Anne Charleston AKA Madge from Neighbours has had a letter published in today's UK Daily Mail (15th Feb) in which she defends Kylie and - frankly - does her proud Her letter was written in reference to this article that appeared in the paper a couple of weeks ago. I have typed out the letter and will scan it in later this evening (assuming nobody beats me to it!):

 

My Kylie is more than just a little battler

 

Why did Amanda Platell feel the need to temper her praise of Kylie Minogue (Mail) with disparagement of her talent and appearance?

Kylie played the role of my daughter in Neighbours and while a great deal of the material we had to work with was unchallenging, on the occasions when she was given scenes of some substance to play, she delivered performances of great depth and sensitivity – and this from a 17-year-old, just out of school.

As for her singing voice, she doesn’t claim to be Dame Nellie Melba, she’s a pop singer and all-round entertainer and, as such, performs as well as or better than others of that genre.

Ms Platell’s observation that Kylie was “not pretty enough to be one of lunchtime drama’s femme fatales†is ludicrous. Admittedly, our lighting on Neighbours left a lot to be desired, but despite that, the girl never looked less than gorgeous – and appears only to have improved with the years.

I agree with many of Amanda Platell’s comments: Kylie is very human, has never lost her grip on reality, and the dignity and bravery with which she dealt with breast cancer and now the break-up of what was clearly an important relationship is inspirational.

But she is also a very talented performer. She has worked hard to hone and develop that talent over the years, and I find her demotion to the level of “little Aussie battler†offensive and unjust.

 

ANNE CHARLESTON,

Shrule, Co Galway.

 

Well done Anne for this and I agree with her.

Anne Charleston is a legend - her appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcock's this Wednesday was proof of that, she certainly more than held her own with Simon Amstell, something that Preston (Ordinary Boys) failed to do miserably.

Yeah I like Anne she seems to have a great sense of humour about herself which i like alot