General Hospital
Bradford Anderson Addresses GH Fans On Last Minute Spinelli Switch: "My Plea To You Is To Be Compassionate, Understanding & Appreciative Of Whatever Decisions They Made."
Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com
GH fan favorite, Bradford Anderson took to his facebook page in the last 24 hours to address some of the outcry and negativity from fans of the ABC soap opeea who were disheartened to learn that Anderson could not play upcoming episodes as the beloved character of Spinelli, and thus was replaced by another talented actor, former DAYS star, Blake Berris.
Anderson clearly relates in his post that an opportunity arose for him to appear on one of his all time favorite dramas Homeland, and it was his decision to back out of taping GH at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict that quickly arouse. He askes GH fans to support General Hospital’s casting decision and get behind Berris.
Here is what Bradford shared: “Hey all! So I’m appearing in a couple episodes of the upcoming season of Homeland on Showtime! It’s a show that I’ve watched and loved since it began, so to be working on it is pretty exciting. The unfortunate part is that it conflicted with some episodes of GH that I was supposed to do, and I had to back out of those episodes. To make it even worse, it all happened last minute. I put GH in a very difficult position and for that I am incredibly sorry.
GH took whatever steps they needed to proceed without me. My plea to you is to be compassionate, understanding, and appreciative of whatever decisions they made. If anything looks or sounds different than you’re used to, understand that it’s because of a decision that I made. The situation was created by ME.
I know some might rush to negativity, but I’d like to urge everyone to think about how unique our genre is, and how soaps truly embody the spirit of ‘the show must go on’. To give you an idea of hard GH had to work, they learned on a Friday that I wouldn’t be there to film on Monday. Imagine having to find an actor to play Spin in an important storyline, OVER A WEEKEND. And just wait til you see who they found… The perfect choice. I for one can’t wait to watch. I’d like to apologize to everyone at GH and thank them for being understanding of my predicament. SO thank you all for your continued support of me, for sending as much positivity to GH and it’s actors…and for WATCHING!! Love and thanks, Bradford.”
So, what did you think of Anderson’s hearfelt post? Can you now support GH’s decision on casting Berris, who deserves a shot at filling in for Anderson? Comment below.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Jonathan Bennett Receives 3 ‘Critics Choice Real TV Awards’ Nominations for Hallmark Series, ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’
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
‘General Hospital’s’ Kelly Thiebaud on Britt and Cassius Sibling Drama, But Who Will Ultimately Blow His Cover?
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.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Michael Reveals His Plan to Set Up Chase and Willow to Have an Affair
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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What an awesome guy. I appreciate him stepping up like that. I’ve watched GH for 39 years. Recasting Spinelli will not changed that. Good luck on Homeland!
What a classy response – it just makes me love and appreciate Bradford more.
I hope he enjoys his stint on Homeland and will be back at GH in the future.
Blake is only filling in for Bradford so that’s not to say Bradford won’t be playing Spinelli the next time they want to bring the character back for a short stint. It really isn’t a big deal anyway since Bradford wasn’t under contract to the show.
Best of luck to Bradford on the new part. You will be missed, but no one should take issue with you pursuing new roles. I just hope you are available to return for the next round!
Wonder if he’ll return as Spinelli in the future.
i supported gh’s decision from the beginning because blake berris is a phenomenal actor – since bradford was not available i believe that gh did what they had to do to keep the show moving…………………..jmo
Well said Bradford! However the actor selected is taller and very handsome missing your perfectly timed quirks! No disrespect intended to you or Blake!
Classy!
I know fans can often be mean about recasts, even temporary ones. But I think what Bradford needs to understand is that many fans are frustrated by GH’s poor plotting and writing and are also still upset by the recent recast of Nickolas. It’s not that the actor who replaced Tyler wasn’t good, it’s that they chose to kill off a legacy character with a recast. And then Nickolas didn’t get so much as a funeral or a flashback sequence while we’ve been mourning Morgan for three months now. Spinelli appears only sporadically on GH. It’s silly to recast him. If Spinelli is being brought on for his computer wiz skills, then Blake could have been introduced as a friend and colleague of Spinelli’s who is helping out while Spinelli is on holiday with Ellie and Georgie. Seems to me it would not require a major rewrite to do that. If Spinellinis being brought back as moral support for one of his friends then, let’s face it, having Blake play out those emotional scenes – no matter how good an actor he is – won’t have nearly the same impact.
To be fair here’s a recast that did work for me: Molly as Maxie. But that’s a permanent character whose portrayer went out unexpectedly and I could see where major rewrites would have been near impossible. Plus Molly dis a really, really good job with the character.
Remember it is more than a rewrite here– if he told them Friday, when filming was to start Monday– that is all the behind the scenes blocking, the staging , the camera shots, the lighting design– the shooting schedule– all of it either had to be tossed or redone– which would be A MAJOR expense–those types of things cannot be changed so easily, and overtime it might of cost while they did, boy oh boy– it was simply cheaper to hire someone to come in and do the scenes rather than scrap everything. People think it is just about changing some words in the script, but there so much more to production than that. If they had a month notice perhaps they would have time to change stuff around, but honestly, a weekend notice– what choice did he give them. Fans sometimes forget it is called show business– because it is a business– this isn’t about him, this is about costs and what was the cheapest solution to his sudden conflict– which was cause by him ditching his GH gig for a better gig–
Well said Mary SF!!! Kudos to Blake to be able to memorize his lines in extreme short notice!
So the fact that GH had a weekend to deal with this means nothing? Re-writing IS a big deal.
Class act.
