All My Children
EXCLUSIVE: All My Children Matthew Cowles Interview! Here Comes Billy Clyde Tuggle!
Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos
In true soap fashion look, when we recently visited the new All My Children studios in Connecticut, we were in for the shock of our soap life, when we saw none other than Matthew Cowles (A.K.A. Billy Clyde Tuggle) looking the same as when we saw him decades ago strolling in the hallways! We came to find out that Matthew is set for a stunning return to the new AMC in all new streaming episodes starting on Thursday May 16th on Hulu and iTunes.
So, just how will Billy Clyde be a critical part of the story arc? Well, from what we can tell, the former pimp turned born-again-Christian is back to cause trouble including a face-to-face encounter with Dixie Martin (there is no love lost in that department) and look for Tuggle to be instrumental with long time foes, Jesse and Angie, who are trying to find their missing daughter Cassandra, who is now embroiled in a horrific sex-trafficking scheme and scandal!
In this exclusive, and in his first interview back to All My Children, we sat down with the oh-so-talented Cowles to talk about the heyday of AMC (where Billy Clyde was the town pariah), how he managed to make the character one of the most memorable of all-time, and what we can expect in upcoming episodes! Here now is what Matthew had to share!
How did this shocking return come about? How did you end up back here on All My Children so many decades later?
Photo Credit: David Russell/TOLN
MATTHEW: My manager called and asked me if would consider doing Billy Clyde Tuggle on All My Children. I said, “I certainly would!” I didn’t know this format, the Internet format, nor do I have the capability of watching it myself. I am not much of a techie, but I love to play this part! And so I said to my manager, “Yes, I would be interested.” So, I signed the contract and here I am.
Billy Clyde Tuggle is one of the most delicious and quirky roles in the history of soaps! He perpetrated horrible things on the poor citizens of Pine Valley! I so remember the scenes between Billy Clyde and Estelle, played by the amazing Kate Dezina!
MATTHEW: Oh boy, do I remember Kate Dezina! I remember those days, and I can almost remember the dialog of every scene we played. Now that is an exaggeration, but not too far off the moolah. (Laughs)
In your opinion, why is Billy Clyde such a great character?
Courtesy/ABC
MATTHEW: That is because the initial AMC producer, a man called Bud Kloss said, “We would like you, Matthew, to be in charge of the development of this character. If you want to oodle with the lines and tweak them, that’s OK. You are not going to write storyline, but the dialog in your scenes is pretty much in your department.” When you can use the words to prompt the action to get where the character wants to go, it is memorable, and that is for anyone. I was very fortunate.
Now Billy Clyde is back, and from everything we have read from the teasers thus far, he is once again going to be a real troublemaker!
MATTHEW: A “troublemaker”? (Laughs) I suppose that is a good way to describe him as a troublemaker, but he doesn’t perceive it as that, necessarily. But, he takes himself, and is out for himself … first.
When they asked you to come back was it just for a short-term story arc?
MATTHEW: I have no idea what their plan was. I said, “Let’s just do it.” They threw a bunch of numbers at me, but really the numbers are not what’s important.
Long time fans also remember your scenes with Benny Sago, then played by Vasili Bogazianos! They were so tension-filled!
Photo Credit: Getty Images
MATTHEW: This is true! And people do remember him. My wife said to me, “You’re the star.” And my wife, Christine Baranski, is a very successful actress! I don’t make any comparisons. She does The Good Wife, and she is terrific! Oh my goodness, my wife is a good actress. And … she makes beautiful babies!
Prior to landing back on All My Children, what was the most recent acting role you had?
MATTHEW: I did Taming of The Shrew last year and I loved that, with a terrific director, Arin Arbus.
Who have you gotten the opportunity to work with on All My Children? I know for sure your old buds, Debbi Morgan (Angie) and Darnell Williams (Jesse)!
