful? Tune into Neighbours next week to watch the drama unfold!

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Amy Jane Elliott