Neighbours star Damien Richardson has bizarrely found himself at the centre of the wild protests that have ripped through Melbourne - addressing a crowd of jeering demonstrators and even negotiating with cops.
The soap star, best known as Gary Canning on the international hit soap, took centre stage negotiating an exit strategy with Victoria Police on behalf of hundreds of feral protesters who took over the Victoria's shrine to its war dead on Wednesday.
The ex-boyfriend of TV and radio presenter Fifi Box, 52, was seen crying out to police that the 400 people who were bizarrely camping out at the sacred site wanted to leave with 'dignity'.
Video showed the well-known actor - who featured on the show from 2014 to 2020 - rambling at police officers about debts.
Richardson said: 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, you end up so far in debt that you don't know what to do, so what have I got to lose? Eventually what have I got to lose?
'These people will leave, but we want to leave with dignity the way we came, we want to leave down the centre here the way we came.'
Former Neighbours actor Damien Richardson is pictured negotiating on behalf of the demonstrators with police
Richardson played Gary Canning from 2014 to 2020 on the hit Australian TV soap Neighbours (picture above with ex-girlfriend, Fifi Box)
The police officer responded by suggesting there was only one 'safe' way to exit the park.
'I've made a safe path here on the right,' the officer insisted. 'The reason why I can't take you through the centre is we've got too much infrastructure set up.'
Richardson offered to 'walk past the infrastructure' insisting 'that's what these guys want'.
Visibly frustrated with the negotiation, he told the officer: 'So now I'm going to go back there and say that to them and they'll feel that that is a weakening in position.'
A separate clip then showed Richardson with a megaphone relaying police demands to protesters.
'I've just spoken to superintendent Brett Hinton… he is saying he will grant us free passage as long as we don't cause any disturbance... and he asked us to separate into small groups,' he says to the rowdy crowd who erupted with furious jeers.
'I told them that, that would be your response and that there