MATTHEW: They are so wonderful. I am supposed to be the archenemy of Jesse, but Jesse was the one who called me “Billy Clyde” the other day, and I could almost throw my arms around his neck and kiss him for that. But that was not in the script, and that would have been very misunderstood, because in the script I was referred to as “Rob Gardner”. That was the code name to keep my return to AMC a secret from everybody. This new style of shooting here is not shot episode-to-episode; the way this is shot is like a jigsaw puzzle! You will have to watch the story. It’s been exciting to do!
Why did Billy Clyde and Jesse become enemies in the first place?
Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos
MATTHEW: They operated on the other side of the fence. He has an ax to grind for Jesse. I am working with some great actors. I worked with an actor by the name of “Thorsten” the other day. Holy Cow! I’m impressed with his strength and humanity, and he is an “actor”! And so too is Darnell and Debbi! You know, I still see a lot of Mark Lamura (Ex-Mark Dalton, AMC) too, and he is doing great.
Matthew, you were part of the heyday of All My Children! What is it like now being back to see the revival of the show?
MATTHEW: Well, I am waiting for Susan Lucci (Erica, AMC) to come back! I enjoyed working with her. She hit me with a bottle once in a scene, a bottle is made of sugar, but there is one hard seam part to it. Susan hit me with the hard part …. she hit me with the seam! (Laughs)
Fans used to be very vocal in their venom towards Billy Clyde! Did you have trouble walking down the street, as some soap stars have encountered in the past, when there is no separation for some fans between reality and fantasy?
Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos
MATTHEW: I think only one or two people that took it seriously would say, “That’s a bad man.” Most people thought that is a funny guy doing unexpected stuff.
What is it about you that makes you so good at playing a type of character like Billy Clyde?
MATTHEW: Every human being has their own strengths that are unique to them. And I just was blessed enough to find out what I was good at. Then, blessed enough to get hired to do something I find great joy in doing.
So AMC fans, what do you think will happen when Billy Clyde arrives on the scene in Pine Valley? Will he be up to no good? Will he turn a new leaf? What did you think of Matthew’s comments on working with Darnell and Debbi again? And getting to step into the shoes again of one of the all-time villains in soaps? Let us know your thoughts!
All My Children
‘All My Children’ Movie Writers for Lifetime Revealed: Ron Carlivati, Jamey Giddens and Leo Richardson
This week began and as reported with a spotlight article on Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos and how their production entity, Milojo, has been teeing up the All My Children reboot with Lifetime.
The L.A. Times featured the married couple, co-hosts of Live with Kelly and Mark, and former All My Children cast members (where they met and fell in love) about their plans to bring two All My Children movies to Lifetime and how they are working with the Agnes Nixon estate to make it come to fruition,
On Wednesday, it was revealed by Daytime Confidential, that All My Children reboot producer, Andrew Stearn handpicked none other than Ron Carlivati (ex-head writer, One Life to Live, General Hospital and Days of our Lives) and Jamey Giddens (who is the new co-head writer of The Young and the Restless, following his tenures on the writing teams of Beyond the Gates and Days of Our Lives), as the two scribes who will bring the first of two of Kelly and Mark’s All My Children movies to the page.
Photo: IMDb
RON CARLIVATI AND JAMEY GIDDENS CONFIRM THEIR BOARDING THE ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIE PROJECT
The second installment is said to be written by primetime writer Leo Richardson whose credits include: Star, Katy Keene and more recently the Penn Badgley (ex-Phillip Chancellor IV, The Young and the Restless) starring series, You.
Richardson also wrote for three years on the U.K.’s long-running soap, EastEnders. All My Children revival fans will recall Richardson’s name was attached as the writer for the first incarnation of the All My Children movies, entitled, Pine Valley.
Ron Carlivati took to X and confirmed he is indeed boarding the All My Children movie project. Carlivati shared, “So excited to share this news! Thanks to Andrew Stearn, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini and the Agnes Nixon estate for entrusting Jamey Giddens and me with the first of two planned All My Children movies for Lifetime! Stay tuned!”
