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

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

Nancy Lee Grahn’s Star-Studded ALS Fundraiser Reveals “I’ll Be There” Video Featuring Soap Opera Notables

Talk about your impressive line-up! It’s a soap fans dream and for a great cause. General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) is prepping her one-night only ALS fundraiser which will feature many of her friends and co-stars.

The benefit is set for May 4th in Glendale, California. Slated to participate are Genie Francis, Jane Elliot, Peter Bergman, Maurice Benard, Eileen Davidson, Thorsten Kaye, Michelle Stafford, Stephen Nichols, Rena Sofer, Jason Thompson, Kelly Monaco, Melissa Claire Egan, Maura West, Kristina Wagner, Gregory Harrison, Trevor St. John, Kate Mansi, Kirsten Storms, Cynthia Watros, and many others.

On Wednesday, Grahn took to her social media and released an “I’ll be there” video shout-out featuring, Monaco, Elliot, Bergman, Bernard, West, Harrison, St. John and more. In a touching and important moment in the new video, Michelle Strogny, who is battling ALS, is featured.

Photo: ABC

Previously, in speaking with Soap Opera Digest on the impetus of the event, Grahn recalled, “I was actually doing Zoom events during Covid and I met this woman that I just fell in love with, Michelle Strojny. At the time, Michelle had been living with ALS for four years. Now, it’s five years. She is a mom of a teenage son, she has the most wonderful husband, and she has been dealing with this [disease] for quite a while. And obviously, there isn’t a cure yet. It’s not survivable yet. But as she says, it’s not incurable. Nothing is; it’s underfunded. But anyway, I just really dug this woman. She is so grounded and filled with grace, and she spends all of her time working to raise money for the cause. We did a fundraiser for her last year and then I thought, ‘You know what? The soaps don’t ever get together to do something for charity.’ Collectively, we have this amazing community and we don’t collectively use it for a good cause, and I think it’s such an easy thing for us to do and we could potentially really make a difference.”

As GH viewers know, Gregory Harrison is playing the character of Gregory Chase, who is also battling ALS in a touching storyline that is currently playing out shedding a light on this disease.

For information on Nancy’s event, including the stars who are s scheduled to participate click here. To purchase tickets to the event click here.

Check out the video featuring Nancy’s friends and co-stars below.  Now let us know, your thought son the line-up for the benefit and helping raise awareness and funds for ALS research via the comment section.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Writer Shannon Peace Let Go, and Shares on Sprina: “One of My Only Regrets is to Not Have the Opportunity to Develop That ‘Ship’ Further”

As General Hospital’s new head writing team of Elizabeth Korte and Patrick Mulcahy gets off the ground and running, there are still changes a foot on the writing team.

Now comes word via breakdown writer Shannon Peace that she is no longer on contract with the long-running ABC soap heading into its 61st season. Peace shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram, thanking the fans, and the show for the opportunity and the importance of diversity in the writers room.

Peace began, “After almost 3 years on staff and 106 episodes penned, I am no longer on contract with General Hospital. Writing for this country’s longest running television serial drama has been an education of epic proportions; I will forever be grateful that I earned my WGA card on a daytime fixture that holds memories for so many.” (Peace pictured below with GH EP Frank Valentini and script writer, Charlotte Gibson from about ten months ago).

Photo: SPeaceIG

Shannon added “Even more importantly, as the sole Black breakdown writer (and only POC in the writers room) during my tenure, I pushed for vital interactions and discussions that prioritized inclusion, visibility, and representation”

The writer pointed to the example of vital interaction when in story, “Stella and Portia’s frank July 2022 conversation about the role race played in Esme’s framing of Trina is just one example of the impact I’m gratified to have had.”

Acknowledging former GH co-head writers was also part of Peace’s farewell expressing, “Appreciation to my former bosses, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor – not only taking a chance on me, but for valuing my opinion and championing my voice.”

