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Charles Shaughnessy Takes Over the Role of GH’s Victor Cassadine

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

GH fans were in for a major surprise when on Thursday’s episode a kidnapped Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) got the shock of her life when her former lover, Victor Cassadine turned out to be alive and well and holding her hostage.

But there was another twist! DAYS favorite, Charles Shaughnessy (Shane), who previously was announced as coming to GH but in a mystery role, revealed himself to be … the new Victor Cassadine!  The former Mr. Sheffield of The Nanny has stepped into the role previously played by DAYS Thaao Penghlis (Tony).

Once the cat was out of the bag, in a tweet, Shaughnessy shared: “So excited to FINALLY be able to reveal details of my latest “gig”. 37 years on, I am back in the halls of @GeneralHospital, playing with the incredible @gatitweets. Having once been a vampire on @DisneyChannel, it’s not surprising I bring #VictorCassadine back from the dead!”

Shaughnessy is referring to the time he previously played Holly Sutton’s cousin, Alistair on the ABC daytime drama series back in 1984.

General Hospital viewers recall that Liesl shot and “killed” Victor back in 2014 then played by Penghlis.  In story, Victor believed he was the bio-dad of her son, Nathan West (Ryan Paevey). But a DNA test said that was not true, yet she shot him.  Leaving viewers wondering who is the dad? Hmmm.

So what did you think of the shocker? Shaughnessy as NuVictor Cassadine? Comment below.

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I enjoyed Charles entering the story. Maybe for the wrong reason as I said in another comment…I smiled and was half waiting for Fran (Nanny) to bring in Liesl’s dinner. Because so far I can’t see him as the baddest of the bad guys.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Charles Shaughnessy. But why couldn’t they bring back Thaao Penghlis as Victor? Wally Kurth airs on both DAYS and GH at the same time so why couldn’t Thaao too? Even though he wasn’t on the show for very long, he made a lasting impression as Victor and it’s hard to see a new actor play him.

Jimmy
You make a good point and Thaao makes a “good impression” whatever he’s on. Chas. Shaughnessy will also be on both shows but maybe Thaao held out for more money. Personally this SL bores me to death already and it’s hardly started. It was bad enough years ago watching that old goat Faisin chasing after Anna and Obrect chasing after him, now this,omg. Thanks for letting me rant Jimmy.

Wally’s a good bit younger than Thaao, and may enjoy the schedule juggling. Also, Shaughnessy is (surprisingly) on contract at GH. His role on the limited web series Beyond Salem was likely negotiated prior to GH, allowing him to do both.

It’s a bit of a jarring switch, but CS is such a fine actor, might just work out fine.

Steve,
This man is remarkable! I didn’t think too much about him when he appeared as Victor, but seeing him again as Shane on Beyond Salem, that silver fox is just looking better and better.

I totally agree,and I was ticked off when Thaao was on GH last time that he didn’t haveany scenes with Constance Towers (Helena).

Well at least maybe now Robert can confront Victor and avenge O’Reilly.

I don’t recall seeing the original Victor Cassadine so no change for me..
I do luv the Cassadines and would like to have all of them back.
Valentin was to be the one that Helena feared.
He was to be the worst of the worst.
He was pussified and turned out to be a teddy bear, shameful.
Hopefully, this Victor guy will bring on the Cassadine dark powers,
Nikolas failed as a true-blooded Cassadine, also.

Ironically, Victor was the LEAST “dark” of the original Cassadines. He thought his older brother Mikkos went way overboard in the whole “let’s try to freeze the world in the middle of August” plan, and in the end, Victor was actually working with Luke & Robert Scorpio to help bring Mikkos down. (a third brother, Tony, had already fallen victim to the deep freeze, along with his girlfriend Alexandra Quartermaine)

Victor was still sentenced to prison for his part in the Cassadine crimes though, so how he suddenly resurfaced in 2014 as the CEO of the World Security Bureau, that’s something they have never explained. Probably since that return was basically a short term plot point, needed to explain how “Jason Morgan” (actually Drew Cain) became a popsicle in his custody, and how he needed Robin Scorpio’s help to thaw out “Jason”, along with his former sister in law Helena & her son Stavros.

