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Australian actress Lynne McGranger has revealed why she left Home and Away - plus who she is still in touch with. Lynne played the iconic Irene Roberts on the popular Australian soap for over 30 years. In fact, she was the longest serving soap actress in Australia. However, she left Summer Bay earlier this year, much to the sadness of fans. Irene, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, opted to leave the sunny Australian town to travel the world before her disease progressed. Now, Lynne has explained why she left. "To be honest Patrick, it was coming for a while," she said on the Late Late Show on RTÉ. "I was exhausted, everyone goes ' you look so well now', that's what giving up Home and Away does to you," she joked. "It's hard work, it's great fun," she said, referring to filming the soap. "I was working 14 hour days, I thought 'I'm too old for this s***," she joked. "It was hard to walk away from my friends, but they are still there. No one's gone anywhere. Still great mates with Ada [Nicodemou, who plays Leah], Shane [Withington, who plays John], with Emily [Symons, who plays Marilyn], and Alf of course, lovely Ray [Meagher]." Lynne says she needed to get back to doing theatre work, which she has. She is still recognised as Irene when she's out and about, even though her hair isn't read any more. "I might be able to hide, but I just open my gob and everyone goes 'oh I know that voice'." Lynne thanked her Irish fans for their dedication to the soap over the years, revealing that she's often visited Ireland, with fond memories of a trip to Connemara she took with her daughter when she was younger.
