Australian singers Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan are to be reunited on TV for the final of talent show The X Factor.

The former couple, who rose to fame playing lovers Charlene and Scott on the soap Neighbours, will sing with the contestants on this weekend’s programme on ITV1.

An Eighties institution, the pair had matching blonde locks and recorded a hit single together - Especially For You - before going their separate ways. They have rarely been seen together in recent years, although Donovan did film a clip for Minogue’s recent TV special.

Minogue will duet with Scottish 18-year-old Leon Jackson, who is mentored by her sister, X Factor judge Dannii. It will be Jackson’s second superstar encounter in a fortnight. Last week Michael Buble invited him on stage to sing the hit Home to a packed audience at Wembley.

Donovan is to sing with the cheesy brother-sister duo Same Difference. The saccharine Sean and Sarah Smith made judge Simon Cowell cringe when he first met them, but after being assigned to mentor the pair the music mogul became their biggest champion.

Opera singer Rhydian Roberts, also coached by Minogue, misses out on dueting with a soap-star-turned singer but, a proud Welsh man, will be happy to hear he has been paired with Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins.

Dannii Minogue will be hoping her pop star sister will help her act win the show. New to the programme, the former singer has been consistently criticised by long-time judge Louis Walsh. The music manager has pointed out her lack of hit singles and questioned her judgement while the cameras rolled.

But Minogue has had the last laugh. She has two contestants competing in the final while Walsh’s final act, Nikki Evans, was voted off the show last week.

Judge Sharon Osbourne has faired even worse. One of her contestants, Emily Nakanda, had to withdraw from the show after she was caught on video assaulting another a girl. Another of her acts was removed on the first week and her final contestant only made it to week five.

Minogue’s acts will be competing against Cowell’s Same Difference but according to bookmakers the music mogul’s duo is unlikely to win. William Hill has Roberts as the favourite, with Jackson a close second.

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010