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Adam J. Harrington Joins General Hospital as a Recast John “Jagger” Cates: What Were You First Impressions?

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

In a major surprise, General Hospital had brought back the character of John “Jagger” Cates, played from 1992-1994 by none other than Antonio Sabato Jr.

Now, in 2024, GH has recast the role with Adam J. Harrington in the role as FBI agent, Cates. In story, on the February 2nd episode of the ABC daytime drama series, “Jagger” showed up in Port Charles at Bobbie’s and bumped into Carly (Laura Wright).

After explaining to her that he used to work at “Kelly’s” he goes inside. While there, he meets young Leo, and the series brings up Jagger’s history in that he also has an autistic son.  Later, “Jagger” speaks to Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) about how well his grown-up son is doing living on the spectrum.

Photo: ABC

Later, Cates runs into his old friend Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) when he is the FBI agent trying to bust the arms dealer who is selling WSB weapons. Anna recognizes him and says “Jagger!”. Could John be a new love interest for Anna?

Primetime fans will recognize Harrington, who has quite an impressive resume of roles on series such as: Bosch, Dexter, Queer as Folk, Smallville, the CSI frnachise Criminal Minds and Supernatural to name but a few.

Courtesy/ABC

Longtime GH fans recall that “Jagger” was the older brother to Stone Cates, who died of AIDS played by Michael Sutton.

Photo: ABC

When viewers last saw the character of Jagger back in 2008, it was on the primetime spinoff of General Hospital, GH: Night Shift where he had named his syoung on, Stone after his late brother, and moved to San Francisco with the boy after his diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Photo: IMDb

So, what were your first impressions of Adam J.Harrington as John “Jagger” Cates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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Where to start? I doubt anyone had a Jagger return on their GH bingo card.

1. Why did Leo say his last name was Falconeri? Continuity error? Come on Liz Korte – Leo proudly took the Q name when Ned adopted him. I realize they might have had Leo say that since Jagger would say he knows the Quartermaines. I wonder if ERS brought the name mishap up when filming.

2. I don’t know if there’s been such a major visual change in a character since Kassie DePaiva took over the role of Blair.

3. Took me a while to realize that Anna & Jagger had met. He’s a contemporary of her daughter which could make that potential pairing awkward. If he’s staying long-term, Maxie could be a good match. Even Jordan (don’t saddle her with once a quarter Brick). If he’s short term, he and Lois could be fun.

4. Scotty’s likely to get his feathers ruffled as Jagger and Karen didn’t end too well.

I agree with your comments. As for appearance, at the very least cast an actor with dark hair and eyes. Like they’ve done with the Nicholas recasts..And really, do we need more characters? There are so many talented actors on GH that don’t get enough screen time. Use what they have!

Say it again sister! GH has the some of the best actresses in daytime but more than half of them barely get a good storyline and yet they keep bringing on more actors. I love the characters of Laura, Anna, Alexis, Ava, Diane, Liesel, Sarah, Maxie and the list goes on. Give them a storyline. These actresses are kickass,. With that said I would have liked them to bring back Antonio Sabato, Jr to reprise the roll of Jagger. The recast of Nicholas has been awful. I miss Gloria Monty and Wendy Riche.

Also wondered about the Falconari thing. Either way , Leo was nerver a Falconari but used Jerome until Ned adopted him, right?

Actually Violet, Leo did go by Falconeri originally. Olivia and Ned (with Liesl’s help) convinced Julian that Leo died in childbirth. (Leo lived offscreen with BLQ in Brooklyn).

Boy, I’m really losing it. I’ve watched this SL from the beginning and don’t remember a word you said. Thanks for the info.

I barely remember that either but either way, Julian did find out Leo was alive, got visitation, and Leo loved him. Even Olivia thought Julian was a good father to Leo. But since she wanted to raise him with Ned, and it took them forever for her to even mention that Ned adopt him, Leo did go by Olivia’s last name, not Julian’s.

