News
Eric Braeden On Who Should Be New Y&R Headwriter: "I don't give a goddamn where they come from, as long as you hire people who understand the characters & know the history of Y&R!"

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins
The Young and the Restless series star Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) chatted with Michael Logan of TV Guide to clarify his recent tweets about his thoughts on the departure of Josh Griffith as headwriter of the number one CBS soap. Braeden, has made it very clearly he is not upset at the lack of recent storyline for Victor, but teases big stuff ahead. He was more upset over, change.
Here are a few interesting excerpts below from the soap superstar about if the writing change in any way he feels was justified, who he thinks should step in as the new head scribe for the citizens of Genoa City, and if he gets along with series executive producer, Jill Farren Phelps.
Eric on if he felt a writing change was warranted at this time on Y&R: “No! Our ratings are up! I know there are those who feel the veterans are not getting enough attention but that happens every summer, doesn’t it?”
Eric on if he feels the new head writer should come from within the ranks of the existing writing team: “I don’t give a goddamn where they come from, as long as you hire people who understand the characters and know the history of Y&R. It’s that simple. We’ve got to keep this show No. 1.”
Eric on if he gets along with EP Jill Farren Phelps: “I’m getting along with her. She deals well with actors. She likes actors. As far as I can see she is very involved, very hands-on, which I like. It took me a while to get used to that but that was because I was very upset that Maria Bell left, and I didn’t really want to accept anyone new for a while. Maria’s exit was a double whammy in the sense that she was the last Bell. Right or wrong, I still feel very nostalgic about Bill Bell. Did it take me a while to get used to Jill? Absolutely. But I like her. ”
So, what do you think about Eric’s thought on who the perfect candidate to preside over Y&R’s writing team? What do you think about his position on the departure of Josh Griffith? Comment below!
I think Eric and the performers who are regulars know much more about this situation than any of us do. I very much dislike one story line, but think about how difficult it is to write this dialogue day after day, year after year. If you can do a better job, submit a few months work of scripts to the powers-that-be and see what happens.
Well that’s not usually true. I’ve heard actor after actor say that they are pretty much clueless about the Writing Teams plans. There are a few actors who are on Eric’s level that have behind the scenes input with the writers, the exec producer and the network execs. That’s primarily because theyre characters are very popular and drive ratings. Eric, Tony Geary ( Luke GH), Susan Lucci, Maurice Bernard ( Sonny GH).
Those guys are very valued by the brass and they can at times dictate story, or add lib to the scripts. But your average actor doesnt have that kind of power and at times writers and exec producers keep story fairly secret until the scripts are written and handed out.
Many times writers and exec producers ect are fired and the actors are the last to know!
Again, I am just saying that “fans” who do nothing but gripe may not comprehend how difficult it is to write scripts. Not making excuses–I hate Sharon going after NIck AGAIN–but I think you have to look at it from more than one side.
Doesn’t everyone remember how Sharon and Victor was friends and I do not like what they are doing to Sharon! Sharon has become the shows doormat! What a shame! really! The top talented actress is left to once again be the bunt of everyones joke and all alone. STOP NIKKI and VICTOR from being evil to Sharon., Adam and sharon should be married by now and have a GH Luke and Laura top wedding by now. Babies also not this hired hooker Chelsea that Victor hired. So over Chelsea
SORRY Deb but they ruined Sharon when these writers PROMISED PROMISED that Maria Bell ruined Sharon and they would fix her so we can have her back as the loving Sharon and back with her man Adam. But these writers now ruined her beyond repair with this paternity story that the Sharon we all know and love even with bipolar would never ever hurt a child and that is what they did to Sharon made her hurt summer and even mix up Noah and Faith with who is your sister. Sharon now is like crazy Chelsea who I wish would leave the show.