It’s sad how some ‘fans’ behaved but oh well. I think the actor stepping in is all kinds of awesome and I will enjoy his interpretation of the role.
I don’t understand not giving someone a chance. Steve Burton isn’t coming back to GH and Michelle Stafford isn’t going back to Y&R. They’ve moved on and if you love those shows then you need to support them
Very well said Tomas and I agree with you 100%…THANK YOU to GH, Bradford and Blake. I want to support ALL our actors, actress, executive producers, writers along with ALL behind the scenes employees of ALL our soaps, I APPRECIATE ALL that you do.
Funny you should bring up Michelle Stafford. She’s the reason I came t came to GH and I’m happy I did. I watched Y&R for 40 years and stopped after what I felt was poor treatment of my favs.. Love GH and Michelle, Billy, Maura, Roger and I finally got to see what Maurice was all about
Recasts are part of the game on daytime dramas, be they short term or permanent. To see any upset or disappointment is disappointing to me. We would not have continuing drama day to day on television without recasts. And sometimes even characters associated with particular actors need to be recast so our stories can continue. I would rather have a recast than to have something not proceed correctly. I cite a lack of a Ridge Forrester recast when Stephanie Forrester died as it never rang true that he would not be home. On GH, Spinelli is a recurring character. Love Mr. Anderson but we can move forward without him for his latest story arc.
It’s great that Bradford came out to explain what happened,and I love him for that,and what he said about the actor temporarily taking on his character..Very classy.I will look forward to Bradfords return to TH ,and hope he enjoys his time also on Homeland..Maybe I will try to catch him there also.He is an amazing actor,and I know he will be great ..
<3 Bradford. I wish you every happiness and am glad you got to be on Homeland, though I'll miss you as Spinelli.
Classy and kind. Love him!
Homeland !? way to go !! I love that show too. As for the argument for temp replacement I get both sides but I’m more against them I always say if they have to scramble why not just fill the air time with extended scenes with other characters .
Wonderful of you to reach out to us….Good luck on your new character! You’ll hit it out of the ballpark as always!! And a sweet Congratulations to you! Happy new Year!!
Are GH fans going to be upset now that Bradford chose another show over GH???
Wasn’t Bradford dropped to recurring status before he made decision to leave the show? Isn’t this what happens when an actor is off contract??
I’m very excited about the recast myself!!! Things happen for a reason and I believe Blake will be a great Spinnelli!
What a class act! I too enjoy Homeland, and will enjoy seeing his performance
What a classy response and nice to see it cleared up.
Sadly somehow there are still many people being negative and blaming GH and ABC for this choice when it was clearly out of their control
Blake Berris is sooooo good,people will LOVE him and I hope he stays on the show in a different role.
Folks need to understand that ABC/GH didnt create this mess, BA did,even if unintentional, and if I had the opportunity to do something that I’ve always wanted to do, I would have done the same.So Good for BA but I will enjoy Blake too because I know what he brings to the table as an actor
I didn’t understand the spew over it to begin with..
It’s only for the month of Jan. so probably 6 episoides ..
It will be fun to see a different Spin …
Great response.
WHAT A STANDUP COOL GUY…WISH YOU LUCK AND HOPE YOU WILL RETURN THE NEXT TIME GH CALLS…..
Does not matter. GH has become so violent and so depressing that I , finally, had enough.
If I canceled on a work commitment on a Friday for a Monday gig, I would not expect to work there again. We all have to make tough decisions in life, but honoring your commitments is how you maintain a professional reputation. Hopefully this won’t ruin his career and we will see him on GH again. I like the actor and the role is quirky and fun.
At least he was honest and I would have done the same thing…Homeland is a huge deal and will give him exposure with a different type audience. KUDOS to him and best of luck. Blake will fill in and I’m sure Bradford will be back someday I hope
What a class act! I bet this happens more than we know. BA taking the time to address the fans in this way really stands heads and shoulders above. Kudos to him!
Im so excited over this recast. I hope we get to see Spinelly as a major role on GH, like Kevin from Y&R. Lets give the new guy a chance. We will be surprised im sure.
Blake Berris was progressive on DAYS as a psycho but this is definitely a change for him.
We have had to endure these types of changes on GH before, remember Maxie, Nicholas, etc? Congrats to him and hoping if GH decides to bring Spinelli back in the future he will be available. Also remember he has a dynamic singing voice and could be doing Broadway. 🙂
If BA doesn’t want a contract with GH (which I fully understand) I hope they offer a contract to Blake Berris. Maxie and Spinelli were magic. She’s been back burned of late
Nick Stabile and Molly Burnett were very good as temporary recasts, some rejected the idea at the start and didn’t want to accept the change, but it worked out well in their short runs on GH with fans.
I am looking forward to seeing Blake as Spin.
Well said. The best to you. What a wonderful experience. Blake Berris is a wonderful actor. I can’t wait to see him on his take of Spinnelli.
I would rather no Spinelli than a cheap imitation. Every actor can be replaced. This one is NOT the replacement for Spinelli. Spinelli is filled with excitement on every level, from appearance to intelligence to mannerism. This actor is as flat as a flat tire. Keep looking. Good luck, he’ll be difficult to replace.
Hey Brad, please please don’t quit playing the role of Spanish!!!! I have watched GH since 1984. Or longer….. I don’t know if you watch GH but I also watch Days and killing the character “”Nick” off was the best decision!!!! No one can play the part like you EVER!!!! And sorry but old Nick sucks at it… I cried when you first saw Jason and made the comment about his build and butt!! No one can be Smart, Funny, walking encyclopedia but you sir!!!! They need to kill the character off if YOU don’t do the part!!!