Photo: Jeremy Smith/imageSPACE
Jamey Giddens confirmed DC’s announcement by taking to his account on X and expressing, “I’ve been booked and busy in 2026. Thanks to Andrew Stearn, the Agnes Nixon estate, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos for entrusting Ron Carlivati, and me with the first of two planned All My Children movies for Lifetime!”
Some fans seemed to question how Giddens could be writing for the first All My Children movie at Lifetime, when he is the new co-head writer at The Young and the Restless with Dan O’Connor. Jamey answered that head on via X and explained, “We turned in our All My Children script months ago. My sole focus as of this past Monday, is Genoa City, Wisconsin! #YR”
ERICA KANE, MARIA SANTOS AND HAYLEY AND MATEO SANTOS TO APPEAR IN THE ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIE REVIVAL?
In the planned stories, Susan Lucci’s Erica Kane and Eva LaRue’s Maria Santos will be two characters whose lives we will get to see for the first time since the series was canceled by ABC back in 2011 after 41 years on the air. As well, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos confirmed they will make brief appearances on-screen; one could assume as Hayley and Mateo Santos.
“It’d be wonderful to give the fans something that they’ve been yearning for so many years,” shared Mark Consuelos to the LA Times. “All My Children gave me my family. I met my wife there. It gave me my start in the business. It gave us so much. It would be a dream to be able to give back.”
So, what do you think of Ron Carlivati and Jamey Giddens getting nod to write the All My Children movie #1 script and Leo Richardson #2? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
All My Children
‘All My Children’ Revival Updates: Lifetime EVP Speaks on Why Proposed Movies are Great Fit, Mark Consuelos Wants To ‘Give Back’ to Fans
The All My Children revival via movies at Lifetime is still in the works from former series stars and marrieds, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, through their production company, Milojo.
The co-hosts of Live with Kelly and Mark were featured this week in a Los Angeles Times article which detailed their efforts to bring some of the citizens of Pine Valley back to your screens.
As previously reported, and reaffirmed by the L.A. Times, the All My Children movies will be set in the present day and focus on what beloved characters such as Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) and Maria Santos Gray (Eva LaRue) are doing now. In addition, Kelly Ripa confirmed that she and Mark Consuelos will also appear on screen briefly most likely appearing in their signature soap roles as Hayley and Mateo Santos.
Photo: ABC
ALL MY CHILDREN MOVIES BRING NOSTALGIA THAT CAN BE MADE TO FEEL NEW AGAIN
Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming for A&E, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movie Network said of the All My Children reboot, “Lifetime is always interested in shows that kind of tap into a powerful nostalgia that can be made fresh for today’s audience. There’s a whole generation of women that have missed these stories and these characters.”
As for working with Kelly and Mark on the Lifetime movie versions of the soap, “They’re exactly the kind of partners you want at a brand,” expressed Bryant. “They’re trusted voices because every day they’re talking to their audience, which, a lot of times, is our audience. They bring a real credibility and have an authentic point of view. You meet Kelly and Mark and kind of what you see is what you get, and I think they bring that same authenticity to their development standards.”
Albert Bianchini, executive producer for Milojo, says he knows All My Children is so wildly popular with the fans of daytime. That was punctuated when seeing it in person, and how the energy was off the charts back in January of 2025 when Kelly participated along with Susan Lucci, former head writer, Lorraine Broderick and casting director, Judy Blye Wilson in a conversation with Andy Cohen at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
© Steven Bergman/AFF-USA.COM Credit: AFF/Alamy Live News
“I’ve never seen a crowd like that in my life. People were lined up around the block, recalled the Bianchini. “Everyone wanted to know, ‘When is (All My Children) coming back? We want more.’ We got to see that in real life and Kelly got to feel it in real life, and it made so much sense. I just know that the minute it gets out in the world, people will want more and more and more. There’s just a love there.”
