Valance glad to leave the Neighbours' neighbourhood

Holly Valance says she is relieved to be leaving Neighbours because she was worried about becoming typecast.

The actress will film her final scenes as Flick Scully in the Australian soap in August.

She releases her debut single today, with a raunchy video accompanying the song.

She says she had been working on material for her debut album for nearly two years to prepare for her pop career.

"Doing Neighbours has been fantastic fun. It was my first big break but after three years in the show I felt that I needed a change," says Holly.

"You have to be aware of staying too long in a show like Neighbours. You get to feel too comfortable which is great, but you can get trapped if you become identified with one character. I never intended to stay for a long time.

"I have always enjoyed singing. For a long time I just saw it as a hobby and didn't think anybody would take me seriously. But I have been working on material for an album over the last two years."

In the video for Kiss Kiss, Holly wears a flesh-coloured body stocking and gyrates with a group of male dancers.

She said: "I did do the video to shock people. I wanted to appear as somebody who was totally different to my TV character. I wanted to break away from my image in the show.

"My mum and dad just love it. I think they were pretty wild when they were younger, so it's difficult to shock them. The only thing is they keep showing the video to all their neighbours. Every time I come home it seems there is somebody else around watching it."