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Brad Bell Gives The Scoop on B&B's Same-Sex Romance featuring Joanna Johnson & Crystal Chappell!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

The head honcho of The Bold and the Beautiful, Brad Bell chatted with TV Guide to give some of his thought process and a preview of what is to come,  when he embarks on the show’s first lesbian romance which will feature Joanna Johnson as Karen and Crystal Chappell as Danielle.   From the looks of it, Brad intends on showing a well-rounded relationship between the two women, who raised a daughter together, Caroline .   So, who or what will be a sticking point in their relationship once the truth comes out to others on the canvas?  Looks like Karen’s bro, Bill Spencer Jr. (Don Diamont), may not do well with this info!   Look for Johnson’s  return to B&B on May 16th and Chappell follows and debuts on May 17th!

Here are a few excerpts from the piece with Bell below!

Photo Credit: Lesley Bohm

Brad on not making the same mistakes Guiding Light did with Olivia (Chappell) and Natalia, where the gals pinky and forehead touched, but never were allowed to kiss! “Karen and Danielle are a modern married couple, so why wouldn’t they kiss? We plan to discuss the real issues, present some prejudices, and try to get people to move forward in their thinking, instead of backward. I want to do this story because I listen to all the political debates on the subject of same-sex marriage and can’t believe I share the same country with people who think so differently about human rights. I want to put my hat in the ring and, hopefully, help change some thoughts and opinions on the issue.”

Brad on his decision to have Karen have a secret that she is a lesbian after all these years:  “Once we decided to bring Karen’s daughter, Caroline, onto the show, the question naturally arose, “Who is the father? Why doesn’t she seem to have one?” I started thinking about all the story possibilities and decided, “Why not give her two mothers?” Everyone on the show has a mother and father and that’s getting a little dull. So I talked to Joanna Johnson and asked if she’d be okay with this story and she was very excited. When it came to casting Karen’s partner, I thought immediately of Crystal Chappell. She was at the top of my list. I called her, she was interested, so here we are. She’s a great actress and such a good kisser.”

Brad on why it is a secret to Karen’s family, if she has been living openly gay and it’s 2012:  “This sort of thing is a big issue for the Spencer men, and Karen just didn’t want any negativity from her brother. We’ll find out that she got enough of that from her [late] father, Bill Spencer Sr., who knew about her lifestyle and was very against her saying anything about it. He forbade her to bring it into her business life at Spencer Publications, the company that bore his fine name. But Karen will handle her brother in her own way. The reveal will be fun and it will be serious. Karen’s [sexuality] is obvious to everyone but Bill. He’s never been particularly close to his sister or had much interest in her. [Laughs] He just doesn’t understand why she can’t seem to get a man.”

So after reading Brad’s comments, are you excited or trepidatious about the storyline? How do you feel about a Joanna Johnson and Crystal Chappell pairing?  Let us know

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I am excited for this storyline to play out. Can’t wait til it starts!

This does not appeal to me at all. I hope he does not make this front & center for months & months like he has done with Hope-seems like she’s been in every episode since the day they grew her up.

I guess CC is the go to actress when a soap needs an older lesbian character.

I feel that way too. And sadly, I don’t think her character will have much of a shelf life. Once all the obligatory PSA stuff is through, they won’t have much use left for her character.

i am very excited about the storyline. crystal chappell is a great actress. she is so pretty and exotic looking. i love her natural lips. no botox or facelifts for crystal chappel. hunter tylo looks like the joker. to much botox and enhancments. why did she ruin her beauty. she used to me so pretty. thats hollywood for you.

C*O*N*G*R*A*T*S to Brad, B&B and to Crystal & Joanna, i welcome their 1st lesbian storyline and know that Brad will explore this as it pertains to their lives today. Brilliant actresses will bring this story to life… same sex couples raising children has been part of our society for decades, we’ve survived many a fight and we’re still standing! Thank you again for telling our story…is it May 16th yet? ☮♡☺xo▽♀♀✩ツ♫

Should be good but then anything would be better than Steffy chasing Liam and Hope, Bill interering, and Taylor whining!

I wholeheartedly agree!

Crystal Chappell is an amazing actress and a wonderful person. I will watch any character she plays, but I am particularly excited about this storyline!

CC always a great actor.. excited about something different on B&B sure to add more diverse viewership.