I’m willing to give this actor a chance. I prefer the original actor because that’s what I’m used to, but let’s see where this goes. I’m just glad they’re honoring the character’s history and not retconning it.

My first thought – GH will need a whole lot of references to Jagger’s grey hair – since all the fans are complaining that he is a BLOND.

I didn’t watch it back then. So what your all saying is moot to me.

Antonia Sabato Jr is drop dead gorgeous , you’ll have to google him 🙂 he was a great Jagger

He WAS gorgeous. Still good-looking but not like back in the day. The recast is great-looking, too. I think he would have made a great Jax recast if he could do an accent.

A Devil has a theory on this one, and admittedly, it’s way out of left field…..

Usually when they recast a character on soaps they make an effort to have at least a slight resemblance to the previous version. There of course have been exceptions. OLTL never aired in Hell, but I have heard the “Asian Blair” story. And even on GH… there really wasn’t much of a resemblance between Greg Vaughn’s version of Lucky Spencer, and Jonathan Jacksons original.

But NuJagger not only has zero resemblance to the original, he DOES have a resemblance to an older character currently in Port Charles. With the blonde hair & pony tail, he looks very much like a younger version of Cyrus the Virus!

Is GH about to mess with 30 years of history here, and say that Jagger – and also, the late Stone Cates – are the sons of Cyrus?? This would create an improbable link between Cyrus’s backstory and Sonny’s, given how close he was to Stone. Robin Scorpio would also be linked to that story, though Hell knows if we will ever see her again. This would also make NuJagger the nephew of Laura, and this happens on the very day that she’s mourning the apparent “loss” of Spencer and crying to Kevin about how her entire family seems to be “fading away”.

Am I reading too much into this, or do y’all see what a Devil sees here?

Oh… and how exactly would Anna recognize Jagger anyway? She was “dead” when he was originally in Port Charles in the early 1990s, and he was long gone by the time she came back. I don’t even remember them crossing paths on “Night Shift 2”, though Anna did make appearances on that season, due to Robert Scorpio’s health crisis in that season.

Didn’t think of the resemblance, but now that you mentioned it. Luckily we only have another month of C&D to deal with. I don’t know if they’d mess with the Stone lineage (sacrosanct to GH history). Would Cyrus abandon 3 kids?

My first gumption was Jagger is somehow Dex’s father.

Apparently Jagger did cross paths with Anna sometime on Night Shift. But for her to be the first one in PC to recognize him? Sonny, Scotty or Lois maybe.

Dex is probably too old to be Jagger’s son. Though if you add on the appropriate number of years, give or take some mild SORASing, the recently departed “Adam” character (played by Sonny’s real life kid, Josh Benard) would have been perfect for the age Jagger’s kid Stone 2.0 would be now. Too bad they already gave Adam a father on the show. I suppose they could do a rewrite where Jagger gave his kid up for adoption, but that seems unlikely since he was probably around 5 or 6 years old when he appeared on Night Shift with the original Jagger.

Josh Benard has wrapped his stint as Adam. For the foreseeable future, the character won’t be seen. Up to Pat & Liz if they want to pursue that character further.

Dex isn’t too old; he’s in his 20s and Jagger would be about 51, 52.

Yeah, but Jagger only had one son (Stone II) and he was about 5 or 6 years old on the 2nd season of Night Shift. Dex would probably have to be in his late 20’s if we’re to believe his story of being a military combat veteran, and then working for mercenary “private contractors” for a while, before Mikey hired him.

What if Dex was adopted by his abusive family? Jagger & Karen gave him up for adoption a year after they left PC. Would make him Scotty’s grandson.

Or, more likely, Dex has no connection to anyone on the canvas.

Unless he has more than one son, he acted like he only had one when he told Olivia that ” his grown son” was also on the Spectrum as Leo which he was so good with. Hope he doesn’t turn out to be a bad guy.

