Libby Kennedy (also Kennedy-Fitzgerald) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Kym Valentine.

Valentine temporarily left Neighbours in 2010 due to ill health and, after returning to filming briefly, took indefinite leave the following year.

Valentine reprised the role for a three-week guest appearance in June 2014, and for the show's then final episode on 28 July 2022.

[1] They felt that they needed to take the show back to its roots when it seemed that all the houses on Ramsay Street were populated with misfits and distant relatives.

[4] She admitted that leaving her family behind in Sydney was the hardest part about joining the show, but she "seized" the role of Libby and was determined to be a success.

"[2] Discussing her longevity in 2000, Valentine explained that she stayed with Neighbours as it provided her with work, and she felt she was still learning and being challenged by the role.

"[5] On Valentine's return to the Neighbours set in January 2011, she decided to cut her long hair off in favour of a short hairstyle.

[14] In 2007, Neighbours suffered a decline in ratings and plans were made to take storylines "back to basics", so they would be less controversial and focus more on relationships and family dynamics.

[21] However, as the character was involved in too many storylines, executive producer Susan Bower realised that she could not be suddenly written out of the show and she took the decision to temporarily recast the role of Libby.

During an interview, Susan Bower said that there is nothing interesting in watching an on-screen marriage that is working and she highlighted her plans for the couple; "It's a very, very slow, long burn and there's some wonderful humour and the fact there's the Brady Bunch a bit.

[28] Alan Fletcher said he was pleased at the way the surrogacy scenes were handled and he added "The notion of a mother being a surrogate for their daughter is something you can't pretend is not controversial.

[10] In July of that year, she spent a week in hospital with a lung problem and in December she checked herself into a clinic as she was suffering from exhaustion.

[31] Susan Bower said Valentine had the support of the production team and her character would be written out of the show in a "nice and neat way.

[33] On 11 March 2014, it was announced that Valentine would be returning to Neighbours as part of a storyline to celebrate 20 years of Karl and Susan Kennedy.

She told Sarah Thomas from The Sydney Morning Herald, "I'm really looking forward to catching up with old friends at Neighbours as well as getting to know many of the new cast.

Drew Kirk (Dan Paris) moves to the town shortly after Darren leaves and falls in love with Libby.

Libby is initially oblivious to Drew's love for her and she begins dating her university lecturer, Mike Healy (Andrew Blackman).

They begin dating, but Libby calls the relationship off when Dan's estranged wife, Samantha (Simone Buchanan), arrives in town.

Dan leaves Ramsay Street without saying goodbye, to Libby's shock and confusion, and she and Ben move back in with Susan and Karl.

Libby meets Doug Harris (Mahesh Jadu) at Ben's dance class and they initially get off to a bad start, but begin dating.

Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) plays a recording of a conversation between Steph and Dan over the radio where she confesses he is the actual father of her child, which Libby hears.

After Lyn Scully (Janet Andrewartha) reveals her concerns over Steph's mental state, Libby decides to go and find her.

Karl and Susan discover that Libby is prepared to lie about Steph's state of mind at the time of the accident and they beg her to tell the truth.

Libby realises that Karl and Susan want her to come back home permanently and she is angry when she learns that they have tried to trick her.

Eight years later, Libby sends Toadie a video message congratulating him on his wedding to Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden).

[44] In January 2009, Ruth Deller, of television website Lowculture included Libby in her monthly list of best and worst soap characters.

[47] To celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary Sky, a British satellite broadcasting company profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history.

Then she got all curvy sexy, and as an adult Libby has seen three of the hottest Ds in the Greater Erinsborough area: Darren, Drew and Dan.

Journalist Adam Beresford branded her "the classic girl next door" type who was "principled, driven and kinda self-righteous.

[53] In 2015, a Herald Sun reporter included Libby and Steph's bike accident in their "Neighbours' 30 most memorable moments" feature.