become as popular as he has." At the time it was noted that recasts have occurred repeatedly throughout the history of the programme, creator of Neighbours, Reg Watson previously explained why he thought recasts were quintessential in the show saying: "I always believed it was a pity, when actors chose to leave a serial that the character should go as well. A lot of time and money is invested in the character so we decided to recast if the character was important to the future of the storyline and the show itself." It was this explanation that backed up Declan's recast. Sorensen also explained that the hand-over process would be simple adding: "It'll be nothing over the top. I'm Declan one day and the next day it's Erin. Pretty simple. That's how it works, I can't continue, so Erin comes in and picks up the baton. I think it's easier for the viewers to accept when it's a simple change-over." The recast had also upset fans of the character under the portrayal of Sorensen, in response to this he said: "Erin will come in and play his version of Declan, he can't play it exactly as I do and I and the producers would never expect him to do it any other way. All I can say to the Declan supporters is that Erin will be terrific, give him a go, you'll be surprised." Sorensen also felt that it would be strange to see Declan played by Mullally, saying: "Of course it will be strange to see someone playing the part that I started and basically created, it's been my life. It's not just being Declan at the studio, I get 'Declan' on the street, at restaurants, everywhere. Declan is me so to hand it over is difficult." He also felt humble that viewers thought the character would not be the same played by another actor, adding: "I'm very humbled that a lot of people think that – I can understand why fans would feel that way because I starred as Declan for the past three years and that's all anyone knows." Mullally later stated he did not know he was auditioning for a recast, he also stated that he wasn't sure if he could be successful in the role to start with. He also watched hours of footage of previous episodes to get an idea of how to portray