This interview made the story sound very exciting – The family is moving to LA so it doesn’t sound short term. I suppose it will depend on audience reaction but I like all three of the actresses who make up this family. I have been enjoying Caroline so far – I like her romance with Thomas and I’m looking forward to how she explains her unusual family to her new boyfriend and her uncle. If well written this could be a very good story!

Olivia and Natalia were one of the only good things that Ellen Wheeler did for Guiding Light! But it was stupid to not have them make love or to even really kiss! Even Natalia slept with Frank and that’s not the love making the audience wanted to see! But I’m assuming it was CBS that was behind that.

Personally, I think it was Ellen Wheeler who decided that the audience did not need to see any kissing or even imply a sexual relationship between Olivia and Natalia. Other sites have reported that the then head of CBS daytime had no problem with same sex couples kissing. Luke and Noah kissed and so did Luke and Reid on ATWT. I think the Otalia fans keep blaming CBS and for whatever reason give Ellen Wheeler a pass which she does not deserve in my opinion.

Oh okay, my memory is a little hazy then lol. That makes sense since like you said CBS let Nuke kiss quite often and now they are letting B&B do more it seems.

Trust me, I am trying not to give Ellen Wheeler any more credit than I need to. I hate what she turned GL into and it makes me sick.

please give her good lines to work with because i don’t care what she play cc is a very good actress and when the writing is good she shines good luck cc

I love Crystal Chappell! I cant wait to see the storyline play out. She is awesome as an actress and as person. She is also a very hard
working dedicated woman. Im so excited for her!

Congrats to Crystal and I look forward to watching this storyline play out. It sounds interesting and I will be there on May 17 for her first appearance.

I look forward to Don Diamont’s scenes, but don’t know that I’m loving this storyline. Don’t know why it’s necessary to bring Caroline’s parents into the mix. There are other characters already on canvas who need a story (Thorne, Felicia, Pam, Donna, Justin, Oliver). Maybe Bill could set Karen up with Justin. Or try to. I don’t know.

Bradley Bell let’s rewrite history Karen Spencer romanced Thorne & Connor Davis years ago. Lost a baby with Connor Davis oh well she also never had a brother named Bill Spencer Jr. So if you are going to now make her a lesbian let us at least have a scene with Thorne I will love to see his reaction.

i am so excited for this storyline,crystal chappell is a beautiful very talented actress,i have always been a big fan of hers,i hated how they treated her over at dool,everyone loves kristian alfonso but crystal wins over her anyday for me.im so sick of steffy and liam looking at her the way he does,but claiming his undying love for hope,i really hope CRYSTAL CHAPPELL new storyline will have more storyline then seeing them every day.i love crystal,she’a amazing.

I’m so excited about B&B Gay storyline and even more excited Brad Bell chose Crystal Chappell to portray one of the lesbian characters. I will be watching B&B!!

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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Beyond the Gates

‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Mike Manning Lands Role in Indie Horror Feature ‘Deify’

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Mike Manning

While Smitty tries to hold the fort down in his marriage to congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon)  and their two teenaged children, Samantha (Najah Jackson) and Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) on Beyond the Gates, Emmy-winner Mike Manning has also landed another feature film role.

According to Deadline, Manning has joined the cast of Deify with 6 other new cast members for the indie psychological horror film starring Neal McDonough and Skeet Ulrich, which was previously announced last week.

Joining Manning as the latest cast addition are: Dennis Haysbert, Ashley Greene,  Casey Harnett, Kirk Avecdo, Anji White, anf Nicholas Chimera who’s directing the pic also has a part in the film.

WHAT’S THE STORY OF DEIFY?

Taking to his Instagram with the news of his casting, Manning shared, “A movie about a cult? What could possibly go wrong? Come for the enlightenment. Stay because they won’t let you leave. DEIFY is coming…”

The movie is currently shooting in Chicago and in story, “a cult leader is put on trial after causing his devoted followers to be burned alive. The film is inspired in part by events surrounding the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff between members of the Branch Davidians church and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one of the largest civilian firefights ever recorded on American soil.”

MIKE MANNING IS A DAYTIME EMMY NOMINEE

In addition, the multi-talented Manning is a producer on the feature. Previously, Mike was nominated last month in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. He previously won an Emmy for his role on The Bay and for being a producer on the digital drama.

Mike’s previous credits include the role of Charlie Dale on Days of Our Lives and the Manny on This Is Us, plus various primetime and screen credits.

So intrigued to find what role Mike will play in the upcoming horror/cult film, Deify? Enjoying him as Smitty on Beyond the Gates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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