Kelly Ripa added that they are, “working closely with Bob and Sarah Nixon, who are also serving as producers.” She recalled, “She (Agnes Nixon) was so far ahead of her time. She covered topics that weren’t being covered. It was extraordinary the audiences that the show drew, and she served them real stories that were affecting Americans across the country but weren’t necessarily being represented anywhere.”
“It’d be wonderful to give the fans something that they’ve been yearning for so many years,” shared Mark Consuelos. “All My Children gave me my family. I met my wife there. It gave me my start in the business. It gave us so much. It would be a dream to be able to give back.”
THE CANCELLATION AND STOPS AND STARTS OF ALL MY CHILDREN REBOOTS
All My Children aired on ABC from 1970 to 2011. It got a second chance at life when Prospect Park resurrected the show and brought it to The OnLine Network and Hulu for one season in 2013.
Recently, the series made a return through the estate of Agnes Nixon and is streaming internationally on BEONDTV and through their partnership with PlutoTV Canada with episodes starting in 1995. Fans hope original episodes will some day soon be available in the U.S. as well, but that could prove more difficult since ABC owns the rights to the episodes stateside.
Now 13 years later, while there is no word yet on a definitive production start date to the two movies at Lifetime, all the people involved seemed determined to make it come to life.
So, what do you think of the executive vice-president of Lifetime and LMN being enthusiastic about Kelly and Mark’s All My Children movie revivals? Are you wanting to see this come to fruition? Kelly and Mark seem to have made this a very high priority. Do you hope that by 2027 we might be able to get this to the finish the line and into production? Weigh-in via the comment section.
Starting on May 1, All My Children fans in Canada will be able to see classic episodes of the beloved former ABC soap opera when they stream on Pluto TV Canada.
Pluto TV picked-up the All My Children Channel that the Nixon family has created in partnership with BEONDTV +. The show which aired for 41 years on ABC and ended on the network in 2011, had so many memorable storylines and characters; the least of which is the enduring run of Erica Kane played by soap icon, Susan Lucci.
As previously reported, starting with episodes from the year 1995, which was the 25th anniversary of the soap. Pluto TV Canada viewers will be able to catch 8 episodes on repeat per day. With the success of the venture, the Nixons are hopeful that they will bring viewers many more years of the show to come.
Photo: ABC
Sarah Nixon, producer, shared with Michael Fairman TV exclusively, “We are thrilled that Pluto TV has launched All My Children in Canada! Let’s hope the engagement from our incredibly loyal fans across the border will encourage ABC to bring it to the U.S.! We share what Aggie (Agnes Nixon) always felt, that it is the enthusiasm and love from the fans that has kept this legacy beloved and relevant – to this day!”
In addition, 0ne week ago, during Susan Lucci’s visit to Los Angeles promoting her book La Lucci, she was joined by her former Pine Valley castmates, Rebecca Budig (ex-Greenlee, AMC, now Taylor, B&B) and Eva LaRue (ex-Maria, AMC) and the trio posed for a pic. At that time, LaRue shared via Instagram, “NEW All My Children channel streaming classic episodes 24/7 now on Pluto TV Canada! Fingers crossed to watch soon on Pluto US.”
That was also confirmed this week by TV Watercooler’s Jeevan Brar who took to X and expressed, “The All My Children channel begins streaming this Friday, May 1 on Pluto TV Canada.
So, Canadian viewers, excited about Pluto TV’s All My Children channel? United States fans, hopeful from Sarah’s message that perhaps soon, we can see the beloved soap once again as well? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Should be fun having Billy Clyde back on AMC! He was one villain we loved to hate!!!
One day in 1977 I walked into the kitchen of our ‘hippie farmhouse’ in Holsopple, PA. and there sitting at the kitchen table was this wild looking guy. What a fun time it was knowing Mathew during the filming of Slapshot in J-Town, PA. I have followed Mathew’s carreer since then.
