General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Laura and Kevin Adopt Baby Ace, Adam Huss Exits For Now as Nikolas: What Do You Think of the Story Point?
Last week, Adam Huss wrapped his current stint as GH’s Nikolas Cassadine when he was sent to prison for his crimes of kidnapping Esme. That spelled the end of the actor’s most recent run on the ABC soap opera.
However, in the story, that left who would take care of his baby boy, Ace. Before he was whisked away to the slammer, Nikolas brought Ace home to his mother, Laura (Genie Francis), for her to take care of him. All of this on the heels of the presumed deaths of both Esme and Spencer.
Now on Monday’s episode of General Hospital, a knock on the door at Laura’s changes her life and Kevin’s (Jon Lindstrom). Laura’s brother Martin (Michael E. Knight) arrives with adoption papers concerning Ace. Laura tells Martin that they are only watching Ace as temporary guardians until Nikolas gets out of prison.

Courtesy/ABC
However, Martin explains he had a conversation with Nikolas and the best way to make sure nothing happens to Ace is for Laura to become his permanent custodian. Laura is in shock. Martin says Nikolas gave him permission to start the paperwork, now it’s up to her.
After Martin leaves, Kevin assures Laura he is on board with it, if she wants to adopt the little boy. Laura tells Kevin that she knows he didn’t sign up to be a baby daddy at this point in his life. Laura says this is a huge responsibility. Kevin says that he knows adopting a child at this stage of their lives is very complicated.

Courtesy/ABC
In the end, Kevin feels it’s something they should do together and for Ace. On that not, Laura says to Ace, “Welcome home, baby!”
So, what do you think of the story? Are you glad Laura and Kevin are adopting Ace? Will this spell trouble in their marriage? If Laura becomes the ‘mother’ figure to Ace, will there down the line be a court battle for custody of the little boy from either a ‘alive’ Esme or a free’d Nikolas? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Interesting plot twist although I doubt Nikolas would ever agree to let his son be adopted.
So, instead of bringing on any of Laura’s 3 adult children, they’re going to give her and Kevin a toddler? What will Ace call them? Grandma & Uncle Kevin? What nanny is going to raise Ace with a mayor and busy psychiatrist for parents? Who takes care of Ace when Laura mysteriously disappears for a few months each summer?
Allegedly, both are blood relatives of the poor kid (who doesn’t even have an actual name yet) so it seems like the best option available.
Nikolas is in prison, and so is Heather, who is also a lunatic. And Ryan, of course, is down here in Hell. Esme is not, yet, but you probably won’t be seeing her again for a while. She might be back when Spencer is.
My biggest fear is somehow Heather will escape, she’s good at that and kidnap Ace and our new “man of God ” will help her, omg, what a pair
It was ridiculous we didn’t get 2 more days of Nikolas. Martin convincing him to give up his parental rights was too important to have been handled in an offscreen conversation. Likewise, it makes no sense that Laura wouldn’t go the jail and talk to Nikolas, HER SON, face to face before making any final decision.
Also, I guess this means no onscreen trial? Will Nikolas just disappear into the legal system? That’s not really how it works!
Looks like they’re giving Nikolas the Steven Lars Webber/Matt Hunter insta-prison treatment.
Agreed – they should’ve had a few more scenes with Huss.
Those are two characters I would like to see return to GH. I loved Steven and Matt.
I suppose it was done off screen because the actor who currently plays Nicholas cannot handle the material. He just isn’t good enough to play Nicholas. You watch, when Nick gets out of prison it will be a new Nicholas!
Agreed. Huss is hot but being hysterical and like you are gonna have a full meltdown 24/7 is not acting. I hope the new Nik is hot but has actual acting training.
The way they handle trials, I’m glad they didn’t do an on-screen trial. My expectations of realism is low, but GH does such a horrible job with courtroom scenes, I’m happy to see them bypass a trial
I would have liked those scenes to play out too. Adam Huss is working on a film so maybe they wrote it this way to work around his schedule. If they don’t take this opportunity to recast the role, they don’t intend to bring Nicholas back full-time or they could be waiting for Huss to complete the film and then bring him back. I’m all for redeeming Nicholas, but aside from apologizing to his son, mother, and Ava, he needs to make things right with Liz and Hayden. Last I remember Victor killed Hayden’s mom and kidnapped Hayden. Is that right?
I’d Cyrus can be released from jail.. certainly Nichloas has an out too.
I just want Adam Huss back on screen is more to the point.
This is bull, he goes to jail for keeping his unborn baby safe. Esme broke into his home and then tried to blackmail him for money. Esme killed his older son Spencer. They made him out the bad guy. When he was also a victim of Ava actions. He was in a coma no one is bringing that up including Nickolas we want justice for him too. He should be raising his son not his mother. And the way the writers wrote Laura is horrible they need to redeem them both get Nicholas out of jail he has to find Spencer. I hope the new writers will fix the unbalanced and unbelievable writing
YES TRUTH
First of all GH does not deal in logic all that much. Why bring Nicholas back on canvas just to have him sent away again?!? Makes no sense, plus why should he have to pay for imprisioning that lunatic Esme? He did Port Charles a favor! Also this is all B.S. anyway Esme is no more dead than Spencer! So expect a hot summer when both rise from the grave! I hope that they spring Nicholas from jail ,i love the dark prince ! He needs to be on screen. Especially when Spencer and Esme return!
TRUTH
O G and Satan bring up very good points, as usual. Laura not even having a talk with Nikolas before this adoption thing is crazy and Spencer will certainly want Ace when he gets back, and Esme too if she’s found when Spencer is., he’ll be over a year when Spencer returns and as far as from what I know, kidnapping usually gets life in prison, daddy who?
Oh Violet, don’t you get the feeling that this was a spur of the moment story ploy? It reminds me of the finale of the great movie “The Candidate” when Robert Redford turns to Peter Boyle after his surprise election victory and says, “What do we do now?” I’m no fan of nuNikolas but this move just reeks of desperation.
Sosphound, this beats me but I felt that they were desperate to get rid of Adam Huss, so dumped him at the last minute in favor of this whole new adoption SL. To me, Laura and Kevin should just remain grandparents because when/if Nikolas and Esme return, there will surly be a custody fight.
Stupid story line. Very disappointing that they killed Esme off and have people think Nicholas is dead when we all know he’s shooting a movie.
Time to think outside the box and not keep using the same storylines.
Get rid of heather
Are you kidding? She’s one of the most interesting characters that affects so many other people.
I’m worried about Heather Webber escaping again.
I beleive that story is ridiculous the writer do not know what to write anymore.. i do not like this situation Laura and Kevin adopting baby Ace make know sense. Please change your scenario.
Foolishness
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”

Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos

Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”

Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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