Aaron Johnson Gallery: Billy , The Original Boy Next Door

Billy , The Orginal Boy Next Door

Sam ( Curse that waist coat !)

Thinking about Sumptuous Sam's debut on Glee , I thought where have I seen those bee stung lips , that ball swallowing mouth and that artfully styled floppy fringe looks before ?. Then just like that , Billy from top Australian drama Neighbours popped into my head . I think I had a crush on Billy played by Jesse Spencer straight away .Like most teen dreamboats it took a couple of years before Billy could loose his shirt , much to my disappointment and I would have imagined , Billy's kindly fusspot neighbour Harold (whose home later would become a refuge for wayward lost boys who were all incredibly good looking , but more on Harold's Harem in a another post .)

In between waiting go shirtless , Billy gained a pet sheep called Cassie and a shorter bangtastic hairstyle. Then came a new storyline for Billy , unfortunately he had asthma , so to help him it was decided that Billy take up swimming , I can't actually remember that storyline , but I can remember a later one involving Ann (Billy's real true love ) who had taken up art and of course wanted to draw Billy for her life drawing ( Back in real life I was doing life drawing at art college and all I'll say is our models had more of a Francis Bacon aesthetic , how I wish like Ann I'd a had a Billy to draw)

Speedo Billy !

Ann reassured Billy that it was all innocent ( of course Ann we believe you ! ) and he was in his 'bathers' how quaint . As Ann began to sketch the young Aussie Adonis there was a knock on the door , it was Harold that paragon of virtue , who was returning from walking the dog as you do . As a panicked Billy valiantly tried to pull up his pants , sadly falling over at the very moment Harold walked in , affording Harold a spectacular view indeed . Unlike me Harold was not impressed with Billy in a speedo , with his pants around his ankles .

Harold may not have been impressed with Speedo Billy , but the show runners were , and just like that Billy or ' Bill ' as he liked to be called now as he was all grown up , was installed at the local swimming pool as a dream of a teen life guard . This new storyline afforded us with so many scenes of Billy / Bill in a Speedo, the likes of which have seldom been seen since .

My friend told me that Jansen was a keen swimmer in real life and that producers sometimes use actors own real life experiences as potential stories , at the time I thought how thoughtful of the writers and producer's to do that , now like recently when 'The Wizards of Waverly Place' writers tried to get Dreamy David Henrie into a speedo , I think you have to admire the writers creativity for giving the viewers what they want and what maybe the writers wish for themselves .

Jessie during his tenure at Neighbours of course become a pin up pretty much from the get go , so lets now enjoy a few of those very special pinups , that back then could be found on a bedroom wall near you .