Sharon needs real great writers like Bill Bell and we need Drucilla and get rid of Avery and Chelsea and oh Lord please a new Kyle and make Adam back into the man we liked in love with his Sharon and marry her. Victor and Nikki are so stuck up. They really need a reality ck and Im so tired of it. nasty to Sharon and it is high time Sharon gets her man back. Look what Victor came from and Nikki as a stripper. So tired of the same bashing of Sharon.It has become the Avery and Chelsea hour with a boring side of the crazy Rose story that goes no place.
It seems like soap writers seldom care about how unpopular a certain character is, if that writer likes a particular character, that character is not going to be made to look bad! This seems to be happening with Chelsea right now, before it was Phyllis, Chelsea has now taken the dubious reins from the Redheaded Devil. The opposite of all of this is true, too, clearly the writers hate Sharon but love Avery. Avery is sharing wedding photos, plans, etc. with Faith in some insincere and AWKWARD attempt to get close to her, why doesn’t she just suggest to Faith that they can bake the wedding cake in Avery’s old Easy Bake Oven!
I’ve only been watching 6 years, and story lines seem to always be the same
Sorry. You started watching at the worst possible time…when Lynn Latham took over. YR’s Golden Years were from 1973-2006 when Bill Bell, and then his protégés were in charge. It’s been very rocky, uneven, and unstable since that time.
I feel that Josh was probably the best writer during the last 6 years.
They need Sharon and Adam the core super couple I have been saying it for a year. Instead we are subject to this Chelsea who is a con d we can’t stand her. Then we have Avery whith has even worse in common with nick then Phyllis did. COME ON!
I read Josh and Jill was going to make Sharon healthy and they gone and made her do something Sharon would never do in a million years. This is a Phyllis or Chelsea low thing to do with Summers paternity and why does Avery think she can have Nick? Please make Sharon happy in love with Adam or Nick. Id rather Adam.
Sharon and Adam belong together and this entire ridiculousness of what they again are doing to Sharon is sad! I hate everything all day is about Chelsea who should of been gone long looong ago. The Rose story please stop it! Neil loves Dru and only Dru. Please bring us long time viewers back to the characters and true romance we all remember Thanks 🙂 I also would love to see Avery move away!
No I am sorry Mr Eric Braedon but it does mater! I have seen this show fo years and this summer all during July and all of most of August I stopped watching this show for the first time! it is always the same awful stories. I hate what they did to Sharon and Adams romance. I really am so disappointed with this long drawn out in my opinion waste of time Rose story. Avery is worst then Phyllis was for Nick and the worst or the worst really Id rather have root canal story is Chelsea and this baby daddy drama. She was hired by Victor now get rid of her. She had no chemistry at all with Adam and him running after this rebound was CRAZY! Dylan has done zero for him to be involved with Chelsea! I thought Dylan was a great story to be Sharon’s long lost half brother. SHARON WOULD NEVER EVER CHANGE A PATERNITY TEST! Sorry worst writing I ever seen. I have hopes Adam will come to his normal self who loved the ground Sharon walked on. They were so electric. Hottest couple on daytime. I hope they have this blown out wedding and the new writers who ever now they will hire because they got rid of the last one because he wrote every character so out of character and not one happy couple. I stopped watching the show for a month but heard there will be hope they will return our favorites back to normal . PLEEEEASE give us back our beloved vets 🙂
Interesting reading so many diverse opinions! I love the vets, esp. Eric, Doug D., Jess W. and Melody, but I also enjoy watching Chelsea & Avery and I love Adam! No way they can satisfy all of us, but something has kept me watching since 1973 when I was very young! There were times I lapsed when it seemed to THUD to me, but I always came back. I hope Y&R survives no matter what! 🙂
Chelsea and Avery have to be the worst boring characters next to Lily! Sorry but I FAST FORWARD THEM THREE!
