General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Michael Admits on the Stand How He Feels About Drew, “I Hate Him”
The Tuesday, January 6 episode of General Hospital was all about Alexis’ (Nancy Lee Grahn) plan to make Michael (Rory Gibson) look like the guilty party and the the person that had motive to shoot Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison), in order to get her client and Michael’s ex-wife, Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) exonerated for attempted murder charges.
In the main thrust of the story, Jacinda (Paige Herschell) confirms she was with Ezra Boyle (Daniel Cosgrove), the night Drew was shot and not Michael. Tracy (Jane Elliot) is bamboozled by Alexis when she shows her, and only her, a file that says it contains security footage from around Drew’s house the night of the shooting, prompting Tracy to admit she saw Michael near the house at the time of the shooting. In actuality, Alexis played Tracy and had no actual footage.
When it was time for Michael to take the stand, as all eyes are on him in the courtroom, he explains why he was outside Drew’s house at the time of the shooting: “I was going to ask Drew to keep his distance from Willow, so that she could see the kids again. I parked on Crestview Lane. stepped out of my car. and then my phone rang. It has a special ring tone I had given to my son, Wiley, so I knew it was him, and it stopped me in my tracks.” (That ring tone was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”)
Courtesy/ABC
TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
Michael continued, “I heard my son’s ringtone and i thought to myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ Standing in the rain like an idiot, and I realized talking to Drew wasn’t going to change anything. I knew a confrontation with Drew would probably make things worse for me and my kids, so I got in my car and I left.”
After his testimony and outside the courtroom, Trina (Tabyana Ali) and Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) think they have realize that Michael has to be the shooter and is lying, because since they were hiding in Drew’s house (after breaking into the safe to get the incriminating evidence Drew was holding over Portia’s head) they heard, the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” ringtone play.
Courtesy/ABC
NATHAN BREAKS THE CHAIN OF EVIDENCE
Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), who is beside himself that Michael could have lied to him, has a heart to heart with Nathan (Ryan Paevey) at the PCPD, where he brings up his guilt from years ago when Michael shot and killed Claudia Zacchara was sent to prison, and then brutally raped. The acting police commissioner believes if he would not have convinced his brother to turn himself in, Michael would not be the person he is today after all he endured.
Meanwhile, we are getting a clue that “Nathan” can’t really be “Nathan” when Dante calls him out for breaking a chain of evidence in another case, where he should have known better as a seasoned cop. Nathan plays it off as he’s just rusty from 7 years away from the force, but that little nugget indicates that signs are pointing away from this being the real Nathan.
So, what do you think about Michael’s testimony? Do you think that someone else has the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” ring tone that was at the scene of the crime that shot Drew? Could it have been Wiley? Does Willow have the same ringtone? And what of Nathan’s misstep with the chain of evidence? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section. But first, check out the scene when Alexis was able to trick Tracy to admitting the whereabouts of Michael on the night of Drew’s shooting below.
Tracy will get her revenge in due time. Look out Alexis – and Martin, if he’s the one who overheard her conversation with Michael in the kitchen.
Wake me when this is over.
I think this storyline would have been over sooner, but GH did their tribute to Leslie and had Erica Slazek’s storyline it got on the back burner for a few months. It’s moving faster now. I think it might be Alexis. The shadow has kind of a ponytail in the back ground. She could have done it. and have the same ringtone as Michael’s for Scout. I think there a twist in this storyline that hasn’t been told. If it was Michael, I think he would have been a better shot. JMO
Well, Willow is the shooter after all, and it looks like she did it as herself and not as an alter as I had surmised. The fact that she could so cooly lie under oath shows she may have a darker side than Drew. Speaking of whom, Drew once again served up some much needed laughs becoming hysterical and shrill on the stand with his eyes popping out. Juxtapose that with the calm, almost bemused look on Michael’s face, and what you have is a nice mediation between writing, direction and acting. Well done.
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.
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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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.
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Kicks Bill to the Curb … for Now
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers
B&B’s Sydney Bullock Weighs In on Future of Dylan and Will: ‘I Think She Can Hold on to Him for Awhile’ (Exclusive)
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run
DANCING WITH THE STARS: A Shocking Elimination on Grammy Night Leaves Ballroom Silenced
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THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Episodes From New Co-Head Writers, Jamey Giddens and Dan O’Connor, Begin to Air
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos
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THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Katie Kicks Bill to the Curb … for Now
B&B’s Sydney Bullock Weighs In on Future of Dylan and Will: ‘I Think She Can Hold on to Him for Awhile’ (Exclusive)
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