I think the writers blew the whole arms storyline with John Brennan and decided to wrap it up. Albeit sloppy, by having John a.k.a. Jagger show up with his hatred of Sonny and a cover of being an FBI agent he could have numerous ways of getting around any security anyone has. I don’t believe Dex is his son, and I certainly don’t buy brick and his suspicions of Dex. I definitely don’t believe Jason was the shooter because number one he never misses and number two. He certainly wouldn’t miss two targets in that small an area. Either way it looks like GH is about to destroy yet. Another legacy character.

You also forgot about Jacob Young who also doesn’t look like either of the other portrayers. I think you’re reading WAY too much into it. GH simply has no interest in bringing back crazy Sabato Jr and went with the actor they thought was best. The character hasn’t been seen for 30 years on the daytime version. Who cares if he looks different.

Recasts who look nothing like the original are sadly not uncommon. But recasts who look a lot like another character on the show, that’s probably significant.

As for Jacob Young… yeah, I’m trying to forget all about him. Didn’t care for that bad interpretation of Lucky at all. Greg’s version of Lucky was almost entirely a different character from the original, but at least he played that character well. He also took over the character of Eric Brady so well that nobody even thinks about Jensen Ackles anymore (not that he cares, he’s done alright for himself… kept a show going for 15 years before the Warner/Discovery implosion killed the entire network that show was on)

I personally didn’t much care for Jacob Young’s interpretation of anyone.

I care!!! Bring Antonio back!!

What I think has nothing to do with the story and everything to do with Frank Valentini wanting to stick it to Sabato. When Ingo was ranting about being let go, and saying he was going to appeal the judge’s decision in his lawsuit, Sabato tweeted to Ingo that “Frank what’s-his-name” should be fired. So, lol, I’m thinking Frank went in the complete opposite direction to “erase” any previous thoughts of Sabata as Jagger and let this recast make the part his own… Just a thought…

Hopefully he is a short-tern return.
There’s really not much story for an FBI agent in PC—the police already do too little!
And I agree—he looks waaay too different from the original! It’s like they hired the guy and pulled a name from a hat of past characters and gave it to him. At least it was a man’s name!

How about the hired a guy with good looks charisma and perhaps the best actor that was up for the role….its been so long since the character has been on screen it may be very easy to adapt to him…..the Cyrus thing is way out in left field I would say….and FBI to add to the mix why not!!

Hiring an actor/producer/writer of this stature brings prestige and respect to daytime rather than hiring out of the same old “Soap” acting pool. I don’t know how they got a guy with such a resume.

So glad they did not rehire the talentless Trump supporting Sabato Junior!!

We have literally been BEGGING for Serena Baldwin to come back. No one asked for Jagger.

I think Serena Baldwin is wise to stay away, considering Scotty has had three “long lost children” come to town, and all three of them left in body bags. The first of those three being Karen Wexler, of course. Who was with the original Jagger Cates.

Too bad Antonio wasn’t playing the role again.. but will to give Adam Harrington a chance.

i love him

I remember I had a crush on Jagger(Antonio Sabato jr) he was it for me, but that was back then and now, well lets just say my crush is over but to the recasting since I no longer have a crush it really doesn’t matter to me, still I would of like to have seen Antonio again, but I guess just like Ingo Rademacher their political views is not very popular with disney owned ABC. so fat chance of Antonio or Ingo ever appearing on GH again.

Boy, Satan and OG are driving me crazy. I never knew Jagger or Stone but Cyrus being their dad is plausible. At this point if they say he fathered Steve Hardy, I’d probably believe it. I still think he was Austin’s father, with everything he claimed to have done for him. Why does his own mother hate him so much, does she know that maybe he’s abandoned her grandchildren, certainly not because he’s a criminal and only allows the one that brings her Hummingbird Cake to visit her? Oye, too much!

Violet – with comments like this – I appreciate you even more! Got a chuckle with the Steve Hardy comment.

Double chuckle! Sometimes I wish posts would state the year they started watching GH… It would help to understand some comments that make no sense or are just plain bizarre.