Sharon should of won a Emmy for her role . She sure can make lemons out or lemonade and after all the hate messages I have to defend her everyday in these boards. These writers really make it hard with making her always look crazy. i am so tired some days I just choose to not watch the show because it is sad those criminals like Phyllis and Chelsea always get away with what they do and given a medal for it but Sharon is so hated by these people who are so mean. If Sharon wants to be happy the haters say no she must be alone but Chelsea can have tons of kids and rape men and trick them but that is okay. Please YES Erick B we need GREAT writers now
Bring back Kay Alden, she understands the show and the characters. Now that Eileen Davidson has left DOOL she needs to be back on canvas at Y&R. With the loss of Jeanne Cooper and Michelle Stafford opting to leave the show needs as many popular characters as it can get. “Ashley” is huge to the Abbott family. I respect EB and his direct approach.
Kay Alden would be a great choice I think too! Good idea.
Bring back Drucilla and give Sharon her best friend back. i really thought the new writers Josh and Jill promised to give Sharon and Adam back together. Why are they still not together and happy ? Why is this hired nobody hooker Victor hired to screw with Billy now still on this show as Chelsea with more babies when she can’t love the son she had. Avery she needs to go period.
Michael Fairman I would love love love if you can get an interview with Josh Griffith to see what the hell happened. I and so many thought he was our ace in the hole to bring our vet favorite characters back to normal from the Maria Bell days of messing it up. But sadley the writing and characters are even more off base to there true self then even before. Why sooooo much hate from Victor to Sharon? He lnows what HE DID to her that caused her to go to the deep end. he framed her for Skye and said he loved and wanted her to be his wife. Victor always thought of Sharon as his daughter what is going on??? Thanks 🙂 Can you please let the new writer that comes alone that we want our romance back and Drucilla and Neil and Sharon and either Adam or Nick back the two main love stories
I respect Mr. Braden. But I hate JFP. She needs to go. And respectfully ratings are not consistently up- the.
I agree with you too, but the ratings are up over a year ago. Especially in total viewers.
That will probably change now that Josh is gone.
We need a writer who knows the history of the characters personality and remember who loved who and Adam NEVER loved Chelsea. This shows rating can’t be up. I know sooo many who either stopped watching this show this year and others who are at the end of hoping for better stories. I know most hate all these knew characters that have been on everyday and have boring stories and not believable. I hope the writers go back and look at old old tapes and see what is in the true hearts of the old characters.
Do agree with what Eric is saying!
We do need a writer that understand Y&R…………….
Again it would be unprofessional for any actor to say anything negative in public about anyone working on the show. EB is very professional. I think he was being as honest as he could be— but he is dreaming if he thinks JFP is going put anyone in that chair other than someone who will write “her vision” for the show. If they cared about the characters of the history they wouldn’t let JFP write through them and that is what is going to happen.
In the past Eric has expressed his discontent with things behind the scenes. He was royally pissed when Maria Bell got the boot. He and Maria were very close and she practically worshiped his character. She also allowed him to have a lot of input over storyline involving Victor.
According to Nelson Branco it was Eric who pushed for the Sharon/Victor dalliance. That was enormously unpopular with viewers but Eric got Maria to agree to it. Sony and CBS who own YR were not crazy about that story.
They wanted to write Victor as the patriarch. They thought it was inappropriate for a man Victor and Eric’s age to constantly be written in romances with women so far out of his age range.
And that does all make sense, despite the fact that Eric is a very vital, strong man in his early 70s.
But I admire Eric’s outspokenness. He doesnt mince words and he shoots straight from the hip. I love him for that.
Really, what can you say, even Eric but I think he did say alot when talking about Maria Bell’s leaving. He wasn’t good with it and probably still isn’t. Of course he’ll say he get along with that idiot, it’s his job to get along and say he is but doesn’t mean how he feels really.
Genie Francis says the same thing about JFP. Whenever anyone asks her how they get along she says they have a good working relationship.
But funny thing, whenever they are together GF gets fired, lol. That’s not only on YR it also happened on GH. Genie played the iconic Laura on Gh and JFP treated her like complete dirt. Genie admitted that she was lambasted because of her post pregnancy weight. She was denied the same vacation time allowance that Tony Geary gets every yr on the show, not to mention that her storylines were just plain crap while Jill ran GH.