And then Victor’s second short return, when he stuck around long enough to find out he was NOT Nathan’s father, despite what Dr. Oooblech had told him. Again, little more than a plot point to set the stage for Faison being Nathan’s daddy, and the entrance of Faison’s other son, Whiny Heiny.

Considering this latest round of Victor Cassadine looks like it will again be a plot point to tie up various loose ends (Drew/Hayden/Heiny/possibly Holly??) maybe Thaoo Penghlis didn’t want round three of being the convenient fall guy?

Satan- you have a mind of steel to remember all of that–
I have zero knowledge of Victor, or if I had seen him, I don’t recall……
The Cassadines were awesome characters. I would like all of them back-exciting….
I have a bad feeling that the writers will also pussyfy Victor……
The writers of days past had the courage to write heavy, therefore, making stories of sitting on the edge of your seat suspense……they created emotions be it hate or love they brought it home……shame they are gone..

Su; Were you watching during the early days, when Nicolas was a teen and came to town with Stefan; lived with him and Alexis? Did you see Constance Towers at her wicked-best as the “evil” Helena when she was younger and was a threat to Laura, Alexis…always trying to get Nicolas to her side, etc. Wasn’t all that before you started watching?

As for Nicolas, I don’t think many fans back in the day, OR now, wanted him to be an evil Cassadine, so he didn’t fail at being one. I don’t think he was ever intended to be evil. The Cassadines were at war with themselves: the “good ones” vs the evil ones, and Nicolas (like Alexis and Sam; they’re Cassadines, too) was never “evil.” Nicolas’s Uncle, Stefan, was criminal at times but I don’t remember as “evil…well, not diabolical like Helena, Stavros, Mikkos. Stefan loved Nicolas like a son. (I LOVED Stefan! Thought he was such a great, intriguing character! He was played by Stephen Nichols who plays Steve/Patch over on Days.)

But back to Nicolas…each time he did anything remotely criminal or not to Laura’s liking (like most recently scaring Nicolas) she feared he’ become like his Cassadine side. That was always ridiculous to me, especially this last time when he scared Spencer; I don’t think scaring his son to teach him a hard lesson was quite Helena cray cray or “evil.” The ONLY time I thought Nicolas was written as evil and therefore out of character was when he first came back and told Ava her daughter was in hell…that was truly cruel and I think the writers really missed their mark (made for a good story but not something I would see Nicolas doing).

The “evil” Cassadines are all dead: Helena, Stavros, Mikkos. I do remember, as you said, that Valentin was “described” as the most evil before they brought the character to the show (I think he was added to the family history, don’t remember ever hearing about him until James appeared in the role) but as we know that never came to fruition… Those old Cassadine days were gold…so fun. who knows what Victor will bring. I think Spencer may know he’s alive; seems coincidental that Spencer would use the name Victor when Trina first met him…

If the show was ever to revive the true evil Cassadine legacy, Spencer would be the most likely candidate. IF this was back in the day and soaps were to go on for decades, it might have been worth the investment to see Spencer evolve to the dark side. At this point, I hope not; I like Spencer too much and hope he goes up against the evil Esme. SHE (and Nelle) would have made good next-generation evil Cassadines, in my opinion….

hi Rebeca 🙂
WHOA!! Thank you for the info-
I never knew all that background,
it was a great read :)————

That was before my time- but
it sounds to have been good storytelling..
Not knowing all that————
I’ve always seen Nikolas as a grey character———–
However- no matter what Nokolas is a Cassadine .. And he is of the bad seed–lol———–
ahhh but Spencer– he seems to have the devil in him, yup..———-
With a soap; the good turn bad the bad turn good.. the redemption factor–makes for longer stories and viewer emotions..
——–
but the writers are in charge of Spenser’s outcome.——
I luv the Cassadine — they are/where the fire!———–
I want all of them back..give me some Helena excitement.
—be well 🙂

Just to clarify, Helena’s daughter IS in Hell. But she has air-conditioning, because she’s not nearly the sinner the rest of her family is. I also don’t invite her & Helena to the same parties… or if I do, I hide all the sharp objects!!

Hast the heat gotten to you? Nicolas told Ava that Kiki’s daughter was in hell…did you mistake that for Helena’s? Had to look up Helen’s daughter because I forgot she even had a daughter…she was on just for that story arc. Remember? She was the woman in white who Nicolas fell for…turned out Helena had locked her away at one point, brainwashed her to kill Lucky? In the end Helena killed her…

Yeah, I read that earlier post too fast, on an uncaffeinated Devil brain. The memory is the first thing to go after a few thousand years.