Brian, I realized after I posted that I’d goofed, saying ” fathered Steve Hardy”, with Steve being the elder and long dead, if that’s what you are referring to and of course it “made no sense and was bizarre” so excuse my senior moment, of which I have many, being over 90, my only excuse, and I started watching GH when they started, sorry don’t know the year.

Jagger? Seriously?? In order for a character with some GH history to be
believable,he/ she at,the very least, should have the same coloring…hair and eyes…this guy is the anti-Jagger. Sorry, but at least with the Lucky replacements they had the coloring…I mean how weird would it be for Billy Warlock cast as Lucky….or Vanessa Marcil cast as Carly… not even close. I just find it annoying that the writers have no regard for the original Jagger and all us diehard, longtime viewers

Well, since you brought it up, Warlock was nothing like Sean Kanan. And, Laura Wright shares little in common with the other 3 Carly’s

I wasn’t a fan of Billy Warlock’s A.J. and at least all the Carly’s had similar coloring…..but the contrast between Antonio Sabato Jr and Adam Harrington is glaring. Sorry, not even close. My other issue with Adam Harrington is he reminds me too much of the creepy murder on Criminal Minds, Season 8 Ep 22….it’s been years, but the minute I saw him he gave me an unsettled feeling and then it him me…he was a creepy creepy guy on Criminal Minds. He is obviously a good actor because I remembered that episode after all this time.

Good acting can make up for a lot so we’ll give him a little time.

The added benefit is the character has been off the canvas for decades. It’s the immediate recasts that are usually more jarring. As good as he was on SB and DAYS, Jed Allan never fit as Edward Quartermaine. Longtime ABC viewers will chuckle when mentioning “the real Greenlee” campaign when Rebecca Budig returned to the role.

Jed Allan as Edward had to be the worst casting ever. He was too tall, he had a full head of curly hair, and he was the same age as Alan & Tracy, who were supposed to be his children. Not to mention that whole ridiculous thing where he had the hots for crazy Heather Webber.

Thank Hell that mess didn’t last long. I didn’t think John Ingle was really a good fit as Mickey Horton on Days either, so it was better for everybody when he went back to GH.

I adored Jed Allan on SB, never saw him in role of E.Q. and to me Rebecca was the “real Michelle Bauer” on GL which was probably before your time.

Thank you sister!!! I just wrote two reviews of my own on here saying the same thing with anger!! This new jagger is NOT JAGGER. Not his looks, his acting nor his anything! No sexiness no nothing!!! The show is boring enough these days!!!! Bring sexy Antonio back as Jagger!!! Long time fan here. This-is a disgrace to us older fans. And they can bring back the original Lucky too.., just never again Greg Vaughn or that last guy…Jonathan Jackson needs to come back now.

Would love to see Jonathan Jackson, Vanessa Marcil and Nathan Parsons come back. I also dislike the Molly and Kristina recast. Nothing against the actress playing Kristina because i liked her on days.

Don’t like the new jagger Antonio Sabato is the only one who can play Jagger.

Agree. Exactly. I’m boycotting this dude until he’s gone and Antonio is back.

He looks nothing like the Jagger character . Blonde hair ? Bad recast

I know Antonio Sabato, Jr. but never saw him as Jagger but this guy is an arrogant jerk and if they plan on putting he and Anna together , would be a big mistake, rather have Valentin.

It would really be awkward for Anna to be with a guy who went to high school with her daughter, Robin.

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‘General Hospital’s’ Jonathan Bennett Receives 3 ‘Critics Choice Real TV Awards’ Nominations for Hallmark Series, ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’

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Many things are coming up roses for Jonathan Bennett! On the heels of the news that he is set to debut this month in the role of Joe Fitzpatrick on General Hospital, who is rumored to be a new love interest for Lucas Jones (Van Hansis), comes the news that Bennett’s reality series, Finding Mr. Christmas has received 3 nomination for the Critics Choice Real TV Awards.