I think most actors fear Jill because despite her horrible track record of ruining shows, she still manages to put the blame on the head writers and endear herself to the network execs. To me its ridiculous that she even got the job at Exec Prod of YR . She is known as a failure at GH, AW,and OLTL. Lol. I mean why in the hell would any network Exec give the reins to the top rated daytime serial to a woman who did a hatched job on so many others? It boggles the mind, lol.
The only explanation that makes sense to me is that she does what she recently did with Josh. She blames everything on the head writer, gets them fired and then she ends up smelling like a rose. In the case of GH she could rely on all the Emmys GH won despite the low quality stories, lol.
In the case of YR she could say that despite fan unrest the show’s ratings are still far ahead of the competition, lol.
They have had to much changing of the guard since Bill Bell left it is not the same soap. When LML came she killed John Abbott off and centered on the Baldwin family MAB brought big names in and had no real story now JFP has come in and centered it on recasts of youngsters we care nothing about and brought her buddy SB in and made him a dull Superman. Hard to come back from that.
EB is correct in that #YR needs writes that know the show, vision of late Bill Bell and the characters. I would like to see Bradley Bell oversee #YR #BB as co-EP with Ed Scott and Kay Alden, Patrick Mulcahey as HWs.
So goes #YR, so goes the entire genre.
Eric is correct. We know it, CBS knows it, Sony knows it. Only Phelps doesn’t.
And CBS/Sony for whatever reason seem content with this woman.
Eric Braeden is an intelligent man and tells it like it is.
He never mixes words he puts the truth out there, if one likes it or not Eric Braeden will tell it like it is..
I do agree with him that JFP is doing doing a good job and he likes her, and so do I..
I am not a bitter vindictive whiner, as obliviously some are, nor am I hater, as is also obvious there are many.. i’m good with JPF..
I am looking forward to see who the new writer will be, I’m sure the best will be done for the good of Y&R .. 🙂
And love love love Eric Braeden !!!!
well – eric braeden aka tgvn/the black knight/the mustache has spoken!
Isn’t that the truth…but we won’t because JFP!
What do u people think the actors on Y and R are going say to that question, Michael?? Oh, gosh I hate her guts???? They have to work for her, for goodness sakes. If they want to keep their jobs at least. Eric speaks out more than most actors but even he isnt going to admit to not liking her leadership!
As a long time fan the things that I want are:
Original story lines. I know that this is difficult when you are writing for a show that has been on TV for 40 years, but they just can’t be “predictable”
Invest in the couples. There used to be a time when Soaps spent the time developing “Supercouples”. This generates a huge amount of fan loyalty, however now they just don’t spend the time & therefore fans don’t feel the passion & loyalty towards couples that will be divorced in a few weeks time.
Invest in the new characters. I love the veterans but I also love the new characters too.
Fix Sharon & reunite SHICK. I don’t ask for much really. 🙂
Time for him to retire – like yesterday! Can’t stand the man or the character and wouldn’t miss him if they killed him off tomorrow!
I was not going to say anything but there was no need for EB”s language I am really offended using the Lord’s name in vain. I am done with him you can do an interview without cursing our Savior’s name. Yes I guess I am a pollyana there are some words that need to be left out of interviews. Shame on him and shame on you Mr Fairman for repeating it.
I read the whole interview and I was a bit surprised by the language too. I thought EB would be more professional in a interview. TV Guide manage to disguise the F word in the piece, but let this swear word go by, which isn’t usually the norm. Both in television and print the convention is that you can say god, you can say damn, but not the two together, so not sure why TV Guide allowed it. Mr. Fairman was merely repeating what TV Guide wrote— so I don’t blame him– it was the editor at TV Guide who should have disguised the word– even if everyone still knows what he said. Perhaps you should direct a comment on the TV Guide page too if really bothers you since they are more in a position to disguised the word in the original article than Mr. Fairman. And there is nothing pollyanna about sticking up for your values, just remember Jesus always corrected others with love.