Kiki has AC too, for all of the same reasons. She and Helena’s daughter have something else in common, and that’s the fact that neither one should have ever been written into existence. The first Kiki was just a legal fiction to rename an annoying little twit who never belonged on GH in the first place. The second version wasn’t so bad in and of herself, but she got stuck in Ava’s bubble, and it could only end badly for her because of that.

Ava started to show some signs of humanity when she was in that Russian hospital, and eventually helped Jason escape from there, not having any idea who he was. Back in Port Charles though, she pretty much reverted to form… at least until the new Nikolas showed up. And she’s been good with Trina too, surprisingly enough.

I’m glad to see that it wasn’t the heat that got to you but other than that, I beg to differ. Ava is/was a fantastic character after we got past that horrific time when she framed AJ. AJ will always be one of my favs so I hated her for that. And I blame Sonny more for killing him. But I digress…

I hated Kiki but for different reasons. It’s BECAUSE I loved/love Ava so much that I couldn’t stomach Kiki. Like the rest of the town who forgives Snarly for everything and turns their backs on their own parents while kissing the arses of Sonny and Carly, Kiki KNEW that Sonny wanted to kill Ava and that Carly hated her guts; they were her mother’s mortal enemies. And while it was true that Ava switched out Morgan’s pills, she wasn’t responsible for, nor did she want, Morgan’s death. She actually was trying to steer Kiki away from Morgan for her own good. She wanted her to date Dillon, who she thought could give her a better life. And Kiki had no leg to stand on; she AND Morgan switched “Mikey’s” pills when he had custody of Avery. My point being…she sided with the Snarlys and helped them keep Avery from Ava. Ava practically had to beg her to let her hold Avery if Kiki was taking her to the park. And later, she took Griffin from Ava within seconds of Ava “breaking up with Griffin.” And why did she break up with Griffin? For the umpteenth time Kiki had found comfort in Griffin’s arms, this time in her bra.

So, Kiki having a room in your basement apartment would be okay by me. But it tortured Ava; and it was way out of character for Nicolas to hurt someone like that.

Satan,
If anyone would know it would be you. Wasn’t Helena’s daughter the girl in white that Holly’s son fell in love with and tried to rescue from Windemere but Helena found her and ultimately shot and killed her?

I’ll tell you what happened to Victor Cassadine, Ron Carlivati happened, yep yep, the same guy who made Alexandria Devane a cartoon villain on GH, when in fact she was a heroine on AMC, one who helped Anna get back on her feet, yet the GH Alex was turn into the stereotypical cartoon characters that Ron was so infamous for at GH.

Ron was dismissed as head writer in 2015. Alex was reintroduced to GH in 2017. Jean & Shelley (and later Chris) were writing at that time.

Not Ron’s biggest fan – but on this one he’s not to blame.

Certainly true of the first Victor return in 2014. And ReRon’s take on Stavros was a complete cartoonish embarrassment.

AMC never really aired in Hell, so I’ll have to take your word on the Alex Devane stuff.

I don’t remember Victor working with Luke and Robert against Mikkos. Robert disliked Victor as I recall because his men killed O’Reilly.

I’ll always remember Charles Shaughnessy as Mr. Sheffield on The Nanny, so when I heard he was being cast as the new Victor Cassadine, I was skeptical. On paper, I don’t see him being a fit for the role. It’s really a shame that Thaao Penghlis couldn’t reprise the role. But I don’t know if he was asked or even available with the new Days project he’s working on.

So we move forward. Charles is a wonderful actor, and if anyone can pull this off, he certainly can. I’ll be interested to see what they have planned.

I just wonder what explanation they have for Victor being alive. The last time we saw him he had been shot in the chest, and was laying on the floor dying as the Crighton Clark facility blew up. I know it’s soaps, and anyone can come back from the dead, and we accept that as part of the deal. But they’re really gonna need to dig into the script bag for an explanation for this one, lol.

How about the explanation of Peter still being alive after BOTH a doctor and a nurse, two highly trained medical professionals who have been in the field for decades, pronounced Peter dead and locked him in a freezer? Soap deaths don’t mean anything anymore.