Bennett’s Hallmark Channel series finds itself in tough competition alongside fellow nominees: RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV), Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix), Survivor 50 (CBS), Top Chef (Bravo) and The Traitors (Peacock). In addition, Jonathan himself is nominated for Best Show Host and the series participants as the Best Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series.

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) revealed the nominees for the eighth annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards on Thursday, which recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Winners will be announced online at CriticsChoice.com on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 9:00am PT/12:00pm ET.

Photo: Hallmark

Taking to his Instagram to celebrate the nominations, GH’s Bennett, enthused, “3 Critic Choice Nominations! I’m so proud of the FINDING MR CHRISTMAS and to be in the company of all the legends in all these categories is so surreal! Congrats to Hallmark Channel and to our nominated cast and nominated show and everyone who made this magical show possible. This is crazy! This gives FMC 6 Critics Choice nominations in 2 years. Not bad for a little show on Hallmark Channel. What are your thoughts on our show?” Jumping first into the comment thread was one of his new GH co-stars, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) who expressed, “Yeah buddy!!!🔥🔥”

In the series, Bennett, the host and co-creator spends eight weeks guiding 10 aspiring actors through a series of “festive face-offs” and acting challenges alongside actors like soap opera notables, Hunter King (ex-Summer, Y&R) and Alison Sweeney (Sami, DAYS). Along the way, they develop their skills and a bond with one another. The show, which is available on Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Plus, highlights LGBTQ+ representation with openly gay contestants vying to be the next Hallmark star.

It should be noted that Traitors received the most Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations with 6 nods, followed by Dancing with the Stars with 4.

Bennett is very familiar to daytime fans having started his career as JR Chandler on All My Children in 2000-2001, before landing the part of Aaron Samuels in the motion picture, Mean Girls in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan, which would become his breakout performance.

You can check out the full list of Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations here.

So, excited for Jonathan Bennett’s General Hospital debut this month? Have you ever watched Finding Mr. Christmas on Hallmark? Let us know via the comment section below.

 

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‘General Hospital’s’ Kelly Thiebaud on Britt and Cassius Sibling Drama, But Who Will Ultimately Blow His Cover?

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On the April 30 episode of General Hospital, Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) had some choice words and warning for her brother Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) who has been masquerading as his twin, the very dead, Nathan West.

As the story has unfolded, viewers learned that Britt knew all along that when “Nathan” showed up in Port Charles seemingly resurrected with a missing 7 years of his life unexplained, that Cassius was taking his place.

Now in developments on today’s GH, Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) is figuring out that this guy pretending to be Nathan is someone else, and Cassius learns from Britt, that Joss is not just a ditzy sorority girl as he claimed, but a WSB agent! The moment stuns Cassius. Are the walls about to close in on him and his charade?

Courtesy/ABC

Daytime Emmy winner, Kelly Thiebaud spoke to Soap Opera Digest, about the story point and getting the opportunity this time back at GH to work with Ryan Paevey, when she hadn’t had the chance to before.

BROTHERLY LOVE?

Thiebaud expressed on sharing scenes with Ryan Paevey, “It’s just been so wonderful to have him back and to actually work with him! When he first came onto the show (as Nathan at the end of 2013) I was kind of heading out — it was right towards the end of my contract, so we didn’t actually work together a ton. It’s been really refreshing and so much fun to really spend time together and get to know each other and work together. I think we have really great on-camera chemistry and banter with each other. I really enjoy working with him.”

With the stakes at an all-time, Thiebaud explained how she views her on-screen alter-ego’s involvement with her more hot-to-temper sibling and why Britt revealed the truth about Josslyn to him. “People finding out about Cassius would expose what she’s involved in and what she agreed to do,” explains Kelly “And now Josslyn is digging around, and she’s connected to Carly (Laura Wright) to Jason (Steve Burton) and that whole dynamic! It’s messy!”

