General Hospital
Adam J. Harrington Joins General Hospital as a Recast John “Jagger” Cates: What Were You First Impressions?
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.
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.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sonny Tells Dante, “I Don’t Want a Son Like You,” While Michael Tells Brook Lynn to Bide Her Time Till Chase and Willow Have an Affair

On the Thursday, October 1 episode of General Hospital, both Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) had some things to say and what they had to say didn’t go over well with whom they were talking to!
Sonny had a confrontation with his son, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), while Michael leveled with Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) over Chase (Josh Swickard).
GH is setting up a scenario where everyone is going to make it look like Sonny was responsible for having Sidwell (Carlo Rota) beat up in Pentonville; while viewers already know Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) were behind it.

Courtesy/ABC
A VISIT WITH DAD
Now, Dante comes to Sonny’s house. He wants to know straight up from his dad if he ordered the attack at Pentonville. Sonny flatly denies any culpability or responsibility, but Dante refuses to believe him.
Dante informs Sonny he has video footage of Sully and Vito at the prison. Sonny explains to Dante he doesn’t know why Sully beat up both Curtis and Dante. Things escalated when Sonny was deeply hurt that Dante refused to believe him. Dante says he was disappointed that his father didn’t respect him enough to be truthful with him!
Sonny asks Dante to consider that he was being set up. He says all he did was to tell Vito to instruct Sully to keep a watchful eye on Sidwell, not to harm him. No matter what Sonny said, Dante continued hammering him with how he knew deep down, even though he said he left the mob, he had to finish off Sidwell for himself.
Next, Sonny explains everything he has ever done was to provide for and to protect his family. Dante fired back that he doesn’t want to deal anymore with Sonny’s half-baked truths. As the two men argue, Gio (Giovanni Mazza) shows up at Sonny’s front door and overhears Sonny losing his temper and shouting at Dante, “Get out of my house! I don’t want a son like you!” The scenes featured an excellent performance by Maurice Benard.

Courtesy/ABC
MICHAEL THE MANIPULATOR
While this is going down, outside the Quartermaine boathouse, Brook Lynn opens up to Michael about living at the Q’s with Chase being there, since he only came back due to legal advice from his lawyer, Monet Mitchell (Blythe Howard).
Brook Lynn questioned whether they should get legally separate. Michael insisted that would be a big mistake. When she asks why, Michael tells Brook Lynn to bide her time until Chase and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) have an affair; then she’d have full custody of Phoebe.
An angered Brook Lynn pushed Michael into the water and accuses him of moving Willow back into the gatehouse with intent on putting Chase and Willow in closer proximity and sacrificing Brook Lynn’s family in the process. As the two cousins bicker, Chase shows up asking Brook Lynn if she is OK. Michael punctuates their talk with “You know, I’m right.”
CURTIS FIGURES OUT A WAY TO GET OUT OF THE SLAMMER
At GH, Willow visits Curtis (Donnell Turner) in his hospital room. Curtis wants Willow to get him pardoned and keep him out of jail, and in return, he will help her nail Sonny.
Next, Willow tells Dr. Tristan Roberts (Dean Geyer) she wants Curtis held for observation for three more days. He agrees to do so under one condition, that she understands that he may need to call in a favor from a congresswoman.
So, what did you think of how Dante accused his father and refused to believe Sonny’s answers? Is this the end of their father and son relationship for good? Is Michael the most manipulative person of all, except for Willow? Do the two deserve each other? Do you want Chase and Willow to have an affair? And what of Curtis? Does he have many redeeming qualities left? Share your thoughts via the comment section, but first check out the talk Michael had with Brook Lynn.
General Hospital
GH Alum Tajh Bellow and Y&R Alum Loren Lott Star in New Tiktok and Microdrama ‘Love Island’ Spoof

Two soap opera alums very familiar to fans of General Hospital and The Young and the Restless are paired together in a new short-form digital series from none other than Issa Rae’s production entity HOORAE Digital.
Look for Tajh Bellow (ex-TJ Ashford, GH)) and Loren Lott (ex-Ana Hamilton, Y&R) as part of the cast of The Compatibility Experiment, premiering on October 14, 2026, exclusively on TikTok and its companion microdrama platform, PineDrama.
In the video teaser, it appears that Bellow and Lott play a couple, Kelvin and Camila, set in a Love Island reality show-esque environment trying to win the one million dollar cash prize, only what could go wrong?