Courtesy/ABC

Many GH fans know that Peace was key to the development of the love story between Trina Robinson and Spencer Cassadine as played by Tabyana Ali and Nicholas Chavez. Shannon gave a special shout-out to ‘Sprina’ fans, “I also want to thank fans who were supportive of my work, especially the recognition of my love for ‘Sprina’. One of my only regrets is not having to develop that ‘ship’ further.”

She concludes her statement with,”In the aftermath of a historic writer’s strike that shed new light on the troubling ways writers are regarded in daytime, my sincere hope is that General Hospital recommits to valuing staff writer efforts and input, with a more intentional focus on diverse viewpoints — and thrives for another 60 years.”

Accompanying her post, Shannon added, “Thank you all for the love and support these last few years. I hope GH fans get all they hope for and more!”

So, what do you think about GH not renewing Shannon’s contract? Will there be more continued changes afoot? What do you think is the future of ‘Sprina’ anyway at this point as viewers wait to see if Nicholas Chavez officially returns to the show?  Comment below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason Learns Britt Died and Tells Anna He Has Been Working For Cates Since November 2021

On the Tuesday, March 26th of General Hospital, Anna (Finola Hughes) and the viewers learn about where Jason (Steve Burton) has been for over two and half years. However, Jason gets some news of his own.

Anna is visiting Jason at the PCPD interrogation room. She asks him if he shot Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), which he flatly denies. Anna believes him, but she tells Jason it doesn’t matter, because video footage shows him on the roof at the time of the shooting

When talk turns to Jason not willing to speak without his lawyer present, Anna can’t grasp why Jason would instead spend an hour alone talking with John Cates (Adam J. Harrington).

Photo: ABC

It is then that Anna brings up that John went by “Jagger” and that the two of them knew each other in high school. Jason doesn’t recall much of his time in high school following his brain injury, but then he gets furious realizing John knew about “Jason’s” past. That is when Jason slams the table and tells Anna, “I’ve been working for John Cates since November 2021.”

Next, Jason explains further that he has been working as an informant for the FBI. Anna wants to know how this came about and he tells her that after the tunnel collapsed, and he couldn’t make it to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud)… all of a sudden he sees Anna’s face drop.  Anna is the first person to tell him that Britt died and was murdered. She tells Jason the killer is in custody, but he continues to be shocked, overwhelmed with tears welling up in his eyes. Realizing he has to pivot to save his life, Jason continues telling Anna how he wound up working with John.

Jason explains that after the tunnel collapse in Greece, FBI agents grabbed him and placed him under arrest and took him to Quantico where he met John. At Quantico, John played a recording of RICO violations and offered Jason a deal if he agreed to be an informant against Pikeman, the illegal arms dealer.

Anna hears from Jason that he thinks Pikeman is selling illegal arms to anyone flagged by the NSA but has ties to the WSB which they needed a civilian to infiltrate their organization as a military soldier, a mercenary.

Jason tells Anna he was a part of the team brought into eliminate Sonny (Maurice Benard). Every time an attempt was made on Sonny’s life over the last two years, a different team was sent to do the job. Anna gets furious when she learns that John told Jason his job was to kill Sonny and she was with John at the warehouse that night. Jason ensured the sniper missed Sonny and left the rifle behind. However, they were supposed to meet an extraction team. Before he was shot, Dante saw it was Jason on the roof and when he turned around with his hands over his head, Dante was shot by the other guy. Jason says if Dante dies, he’ll be charged with capital murder and then will be useless to the FBI.

Photo: ABC

Meanwhile, John visits Bobbie’s and runs into Carly (Laura Wright). She learns Jason is in custody and is going to head to the PCPD. Before she does, Carly has some words with Cates when she learns not only does John have a vendetta against Sonny, but Jason too.  Carly tells John he should recuse himself from the case.

So, what did you think about the moment when Jason learned Britt died? What do you think of Jason’s return storyline thus far and what we learned about Jagger/Jason and more? Comment below. But first, check out a moment from today’s GH with Jason and Anna.

 

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