Thanks – Billy Clyde was the best thing that ever happened to All My Children. I stopped watching after his character left.
He will be the pimp trying to pimp Cassandra!
This is great! We just need to get Tad and Erica back now. Tad is gonna need to protect Dixie from Billy Clyde!
I love it! Welcome home Mr. William Clyde Tuggle! We missed you and the soap world is ecstatic you’re back!
Haha…..if I had wishes to use I would also ask for the return of Mark Lamura as Mark Dalton; ahhh, the memories!
Billy Clyde is my all time favorite soap villian. I cannot believe he is coming back. I am so thrilled. Matthew Cowles- Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Billy Clyde was a mean man but you always wanted to see what he would do next. I can’t believe he has turned over a new leaf but will be great to find out. My question is we saw him die. There was a body. Tad was the body that disappeared. Maybe I’m wrong but I can still see his body laying on the rocks. It should be exciting having him around again. And by the way I have a brother who could be Billy’s brother.
The return of Billy Clyde Tuggle will be epic!!! I was so excited when I heard the news. I may not be able to wait until lunch on the 16th to watch…might have to get up early to see his return. Loving the new show!
What a great character–so glad Matthew Cowles is coming back. Wish ABC had not taken AMC and OLTL off air, but glad they are back on the Net. Too bad so many people are shortsighted. A serial with great actors/characters will always endure.
Bring it home! Matthew Cowles//Billy Clyde..
You are da`man!
There’s a great scene on youtube of Natalie (Kate Collins) banishing Billy Clyde from the hospital as he is attempting to see Donna. Kind of makes you wonder how Billy Clyde Tuggle and Janet Green would have gotten along LOL
That would be an interesting duo!
I love the character of Billy Clyde! I saw the sweet part of him when he was with Estelle. He just cracked me up half the time. Loved Benny Sago too. His relationship with Pheobe Tyler (the Dutchess was what he called her) was so sweet. Cant wait to see Billy Clyde on AMC again! Great coup, Prospect Park!
I am simply delighted that “Billy Clyde” will be returning to Pine Valley! Thank you for another fantastic interview Mr. Fairman.
I am simply gushing over this news! Matthew Cowles is one of my all time favorite actors from AMC. I have always loved to hate Billy Clyde Tuggle and yet, looked forward to see what he would do next. It was a pleasant surprise to see him at the premiere and I ended up in tears after we talked. Even though he LIED and told me no when I asked if he was returning to Pine Valley 😉 I understand why he did – and I am glad for the surprise. I can’t wait to see him again!
Daaaang… I’m old! I remember when Billy Clyde first popped on the scene — he became Donna’s pimp after Tyrone (the wonderful Roscoe Orman) fled the scene. And, of course, there were Donna, Estelle, and Lettie Jean (Delphi Harrington) — the hookers of Locust Street. This should be fun!
Billy Clyde???? One word…HILARIOUS. This spells big fun and great summer entertainment!
I have been waiting for 23 yrs for his return. If tad survid the btidge fallc, so couldid bc. I loved his scenes with phoebe and adam. I remember when he buried estelle alive!
This reboot keeps getting better and better! Welcome back, Matthew! You made me laugh and cringe at the same time. I hope your alter ego, Billy Clyde, has his ‘persuadiator’ with him!
I love billy Clyde’s return and have fond memories of him & donna beck. I hope he gets to stay a very long time ! I want to see him and Dixie together! Oh…I have a brother who could be his brother! Seriously . He acts the same way all the time! Xxx BCT 4-ever!
Matthew Cowles MADE the character of Billy Clyde Tuggle what it was. No one else could have ever played that part as well. He was a such an excellent actor, and this comes a such a shock. So very very sad. Sending my sympathy to his family. RIP Matthew!
So sad to read the news of Matthew Cowles untimely death. So glad I got to see him and Billy Clyde one more time last year during the late lamented reboot of All My Children.