BRITT’S MURKY FUTURE

Britt has currently also reached her breaking point with Jason being carted away by the WSB, Rocco (Finn Carr), the child she gave birth to, shooting Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) to protect her and Jason, Marco (Adrian Anchondo) being killed after trying to help her, and Cullum holding over her head getting her Huntington’s disease medication to control her symptoms, while blackmailing her into finishing the research on her father, Cesar Faison’s, final project. Thiebaud summed it up best for Britt right now, sharing, “It’s been a really tough time for her.”

So, who do you think will be the person to blow Cassius’ cover? Will it be Britt herself? Josslyn? Liesl? Brennan? Nina? Lulu? Rocco, Maxie, Cullum or someone else? Let us know your pick in the comment section.

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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Michael Reveals His Plan to Set Up Chase and Willow to Have an Affair

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After the Wednesday, April 29 episode of General Hospital, it’s clear outside interference and other circumstances are set to blow Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn’s (Amanda Setton) marriage sky high, as Michael (Rory Gibson) reveals his plans to entrap Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and use her relationship with Chase to do it!

In story, Michael dropped by unexpectedly to Carly’s (Laura Wright). A plotting Michael reveals his plan to nudge Willow and Chase into having an affair. Michael hopes it would create both a political and personal scandal, where Willow would lose her seat in congress. In the scenario, she would be having an affair with her ex-husband, while taking care of her supposed disabled husband, Drew (Cameron Mathison), who cannot speak and is confined to a wheelchair, which in turn will look horrible for Willow’s character.

Carly asked does he really want to destroy his cousin, Brook Lynn’s life in the process? Michael goes in on Chase’s holier than thou attitude, and says he is going to set-up the circumstances that would lead Chase and Willow to betray their spouses, and hit the sheets together. Michael swears to Carly what the two of them do is up to them, but he’s going to go on the offense with this.

MICHAEL HAS BACK-UP

Later, Jacinda (Paige Herschell) is talking with Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) at Crimson and how much she dislikes Willow because of what she has done to Michael. Just then, Michael shows up and tells Jacinda privately, he’s figured out a way to fight Willow. Looks like Jacinda might work with Michael to bring down Willow and use Chase as the person to do it!

At the hospital, Lucas (Van Hansis) tells Josslyn (Eden McCoy) that Carly is cheating on Jack, but he doesn’t know with who. Josslyn suddenly flashes back to the moment she found her mother harboring a fugitive, Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart), in her attic, and as figured out that her mother is sleeping with him. She heads out.

Courtesy/ABC

BRENNAN IS ABOUT TO LEARN ABOUT CARLY

Next thing you know, Josslyn has showed up inside Jack’s (Chris McKenna) hotel room at the Metro Court and when he enters his room, he is shocked to find her there. He lays into her for not keeping his distance and that Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) will have no problem killing her if he knows she’s WSB. Josslyn fires back that he is only concerned about that because his relationship with her mother depends on her being safe. But then, she lays the boom, and tells Jack, Well, you’re too late. You already lost her.”

LULU GETS A GLIMPSE OF CASSIUS’ TEMPER

In addition, Lulu (Alexa Havins) sees a different side of “Nathan.” Since she is unaware that the man before her is his twin, Cassius Fasion (Ryan Paevey), he tells her that Rocco (Finn Carr) blabbed that he shot Cullum to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), and now he thinks they should send him away to stop him from talking to everyone else. This concerns Lulu, who rails at Nathan for telling her what to do with her son and that she isn’t going to abandon him. With “Nathan’s” outburst at her on the matter, will she finally get a clue this is not the man she thinks it is?

So, what do you think of Michael’s plan to push Willow and Chase into an affair? Will it work or backfire? Do you think Joss will reveal that Valentin is the man sleeping with Carly to Brennan, which will send him in a rage? Will Lulu continue to be clueless about “Nathan?” Weigh-in via the comment section below. But first, take a look at the GH video tease for today’s April 30 episode.

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