Jackie Woodburn on Neighbours and Mischa Barton on OC

Mischa Barton Is Joining ‘Neighbours’ In The TV Crossover Of A Lifetime

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The queen of odd TV crossovers, otherwise known as Mischa Barton, has announced that she’s moving to Ramsay Street to join the Neighbours reboot.

Barton made a name for herself as the iconic character of Marissa Cooper way back yonder in The O.C and then peculiarly became a cast member of The Hills: New Beginnings in 2019. And now she is having a career pivot towards Australian TV, reportedly playing an American character called Reece on the popular soap.

“I’m excited to be part of this iconic show’s next chapter, and I am really looking forward to being back in Australia — a place I know and love,” she said. “I think the character of Reece is going to be a great role for me to explore and play with.”

Neighbours’ executive producer, Jason Herbison, also chimed in about the totally random inclusion of Marissa Barton to the cast.

“We are beyond excited to have an actor of Mischa’s calibre join us for this exciting new chapter. Mischa’s character is dynamic and unpredictable and will have an instant presence on Ramsay Street. Our loyal viewers are going to love her, locally and abroad,” he said.

Neighbours was abruptly canned last year after it experienced plummeting ratings and was dropped by its UK network Channel 5 as a result. The ensuing series finale was a whole spectacle, with many famous former cast members, like Kylie Minogue, Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia and even Margot Robbie, popping up in the ep.

THEN after Neighbours was officially put to rest, Amazon’s streaming service Freevee swooped in and gave some of the newly-unemployed cast members their jobs back with the news that they’d be reviving the show.

At the time, Lauren Anderson, the head of AVOD original content and programming at Amazon Studios, said, “With the power of streaming, we’re able to offer a catalogue of thousands of Neighbours episodes for new audiences to discover this legendary series and current fans to relive their favourite moments.”

The nostalgic news of Barton’s casting in Neighbours comes just a day after the filming of the new (?) season kicked off. While we don’t know much about her role in the soap yet, we do know that it’s only a guest appearance. Here’s hoping the reason for her Neighbour’s departure is a lot less sinister than Marissa’s sad demise on The O.C.

I’m still not over it!