Next week on General Hospital, Gavin Houston returns as Portia’s (Brooke Kerr) brother, Zeke.  When viewers last saw Zeke, he was in Port Charles for Portia’a wedding to Curtis (Donnell Turner) back in February.

Photo: ABC

Fast-forward to June and Zeke is back. However, from the looks of it, Zeke might find love this time around, or is it something more casual?

According to preview in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest, when Zeke settles in at the Metro Court he grabs a drink at the pool, and while there sees a very attractive woman.

Photo: ABC

Houston shared on the encounter, “He sees this attractive woman and tries to pick her up by being his fun-loving, charming self.  He buys her a drink and there is definitely some chemistry there.”

However, apparently this woman is someone who his sister, Portia, knows well.  The smart money is that he is hitting on Jordan, who has just walked out on a conversation with her ex-husband, Curtis.  This, following the two kissing and Curtis going back to his marriage with Zeke’s sister. But could the woman Zeke is impressed by be someone else?

Share your thoughts on Zeke’s return, and who you think will be the woman he is interested in via the comment section below.

June is Pride Month, the time when across the U.S and the world there are celebrations and commemorations to recognize all who identify as LGBTQ and their allies.

Daytime soap operas have had a rocky road when it comes to the representation of same-sex couples.  The soaps have been at one time leaders in portraying key social issues of our time, as well as treading lightly on other subjects, as to its concerns to ‘turn-off’ its core audiences.

When you look back at the groundbreaking first same-sex weddings, and the first gay kiss, the soaps have come far in some ways in their representations of gay characters, but there is always work to be done to serve and to shed light on the under-represented.

As we reflect back to the then and the now, which LGBTQ soap supercouple remains your favorite and had made a lasting impact? Let’s take a look at four duos who captivated many viewers.

Nuke  – Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer – As the World Turns

Van Hansis (Luke) and Jake Silbermann (Noah) were a key part of the evolution of, and representation of LGBTQ character on the soaps.  ‘Nuke’, as they were known as, became the first gay male soap couple to share an on-screen kiss back in 2007.  ATWT also became known as the first soap to depict a fully realized romantic male couple as an integral part of the show.  There was plenty of backlash along the way for the long-awaited kiss to happen, but when it did, the show moved forward to tell their love story.

Otalia – Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera Aitoro – Guiding Light

When Crystal Chappell (Olivia) and Jessica Leccia (Natalia) began to play the love story of Otalia, they had to show their affection by a kiss on the head, or holding hands.  It took quite some time for GL to move forward to have two women, two moms, no less, share a lip lock. The complicated love story featured Natalia being conflicted to face her true romantic feelings for Olivia, because of her value system and religions upbringing, and that made this all the more riveting and frustrating at the same time.  In the end, the rabid fan base for this duo was so great that Chappell wound up creating her own series, Venice, to honor and serve them, remaining one of the LGBTQ communities greatest allies.

Kish – Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish – One Life to Live

In 2009, One Life to Live’s Kyle Lewis (Brett Claywell) was an out lab tech in Llanview, who back in college had a relationship with Officer Oliver Fish (Scott Evans).  It imploded when Oliver denied he was gay.  For years, Oliver remained in the closet, before finally coming out to himself and Kyle.

Kish had been a big success with the media and One Life’s gay audience. LGBTQ-advocacy groups honored the couple and the story.  However, Kish was cut short when the network felt that the data showed that the storyline was not resonating with the show’s core audience.

WilSon – Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis – Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives delivered daytime’s first-ever gay male wedding in 2014, between Will (then played by Guy Wilson) and Sonny (then played by Freddie Smith).

In an interview with EW, Days of our Lives executive producer, Ken Corday shared on the union, “Will and Sonny have been together for a while and it was the natural progression of their love story. We didn’t feel like there was anything we could or couldn’t do, we treated them like any other couple on the canvas and continued to grow their romance as such.”

In addition, the coming out story of Will Horton was critically praised and noteworthy for the performances of Chandler Massey, who won three Daytime Emmys for his work in the Outstanding Younger Actor category 2012, 2013 and 2014.  Freddie Smith also won in the same category in 2015.  Will has been played over the years by Chandler Massey and Guy Wilson, while Sonny has been portrayed by Freddie Smith and Zach Tinker.

There have been several other key LGBTQ couples throughout the course of daytime history including All My Children’s Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Reese (Tamara Braun). These two characters were involved in the first same-sex lesbian wedding on daytime. Problem was … Reese kissed Zach (Thorsten Kaye) before the wedding, making this infuriating for viewers at home.

Other notable LGBTQ couples through the years have included: Bianca and Maggie on All My Children, Mariah and Tessa of The Young and the Restless played bv Camryn Grimes and Cait Fairbanks, Maya and Rick on The Bold and the Beautiful, Lucas and Brad on General Hospital and others.

Which couple do you think has had the most lasting impact on the history of LGBTQ representation on daytime soap operas? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The hottest young duo on daytime drama these days belongs to General Hospital.  The couple known as ‘Sprina’ played by Nicholas Chavez (Spencer) and Tabyana Ali (Trina), is being given plenty of non-stop intrigue and drama and romance, much to the delight of their fans, who just can’t get enough of them.

In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands everywhere Friday, Chavez and Ali weigh-in on all the latest developments and recent airshows including: the reading of Victor’s will, what to do about Esme and baby Ace, the action-adventure scenes in ‘Greenland’ and the Haunted Star, and most notably, that emotional leap from Trina into Spencer’s arms when he turned up alive!

Ali told SOD on her preparation for the moment: “I did a couple of jumps and held a baby, and that was about it!”

Courtesy/ABC

Chavez added, “That is my favorite ‘Sprina’ scene, Spencer is walking toward Trina and Trina breaks into a full sprint towards him, jumps into his arms and they kiss.  I’ve always wanted to do a moment like that, you know what I mean?” Ali said, “I really loved that scene, too. It was just so fulfilling.”

When addressing what each of them would like to say to their lively and constant fan base, Tabyana expressed; “I would just say we love you, we appreciate you, thank you for all of your support and thank you for not only being fans, but turning into family.”

Nick added, “I co-sign all of that. Every single word.”

Photo: ABC

So, if you are a ‘Sprina” fan, what makes this couple so special and swoon-worthy for you? What do you hope happens next for Trina and Spencer in story? Let us know in the comment section below.