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Emma Samms Opens Up On the Challenges of Taping General Hospital While Battling Long COVID

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: EmmaSamms

General Hospital fans are anxiously awaiting the return of Emma Samms (Holly Sutton) to the ABC daytime drama series, that was originally slated to air on October 19th. However, with the preemption of today’s episode, Holly’s return to the canvas will be pushed back a day.

For Emma, returning to work has been something she has to be careful of, and manage, due to her ongoing bout with Long Covid-19.  According to PEOPLE.com, when Samms began taping new episodes of GH, she informed the producers that she had certain limitations.

Emma shared: “I told them if I stand still for too long, I might fall over. I might lose my voice if I talk too much. I sometimes sound gaspy.” She added, “I said, ‘Basically, think senior citizen and not a fit one. Just think in those terms when you are writing for me.'”

Since originally contracting Covid-19 in March of 2020, Emma is one of the millions worldwide who have suffered the more debilitating effects of Long Covid.

Photo:ABC

When she came back to Los Angeles from the UK for her month-long GH shoot, Emma shared:  “I had massive trepidation.” But the popular star noted: “I feel really lucky that people are willing to accommodate me in order for me to work. I feel desperately sorry for people who don’t have bosses who are as sympathetic.”  Speaking of being sympathetic and understanding, reportedly GH’s EP, Frank Valentini, gave Samms his parking spot near the ABC Prospect Studios; to help limit the amount of walking Emma would have to do.

In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands everywhere Friday, Tristan Rogers (Robert) shared on Samms’ return: “I didn’t think it would happen given her health.”  SOD also shared that Robert will be in for the shock of his life when he reunites with his ex-Holly, who is very much alive.

Emma’s husband, Simon McCoy, has been with the actress during filming of GH.  When they return to England, Samms revealed: “I’ve got nothing scheduled the month I get back, and I shall just recuperate.”

So, looking forward to seeing Emma back on GH? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Aww so cute together Holly and Robert back when I watched the show

Very classy moves by Frank Valentini!

Is she only returning for one month?

If those are recent pictures, she looks great, considering all she’s been through recently. She may feel like a “senior citizen” but damn sure doesn’t look like one.

Some idiotic rumors on other sites trying to say Holly’s the “hooker”. Don’t think she’s physically capable of pulling off that particular role, from her own description. Not to mention, she has no connections to any of the hooking victims.

I can’t quite understand why she is working at all regardless of accommodations being made for her. Covid is Covid.

She’s not contagious. She had the actual Covid infection back in March of 2020. She just happens to be among the unfortunate number of mortals who have suffered long term damage as a result of the virus. Nobody’s going to “catch” that from working with her.

No, all Covid is not the same. Long Covid is quite different from what the vast majority who get Covid experience. Those with long Covid cannot spread the virus. After suffering with this for a few years, kudos to Emma for trying get some normalcy back in her life.

Happy to see her back at GH and hope it wasn’t too much for her. Don’t know what the storyline will entail, but I hope it leaves room for more returns.

She is welcome back anytime she wants to come back… Or anytime the story dictitates it. She is legacy GH. Holly… And Emma always have a place in town.

Her health issues are caused by the “vaccines” … not by “long covid.” Why doesn’t she know this and why is she lying?

I will love to have the character back. She is always fun!

She got Long Covid way before any vaccine was even available. I too have Long Covid. And when I got the initial vaccination series, I actually felt better than I had since early 2020. Long Covid is something totally different than a negative reaction to the vaccine.

Yeah ok, “Daryl Licked”, cause you know more than the doctors and scientists that actually do this stuff for a living. Get out of here with the tinfoil hat conspiracy BS.

I got Covid in April 2020. This was a year before any vaccines were available. I never recovered. I suffer from symptoms every day. Some days I sleep for 16 hours other days I can not breath.

The only one lying here is YOU. She got Covid in March 2020. You know… the first month that 99% of the planet had any knowledge of the virus at all?

Vaccines… for whatever idiotic Q-Anus myth you want to believe about them – would not even exist until a year AFTER that. So unless she was borrowing Doc Brown’s DeLorean, it would be impossible for the vaccines to cause her problems.

If you wish to spread lies, there are plenty of other websites for you.

FACT
Emma caught Covid in March of 2020 and has had chronic symptoms since then.

FACT
The vaccines were not available until December 2020 for medical professionals and shortly thereafter for high risk individuals. Emma would have had her symptoms for at least 9 months before a vaccine was available.

FACT
The vaccines have saved lives and made those recipients who did catch Covid have milder cases.

A little education goes a long way.

Daryl, you seem to live in alternate universe and how dare you accuse Emma Samms of lying? Emma and her doctors are well versed and well educated on the profound effects of long term COViD. She’s suffered enough and is graciously visiting GH as a favor- she certainly doesn’t need the money.

She looks great.

I love RnH but I wonder if Tristan and Emma feel the same. Apparently, they had a bitter breakup in real life, and Emma said how hard it was doing kissing scenes after their relationship ended. I hope enough time has passed that they can work together without any animosity.