I think Eric is a bully. I think he will say anything to push his weight around. I don’t like the way he disrespects on so many places twitter and interviews about misunderstandings said about storylines other cast members did not like like that Sharon and Victor hook up train wreck. I still can not believe Sharon case did not get best actress in a lead role this past emmy season. lord knows she deserved it. I feel Sharon Case does every role she is given and nails it but all she gets in hate on all the boards. shame. i love her as a actress and her character. wish sharon can finally get her man.
Chrissy Peter Bergman and Michael Muhney have both expressed their admiration for Ms. Case. And I am in the process of writing a letter to EB and TV Guide let’s just hope EB doesn’t respond with trying to head butt me but then I have a good lawyer in the family.
JFP “likes actors?” Really? Tell that to Anna Lee (Lila Q, GH) who was fired at the age of 90 by JFP. Also, Beverly McKinsee (Alexandra Spaulding, GL) had a few choice words to say about her. Fortunately, BM had the last laugh.
Life is not always fair, and people get let go daily from all types of jobs..
Soap actors know they may be written out, let go, at any moment, it is the way it- people get fired and some decide to leave,,
Perhaps you should count all soap actors that were let go, from ALL the soaps, since day one..
God, I love you, Eric! Thank you for telling it like it is. I couldn’t agree more.
well goddamn there you have it!
Why does he always come across as someone who doesn’t appreciate that he is still employed as a working actor? There are so many actors from “ATWT” and “GL” that would love to simply be on a show. He is simply an actor, a part of an acting company and nothing more. He is entitled to his opinion, but he continues to come across as pompous.
Kill off Victor Newman.
Love him!! He really tells it like it is!!
EB has played the Victor role so long that he has lost touch with reality. He thinks that he is really Victor with the same attitude
Ok here’s one soap fan’s assessment of the current state of Y & R. The character of Sharon is ruined. Period. Throwing in new characters (Avery, Chelsea, Dylan, and the fake Irish chick from GH who’s accusing Adam of rape) with front and center story lines never ends up well. The handling of Jeanne Cooper’s/Mrs. Chancellor’s death has been awesome. Great job! Stop rewriting history (Neil and the mystery death, Summer’s paternity). I love the vets and I do like the soon-to-be-creepy Lauren/Michael/Carmine triangle (wow! Front and center storyline with over 40 actors!). Send the recast brats off to boarding school or to the Paris offices of the family businesses. I’ve hated the character of Adam since day one (as ALWAYS, no reflection upon the actor who portrays him) but he’s seems to be the only man with some guts on the show. John Abbott is an old school man’s man but of course he’s just a ghost. And for Pete’s sake would the person who stole Victoria’s backbone please return it.
Y&R stinks, and it has stank for a long while..
How it stays at #1 for decades. without fail, is nonsense..
Coming from the person who wants JFP to stay on as EP… The ONLY way the show will get better and improve is if she leaves and is replaced by someone who cares about Y&R’s veterans and history.
An actual creative team of Ed Scott & David Shaughnessy as co-EPs and Kay Alden & Jack Smith as co-Head Writers would be completely amazing. No JFP, No Shelly Altman, and DEFINITELY No Jean Passanante.
Josh shouldn’t have quit, period. His storytelling was great, his stories were amazing and he was great being brought back to the Y&R set! It’s a shame to see him go. I just hope whoever comes in keeps the great work going and doesn’t put the show back into a storyline-driven base.
I wrote mt thoughts,earlier about the writing,and he is 100% correct……they have forgotten how to connect the dots ..linking story,characters,history of the show,and creating exciting drama…..there comes a point when actors get to a place,where they want to leave,or their characters have run the tape,doing everything I.e ,M.Stafford,this is my opinion on her departure,not her statement or truth…but with the death of the beloved ,Mrs, Chancellor, the Duchesse, Brock her son gave her that name, Esther,gave her the title of Mrs.C….perhaps they should bring back one of the first stars of the show Laurie lee Brooks
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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?”

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

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

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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