Jason Donovan harrowing overdose at Kylie's birthday and corset that saved him
Eighties heartthrob Jason Donovan has been raking leaves in his garden and enjoying it way too much for a man who’s announcing a new 31-date British tour in 2025.
Called Doin’ Fine 25, it will pick up from his Doin’ Fine 90 tour back when he was the pop star who had teenage girls falling at his feet like… well, leaves. He shot to fame playing Scott from Neighbours, and was boyfriend of Charlene – Kylie Minogue – for real. He rocked a spiky mullet and his duet with Kylie, Especially For You, did not budge from No1 for 14 weeks. He followed it up with some solo chart-toppers, selling 3 million records.
Now he is 55. Still blond. Still boyish. But a different man. “Is there a manual for becoming Jason Donovan 1989?” he laughs. “It was exhilarating, crazy, chaotic and hard work sometimes. The good news is I’m still here in 2023, Jason Donovan, Doin’ Fine!” It wasn’t a foregone conclusion that he would be. By 1995 and his own admission, he was deep in a cocaine addiction. At Kate Moss’s 21st birthday bash in Los Angeles, he overdosed. He was saved by Dr Frank N. Furter. For three years after the overdose, he wore Furter’s corset on a Rocky Horror Picture Show tour, and fell for its stage manager Angela Malloch, who became his wife. When she fell pregnant, she made it clear it was the drugs or a life with her and their baby.
Jason found fame in Neighbours, where he was married to Kylie Minogue (AFP)
Jason and Kylie later in life“You’ve got to want to change,” says Jason. “With the birth of Jemma came the moment. And I seized it. I look back on that period as a life experience. I don’t regret. But I’m not proud of those moments. You move on.” He is kind to that young Jason. “Mental health wasn’t a thing then,” he explains. “Nobody cared about that or how you were coping with success. It’s good we ask those questions now.”
Jemma, 23, his eldest of three children, followed him into acting and is now in Hollyoaks after starring in Neighbours. Jason admits the soap changed his life: “It’s given me a fantastic life. I will forever be in debt to that moment. But I put a lot of work into it. It owes me a little bit too.”
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Matt Willis (left), Myleene Klass and Jason Donovan during filming of ITV's 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' (PA)Does he worry that young stars now might also fall prey to pressures of fame? You educate your children to make the right choices, he says. “Then ultimately it’s up to them. I’m here to be what my father and my family were to me.” Pop queen Kylie, his 55-year-old ex, is currently wowing audiences with a hit Las Vegas residency. So has Jason got his tickets yet? “I don’t have plans to see it but it’s going to be a great show,” he says. “Kylie’s hardworking, she’s got a great personality and a wonderful catalogue. I wish her all the success.”
It is the UK, not the US, that is Jason’s adopted home. His dad was born here and Jason has a British passport. He was even one of the highlights of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee party when he revived his hit 1990s stage role as Joseph, complete with Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
“I’ve lived longer here than Australia,” Jason says. “I have three children educated in this country and I’m married to Ang and that seals the deal. But I am Australian and very proud of my heritage.” Jason has been on most major reality shows, like Dancing on Ice and I’m a Celeb.
Jason Donovan in concert at Quadrant Park in Bootle on May 1, 1989 (Mirrorpix)But it’s Strictly, on which he came third with Kristina Rihanoff in 2011, that he got the most out of. “Strictly is where I wanted to be. Dancing was never my strength but I decided it was the right time. I don’t think anything captures the emotional connection that show has to this country. And you walk away with a skill.”
But he laughs: “My days of reality shows are done. I’m too busy concentrating on 2025.” He’s also returning to Australia this year to rejoin the Rocky Horror 50th anniversary tour for six months – a year after he went back to film what was meant to be the final episode of Neighbours.
He reunited with Kylie (Charlene) and Hollywood star Guy Pearce (Mike Young) for last April’s shoot, only for Amazon to renew the 36-year-old soap. “To be part of that show that was so important to so many people, it felt the right thing to do – to pay respect to what it did to our careers.
Jason and his wife Angela Malloch at Christopher Biggins' 60th birthday party (James Curley/REX/Shutterstock)
Jason has three kids born and educated in the UK (Alan Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)“It was a great day but it probably meant a lot more to the viewers than it does to us because so much time has passed. Kylie and myself were in it four or five years but Neighbours went for 36. A lot of other people were involved.” Jason stays in touch with Kylie and Guy on WhatsApp
“We all have a lot of love and respect for each other and are very grateful for what we had,” Jason says. “But a lot of stuff has happened in my life that is more important than just Neighbours.” Like the new tour. What can fans expect? “A lot of me,” he grins. “I’m trying to think of everything that has happened in 35 years, be more far-reaching with songs I want to play from my career.”
He says he has learned that success means different things to different people. What has kept him “on track” is: “Feeling good on the inside, a healthy mind, a healthy body.” He lists his family as his top achievement, then “my work ethic, my ability to communicate with everyone – I don’t judge, and my incredible leaf-blowing skills!”
Health and happiness are vital to Jason. He adds: “You can’t take it with you, mate. That’s my philosophy.” And the reason, no doubt, why he is quite literally, Doin’ Fine.
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- The Doin’ Fine 25 Tour kicks off in February 2025. Tickets on sale now. Visit jasondonovan.com
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