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Carly Fears Escalating Tensions Between Sonny and Josslyn: ‘I’ve Already Lost One Kid Because of That Man. I Won’t Lose Another’

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General Hospital

On the Thursday, November 12 episode of General Hospital, as battles line are drawn by Carly’s (Laura Wright) ex-husband, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and her daughter, Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy), she realizes things are about to get a whole lot worse, and she expressed her fears to Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart).

After Sonny came to see Carly to get her daughter to back off of him; especially when Josslyn lit into him in front of nuAvery (Ayla Bullington), Carly is terrified that Sonny could retaliate against Josslyn. Realizing, Josslyn is in danger, Carly won’t sit by and let anything happen to her. She tells Valentin, “I’ve already lost one kid because of that man. I won’t lose another.”

Viewers won’t soon forget the devastation Carly felt when Morgan (Bryan Craig) died in a car bomb explosion back in 2016 because of Sonny’s dealings in the mob in a complex story involving Julian (William deVry) and Olivia Jerome (Tonja Walker).

Avery

Courtesy/ABC

SONNY IS READY FOR WAR

Meanwhile in the aftermath of his visit with Carly, Sonny told his brother Ric what went down when Josslyn disrespected him in front of his own daughter and hurt Avery. Since Josslyn already make it known that she no longer considers herself part of Sonny’s family, he’s decided to treat her accordingly.

Sonnys first step in payback is to take away her support system at JJE by approaching Hudson Parker (Troy Lennon Appel) again, but this time in a much less-friendly way.

Ric points out that this would go against every move Sonny made as a legitimate businessman in Port Charles and would mean he’s back in the mob? Sonny doubles down, saying Josslyn changed the game when she involved Avery. While he showed concern of how bad Carly would feel over all this year, he said he is ready to finish what Josslyn started.

At the Metro Court, Ava (Maura West) is listening to Avery explain what happened between Sonny and Josslyn and how much she hates Josslyn right now, which Ava seems to be OK with.

WILL JOSSLYN’S WORLD BLOW UP ON HER?

Speaking of Josslyn, she is on the pier still after her talk with Hudson and still crying over her confrontation with Sonny and Avery overhearing it, and what she told her sister. Lucas comes across her at the pier while out for his run.

Explaining how badly she feels for what she said about Sonny to Avery, Lucas says that eventually Avery will discover the truth about Sonny. He explains to Josslyn that even though Avery hates her now, she will come to realize that what she said about her father was the truth, and that Josslyn was not lying to her at all.

So, what do you think about Sonny ready to play dirty to take down Josslyn? How will Carly ensure her daughter does not wind up dead? Who do you think is in the right here? Is Josslyn’s vendetta against Sonny justified, at the cost of the relationships with her family? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Cynthia Watros Honors Former ‘Titus’ Co-Star Stacy Keach Following His Passing

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Stacy Keach and Cynthia Watros

General Hospital star Cynthia Watros, who can currently be seen in on the ABC soap opera in the role of Nina Reeves, has had a enduring career in television. That included her time on the 2000-2002 Fox sitcom, Titus.

In Titus, Watros starred along with Stacy Keach as Erin Fitzpatrick and Ken Titus, respectively. After the November 10th news that Keach had passed away at 85 while living in Poland, Cynthia took to her Instagram on Thursday, November 12 to pay tribute to the great actor.

Watros expressed, “My first prime time show was along side Stacy. I loved him instantly. What an amazing talent and man.❤️”

Photo: ABC

In Titus, Stacy played stand up comedian Christopher Titus’ heavy-drinking, chain-smoking, five-times-divorced father who frequently pulled cruel pranks and tried to toughen his kids up. Cynthia played by Christopher’s level-headed, big-hearted girlfriend trying to build a normal life with him. In fact, Cynthia’s role on the sitcom was first series regular role after her Daytime Emmy run of Annie Dutton on Guiding Light which ran from 1994-1998.

STACY KEACH’S WIFE ON HIS PASSING

Keach’s wife, Malgosia shared the news of the actor’s death publicly in a statement with PEOPLE. Malgosia expressed, that Stacy had, “a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure.”

She added, “Stacy peacefully departed this world. He fought for so long, with extraordinary courage, determination and strength. He was a true warrior, facing his illness with the same remarkable spirit and resilience that defined his life.”

Małgosia continued, “Stacy was not only a legendary actor, admired and loved by audiences the world over, but also my beloved husband, my companion and the heart of our family. His passing leaves an immeasurable emptiness in our lives. But his extraordinary spirit, his unforgettable voice and the love he gave so generously will remain with us forever.”

Now, let us know do you remember when Cynthia made her sitcom debut in Titus? Share your thoughts via the comment section on Cynthia’s many TV roles and the passing of Stacy Keach in the comment section. But first, check out the very first episode of Titus with Cynthia Watros below!

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Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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Beyond the Gates and General Hospital

The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.

According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.

Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.

Photo: CBS

MORE BY THE NUMBERS

In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .

BEYOND THE GATES

Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:

Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).

Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.

Photo: ABC

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:

Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.

Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.

Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.

Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a  benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.

However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.

So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in 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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