Photo: HOORAE
The Compatibility Experiment loglines share that it brings a fast-paced, relationship-focused reality check—much like Love Island with a twist. The show takes a participant’s current relationship, introduces them to a potentially more compatible partner, and forces them to navigate the differences with life-changing money on the line.
The new series is part of a groundbreaking content deal between HOORAE Digital and TikTok to develop premium short-form storytelling. The ensemble cast also features; Ayona, Reggie Luck, JaNa Craig, Tosin Morohunfola, Jessica Jacoby, Georgia Warner, and Nick Cassidy.
General Hospital fans know Tajh Bellow for his performances as TJ Ashford, and who earned two Daytime Emmy nominations along the way during his run. Bellow took over the role in 2018 and last appeared on the ABC daytime drama series in December of 2024.
Loren Lott first appeared as Devon’s (Bryton James) sister Ana Hamilton on The Young and the Restless from 2018 to 2019; making a brief return in 2024. She has continued to perform on the stage and screen with recent credits including: Bel-Air, Cherish the Day, and All American: Homecoming.
Check out the trailer for The Compatibility Experiment below and let us know what you think of its concept and if you are glad to see Tajh and Loren again? Hoping they might return to daytime in their GH and Y&R roles at some point in the future? Weigh-in via the comment section.
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General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Ava and Drew Revealed to be Behind Framing Sonny for Sidwell’s Prison Beatdown

If you thought that the person responsible for the Pentonville brawl that saw Sidwell (Carlo Rota) and Curtis (Donnell Turner) taken to General Hospital was Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) or even Sidwell himself, you were dead wrong! On the Wednesday, September 30 episode of GH, it turned out that the culprits were actually Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison).
In story, Drew apparently bankrolled the attack on Sidwell and framing Sonny. He told Ava their planned worked (she came up with it!) but was horrified when Drew informed her that Curtis got caught in the crosshairs. Ava is visibly upset because of her longtime friendship with Curtis’ daughter, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali). Drew tried to make Ava see the bright side. Curtis was witness to it and his presence will cast doubt on Sonny’s claims to that he had gotten out of the mob and gone legit.
Later, Vito shows up at Drew’s. They informed him that his guy on the inside of the slammer made a big mistake by hurting their friend and ordered him to leave town.

Courtesy/ABC
BOATHOUSE BRAWL
In other major developments, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) and Rocco (Finn Carr) have a blow out fight as Danny blames his “brother” for the reason Charlotte was sent off to boarding school.
Rocco told off Danny for Charlotte’s (Bluesy Burke) reckless behavior and he explains he had to protect his sister. He went in on Danny saying that his mother Lulu (Alexa Havins) has been right to send Charlotte to boarding school and far away from Danny.
However, Rocco went a bit too far when he shouted, “And if your mom was alive, she would send you away too!” Next, Danny punched out Rocco, leading to a terrible brawl. An angered Danny yells at Rocco to, “Stay away from me and everyone in my family. And don’t you ever mention my mom again!” Danny storms off.

Courtesy/ABC
Now alone outside the boathouse, Rocco flashes back to his first kiss with Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarksi), hoping that his fight with Danny will not escalate and ruin their budding romance. Meanwhile, a bloodied-mouth Danny heads over to Sonny’s and Jason (Steve Burton) is there at the same time. He then admits that he has a bad fight with Rocco and they are both beaten up.
WILL SCOUT WISE UP?
At the end of the episode, Scout, who had a fight with Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) over Drew, and who keeps telling everyone how good a man her dad truly is, comes upon a suspicious scene.
Scout hides behind the wall outside Drew’s. She sees her dad, Ava and Vito talking. Next, Scout seems to overhear Vito assuring Drew and Ava that their business dealings are done, and he’ll be leaving Port Charles for good.
So, what did you think of the reveal that Ava and Drew were behind framing Sonny for the prison beatdown of Sidwell (and Curtis)? Do you think Danny and Rocco’s relationship can be repaired, or do you think the teenagers will continue to be at each other’s throats? Finally, do you hope Scout gets a clue and stops thinking her dad walks on air? Weigh-in via the comment section, but first check out how Ava and Drew conspired below.
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