Neighbours Spoilers – Shane and Dipi’s son Jay arrives in Erinsborough

Next month, the mysterious Jay Rebecchi finally turns up in Erinsborough, 3 years after his parents moved to the Melbourne suburb. Could he help bring an end to Dipi and Pierce’s affair, and reunite his parents?

Read on for this significant Neighbours spoiler, set to air in Australia in one month’s time.

Shane (Nicholas Coghlan) and Dipi (Sharon Johal) arrived in Erinsborough in 2017, with daughters Yashvi (Olivia Junkeer) and Kersha (Vani Dhir), and Dipi’s sister Mishti (Scarlet Vas). Yet from day one there was always one family member missing – their middle son, Jay, who we soon learnt was away at a boarding school in Sydney.

While they’ve made multiple trips to the city to visit him, and more recently Kirsha, who’s also moved to a Sydney-based school, Jay has yet to pay his parents a visit in the Melbourne suburbs.

This week, a leaked script has made its way online, and suggest that Jay is finally paying a visit to Erinsborough, and is set to arrive in just a few weeks’ time.

Two photos of a leaked script recently made their way online, in which dialogue of Jay’s first scene is clearly shown. He arrives at Number 30 completely unannounced, taking Shane and Dipi by surprise.

 

 

The script is from episode 8494, which is due to air in Australia on Friday 13th November, and in the UK three weeks later on Friday 4th December.

The scene implies that Dipi has moved out of Number 30, suggesting her and Shane’s marriage continues to deteriorate over the next few weeks. She has returned to Number 30 to grab some extra clothes, and seemingly tries to sneak out of the house unseen, but is startled when Shane appears from the sunroom.

Shane is initially pleased to see her, hoping she’s come home after getting his text. However, when he spots her bag of clothes, he’s instantly deflated and realises that she was planning on leaving again.

It’s unclear whether Shane knows about Dipi and Pierce’s affair at this point – a storyline which is just beginning in the UK, but which is currently in full flow on Australian screens.

The signs point to no, as Shane wants them to talk through their issues and doesn’t seem angry at her past behaviour. As she goes to leave, he says “I’m ready to listen and you’re not making any effort to work things out“, implying to us that Dipi has moved out but hasn’t fully explained to him her reasoning.

 

Although there are pages missing from the script, the next leaked scene shows that Jay arrives as they’re in the middle of their argument, as the pair of them apologise to him for what he walked in on.

“You shouldn’t have had to see any of that“, says Shane, but it seems like Jay is neither surprised nor phased by his parents’ argument.

The script implies that Jay has a level of cool confidence which acts as a calming influence on his riled up parents. The script notes read “Jay’s calm and smooth, never doubting his ability to make a bad situation better.”

He tells them “Don’t sweat it. I know you’re working through some stuff“, suggesting he turns up in Ramsay Street after hearing about his parents’ recent marital issues, and perhaps wants to help them through their problems.

The character also has a cocky charm about him, as seen when Toadie comes in carrying his bags. As Toadie tells him that he came to pick him up from the airport, not carry his bags, Jay quips “And yet here we are“, which the notes imply is said “with a charming smile.”

Will Jay’s calm demeanour be enough to cool his parents disagreements? Clearly they’re going to have to spend more time together now their only son is in town, so will it make them re-ignite their feelings for each other, or will the extra pressure drive them to breaking point?

Jay is set to be played by young actor Dhruv Malge, who has previously starred in crime thriller The Final Foray, and TV comedy Utopia, and a number of musicals including Greece and Avenue Q.

Although Dhruv’s Instagram profile is only a matter of days old, he has already been followed by Sharon Johal (Dipi), Georgie Stone (Mackenzie) and Benny Turland (Hendrix Grayson), making it seem highly likely he’s the actor set to make his Neighbours debut as Jay. As well as following all three of them back, he’s also following the Neighbours Instagram account.

According to his profile on starnow.co.uk, as well as acting, Dhruv is also a model, dancer, choreographer and singer.

He also featured in a family violence prevention campaign produced for the City of Greater Dandenong in support of White Ribbon Day, which you can view below.

While at this point it seems like he’s appearing in a guest capacity (signalled by the G next to his name in the scripts above), a number of other characters have started off as guests and later changed to a full-time role.

Jay’s arrival in Erinsborough has been hotly anticipated since the rest of the Rebecchi clan first arrived back in 2017. A number of cast members have over the years hinted that he’ll eventually turn up, with Nicholas Coghlan telling the Radio Times last July that “There is still talk of him being introduced, so he’s got to appear at some time surely.”

Talking about how he’d like to see the character’s personality, Nicholas said “I think a bright, young, male energy would be really good in that house.” He points out that Shane is dominated by the women in the family, and wants someone who can bring out the silliness in Shane and Toadie.

Unfortunately for Shane, it’s unlikely that there’s many happy ahead, with the fallout of Dipi and Pierce’s affair set to continue for months to come. Perhaps Jay’s silliness helps him get through the difficult times he’s sure to face.

“They could bring in a bit of comedy and tap into that playfulness of the Rebecchis. I’m in need of some of that!”

Dhruv Malge makes his debut apparence as Jay Rebecchi on Australian screens on Friday 13th November, and in the UK three weeks later on Friday 4th December.