The show has gone quite a bit overboard with RFD storylines recently:

Peter
Drew
Victor

Could also count Sonny as even though viewers know he’s alive, 99% of Port Charles thinks he’s dead.

Just as long as Morgan remains dead, I can accept all of the above.

Steve,
I could stand that punk Morgan come back than for instance Nell or Peter when TPTB finally decide enough is enough.

We know Morgan isn’t dead, for the same reason we knew Drew wasn’t dead. No body, no death. This also should have applied to Sonny, obviously. Seems ridiculous that everybody jumped to conclusions and wrote him off as “dead” so soon. Or for that matter, that Jax dismissed the fact that he saw Sonny in Tricky Dick Nixon Falls as some sort of “hallucination” – from a minor flesh wound in his shoulder??? (months later, he finally seems to realize that wasn’t a hallucination after all, because of Sonny’s Magic Pasta Sauce making appearances in Port Charles)

Victor was shot and in a burning building, so that looks bad on the surface… but hey, he’s a Cassadine, and they aren’t easy to kill.

Whiny Heiny was dead. He was literally in Hell! I’ll be eternally damned if I know how he escaped.

But back to Morgan…. we’ll definitely see him eventually. But I’m guessing that’s going to be a while down the road. Sonny & Drew’s returns are going to stir up the canvas enough for the immediate future. And yeah, Nelle’s still out there somewhere too. Don’t be surprised if she and Morgan come back together. If Morgan can go BiPolar just like his dad, maybe he can get amnesia just like his dad too? And Nelle might not know who her mom actually is, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t act just like Nina… and manipulate an amnesiac Morgan for her own purposes.

I’d love to see Julian and AJ return from the dead; I wouldn’t care how they explained it. As for the others? Then, too, I usually enjoy it. Part of the soapy genre where anything can happen. There are some characters who are alive who I don’t want to see back; like Hayden. Or others I’d like to see gone, like Phyllis, Stella and Gladys. Sigh…

Julian told me he’s happy in Hell. Why? Because his crazy sisters aren’t here (yet).

Ava? Crazy? Naaaa; 😉 Still love her. Will DeVry is over on Twitter, though, and I think he’d like to see Julian return from the dead. He said he’d never come back to the show, yet he watches it and gives commentary. THAT’s dedication! I have no idea what the writers were smoking when they had the ingenious, not, idea to kill Julian off. But, hey, we got Phyllis and Gladys! How much more must-see TV can it get than that! Sigh.

I miss sexy Will, rebecca1. Huge mistake icing Julian Jerome. And don’t get me started on Gladys! What is the POINT of that character except to stir the pot at every opportunity and be as irritating as sandpaper on a wound? I liked Phyllis at first but now it seems like she just enables selfish behavior from “Mike” and, especially, Nina. And don’t forget the fabulous T. J., “mysterious” Austin, disastrous recasts of Drew and Spencer, evil Esme (Kiki’s twin?), and that ridiculous Novak family. It’s like watching a really bad ripoff of THE GODFATHER.

Well, Victor Cassadine has been heading the WSB for years now (how and why that happened, we still don’t know) so that’s familiar territory for Charles, who was playing ISA superspy Shane Donovan since the early 1980s. And of course, since he knows Thaao Penghlis from working with him on Days all of those years, it’s not much of a stretch to think he might have consulted with him on how to play the role of Victor Cassadine?

As far as explanations….. fugeddabout it….. you should know by now that Cassadines are really hard to kill. A simple gun shot in a burning building?? That’s nothing. Especially when you have much lesser characters who fell down a flight of stairs, broke their neck, were pronounced dead by a doctor and a nurse, locked in a freezer and are somehow up walking around anyway.

I love this actor and am looking forward to seeing him play Victor Cassadine. I hope they make him a grey character like Valentine and not pure evil.

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom

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This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!

In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?

Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!

Courtesy/ABC

FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS

The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!

Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?

Take a look at the rest of the official GH spoilers for the week below.

MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.

TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.

THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.

Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric

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With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).

On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..

In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”

GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW

So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!

FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD

As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and  and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”

Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.

So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’

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In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.

The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.

Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”

Photo: CDuellIG

SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL

Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.

The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.

In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”

So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.

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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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