General Hospital
EXCLUSIVE: GH’s Rory Gibson Reflects on Michael’s Heartbreaking Goodbye to Daisy, “I Cried Reading That Script!”
On the Wednesday, July 16th episode of General Hospital, Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) had to prepare himself to say his goodbyes to his newborn daughter, Daisy, and her mother, Sasha Corbin (Sofia Mattson) as they get set to leave Port Charle to start a life away from the recent drama and troubles; where someone has been targeting the little bundle of joy.
As GH viewers know, that someone is actually Michael’s ex-wife Willow (Katelyn MacMullen), who revealed in a flashback that she wanted to make Sasha and Michael suffer, like she has when she lost full custody of her children via the judges ruling (where we later learned the judge was paid-off.
After Sasha says her tearful goodbyes to Nina (Cynthia Watros) and Danny (Asher Antonyzyn), she goes upstairs to pack at the Quartermaines leaving her daughter in Michael’s arms, where he tries to be strong, but is struggling at how to let go of his daughter, whom he may never see again. However, in that moment, Sasha is watching without Michael noticing her and she is extraordinarily touched.
Courtesy/ABC
Michael Fairman TV chatted exclusively with Rory Gibson for a full-length conversation now on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel were they discussed how Gibson decided to handle the heartbreaking scenes.
A FATHER/DAUGHTER BOND
Rory explained, “It was interesting because it ended up going differently than I expected it to and differently than I had planned it to. That’s kind of just the name of the game with acting. I, so badly, wanted it to be this very broken, devastating thing. I think to a degree it still is just given the context of the scene. But in the moment, I’m holding this baby. It’s the same baby that we had been using for quite awhile. I had kind of grown attached to this baby because they were always smiling back up at me and there was a good connection there. So, I was holding the baby and and doing the scene and I couldn’t help but smile a couple times even through the sadness of the scene. I’m interested to see how that plays out.”
Courtesy/ABC
On soap operas, often little babies can be distracting for an actor when they have to do a heavy emotional scene such as this, when they might fuss or look the wrong way, or even cry at the wrong time, but Gibson took it all in stride for the big scenes, sharing, “It threw me, maybe, but not in anyway that was bad. If anything, I think it might’ve lended itself to the scene a little bit, because the baby was sound asleep and looked so peaceful. I wanted to have this kind of like, guttural reaction, but then you’re in Michael-mode, and he’s not going to upset his baby and ruin this moment that he has with her. So in my mind, it really did lend itself to the scene. Daisy was just so quiet and peaceful and was just this perfect little angel. I just held her and we had that moment and it was really nice.
FINDING OUT IN THE SCRIPT
When Gibson first learned of Michael having to say goodbye to his child, it was difficult. Rory recalled, “It was a hard one. Reading that scene, the days leading up to it, usually I’m able to get through the scripts, and kind of gauge where the feelings will be. But the feelings just came with that one, I cried while reading that script. It really hit me. Sophia and I talked about it and she had a very similar situation where she’s like, ‘I read this last night, it like broke me.’ It’s a sad scene.”
Courtesy/ABC
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
Ultimately, the question becomes, can Michael hold up his end of the bargain and stay away from his daughter and Sasha? Rory weighed-in, “I’m not sure if they end up going down that route because as of right now, the reason that they’re sending them off is because Michael and Sasha feel that they’re being targeted in some way. So, I feel like probably, for their safety, he probably wouldn’t go see them. That’s what I would imagine would happen. That’s probably why this feels so devastating at the moment, because in his mind he’s like, ‘I don’t know when I get to see them again, I don’t know if I’m going to see them again.’ So, I think that’s adding to the severity of the situation.
Rory also had nothing but praise for Sophia Mattsson and the incredible performances she has given, relating, “Sophia is just one of the loveliest people that I’ve ever met in my life. She’s incredible, and she’s so talented, and I love, love, love working with her.”
With Michael having so much to contend with as Drew ramps up his plan to make Michael look like an unfit father, and his ex-wife gunning to move up the visitation rights hearing, Rory spoke on what he thinks will happen next, his GH co-stars, becoming Michael Corinthos and taking over the part from Chad Duell, and more in our latest interview now featured on the Michael Fairman Channel. You can check it out below.
Now let us know, what did you think of Michael’s goodbye to Daisy? Do you think by week’s end Sasha and Daisy will make their exit from Port Charles? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
Mr Fairman, you are so right that Rory Gibson’s eyes and expressions bring a new depth to Michael. Great interview.
Yes. And I appreciate how he errs on the side of understated emotions. He spoke of how Michael couldn’t have a full blown emotional melt down while Daisy was sleeping. He was able to compensate with the emotions glinting from his tearful eyes and with his gut wrenching monologue delivered in a soft voice. It was the right call and it packed a powerful wallop.
This is a winning recast. Mr. Gibson was denied doing good work at Y&R where his character Noah could have been a disruptor, coming home and pursuing the very un-Newman profession of art.
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.
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