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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Spencer is Rocked When He learns Nikolas Slept With Esme; Ava Gets the Hook

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

Nicholas Alexander Chavez in all probability just nailed his second Daytime Emmy with a gut-wrenching performance as Spencer Cassadine on Friday’s episode of General Hospital. Back in June of this year, Chavez took home the Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series award at the 49th annual Daytime Emmys ceremonies.

Friday’s much-talked out performance came after Spencer walked in on a moment where Ava (Maura West) was getting into a fight with Nikolas (Marcus Coloma), over him sleeping with Esme (Avery Pohl).  An upset Ava tells Spencer that Nikolas betrayed her with Esme.  As they bicker in front of Spencer, Nikolas puts the blame on Ava, claiming she wanted to destroy any chance of a relationship with his son.  Then, Nikolas goes so far as to bring up the late Kiki, which leads to an Ava bitch-slap across the face of Nikolas. Ava then heads out leading to the highly-anticipated showdown between Spencer and Nikolas.

Courtesy/ABC

In tears, Spencer demands to know how long Nikolas and Esme were having an affair, but Nikolas swears it was one time, and a horrible mistake. Nikolas tries to justify his actions by pointing out that Esme told him that she had broken up with Spencer.  Appalled, that his father would sleep with his supposed girlfriend, Spencer goes on to say that he had a plan to keep Esme close all in his efforts to save Trina (Tabyana Ali) from going to prison.

Now, beginning to get angry over his father’s betrayal, Spencer accuses Nikolas of all of this being a revenge-plot against him.  Although Nikolas says there was no plot, Spencer goes in on him saying lying about it and covering it up was wrong.  Nikolas rationalizes all, by saying he did not want to hurt Spencer when the two of them had finally seemed to heal old wounds.  However, Spencer brings up the deepest wound … that he let him believe that his father was dead for three years!

Then in a heartbreaking moment, Spencer admits Esme did not matter to him, but his father, Nikolas, did.  However, Spencer is done with Nikolas saying nothing will ever close the gap between them in the now or ever, and walks out.

Courtesy/ABC

Elsewhere, Ava is drinking and comes upon a lethal argument between Austin (Roger Howarth) and Mason (Nathanyael Grey) near the picnic barbecue, where Mason grabbed a knife and was holding it to Austin’s throat, with very threatening words. It appears that Ava overheard them and then makes her presence known when she has a chilly conversation with the two of them, before she exits. Next, Mason realizes Ava must be stopped and can’t risk having her saying anything about what he thinks she overheard in his fight with Austin.

When we go back to Spencer, he has been guzzling down beers at the picnic. When Nikolas, then Victor (Charles Shaughnessy), arrive on the scene, Spencer yells at his father and spits on the ground and exits saying that he has had enough of Nikolas.  Victor questions Nikolas as to what has happened, and Nikolas blames it all on Ava.

As we come to the conclusion of the episode, Ava heads to the boathouse, and later is attacked by a grappling hook right through her side! But whodunit? That tis’ the question!

With Friday’s show, Nick Chavez has been named for the second week in a row, Michael Fairman TV’s, Power Performance of the Week.

So, what did you think of Nicholas Alexander Chavez’s work in his scenes with Marcus Coloma? Are you glad Spencer knows of Nikolas’ cover-up over sleeping with Esme? Who do you think hooked Ava? Share your thoughts and theories in the comment section below.

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I was certain this performance would get performance of the week and it is so richly deserved! (: Second Emmy indeed, this was a superb performance, full of nuanced emotions and earned tears. Bravo!

Maura was great too – my guess is that ESME is the one who attacked her….

Amazing performance—yesss! We do think alike, Richard, my first thought was Esme—and I said so on another site. Who else could it have been? Ava does have a few disgruntled ‘enemies”—-
I hear Nelle is returning, but her nemesis is Carly ( in my dreams)—- soooo…
We shall see. I only hope this does not get dragged on and on and on.

Stellar performances by NAC, MC, MW and CS! It was a Friday worthy show, indeed, thanks to the raw emotions that lit up the screen; especially from NAC. Outstanding all the way, he is!

Great news for wonderful Nicholas Chavez and another out-of-the-ballpark performance. Not so great for his dad, who looked like he was dealing with a hangnail, not a family tragedy. I guess it’s hard to play guilty, because I sure wasn’t convinced Nikolas was sorry for the deed, just the comeuppance. Across the yard, I think the “hooking” of Ava was reprehensible. There is plenty of ugly violence against women in media already (not to mention life); these writers seem to want to perpetrate it, just as they did years back with the murders of Kiki and Sabrina. A simple konk on the head accomplishes the same thing. If I want this level of violence, I’ll turn on a Scorsese or Tarantino movie. It has no place on daytime.

I agree with you about Nikolas’s really ugly and pathetic response. He takes no responsibility for the awful things he does to others. A “hangnail” is exactly right, and he feels entitled to be forgiven by Ava – and Spencer – simply because he wants it, not because he has earned it.

I just don’t want anything bad to happen to Ava because I love and adore her and I love and adore Maura too!

We all know Ava’s not relocating to Hell anytime soon. So far she’s survived cancer, at least one fall of that infamous Windemere parapet, a fire that burned most of her body, being nearly strangled by AJ (after she tried to shoot him, but her gun jammed up)and being Ryan Chamberlain’s girlfriend. Among other things a Devil probably forgot about by now. She’s got more lives than 666 cats, apparently. So while the hooking may have been brutal, I would say it was done to show the mentality of the person who assaulted her.

If it’s Esme, we already knew she was psychotic, and that she comes by it genetically through her daddy Ryan. If it’s FrAustin’s cousin Mason (does he have a twin brother named Dixon?) then the intent is probably the same, since he was almost ready to stab a blood relative with a steak knife…until Ava interrupted him. He seemed rather determined to go after her for that, though it seemed to be just a little bit of an overreaction on his part, since she didn’t really hear enough of his conversation with FrAustin to have any idea what their nefarious criminal agenda might be (to be fair, NONE of us have heard enough from this skinhead creep to know that, really)

Certainly don’t think it was Spencer…. if he was angry enough to attack anybody at that point, it would have been his father, and not Ava.

I agree that the hook was gratuitous. I am assuming that the hook underscores the character of the assailant. On another note, Nicholas can exhibit a whole range of intense emotions without hamming it up. On the other hand, Marcus is a one note actor who just stands there gap mouthed and slack jawed while Nicholas and Maura act circles around him.

I know, Harry. I feel bad saying it because I genuinely like Marcus. He held up okay with just Maura West but with this powerhouse Spencer in the mix, poor Nikolas becomes little more than sexy eye candy. Heck, even a dazed and confused Elizabeth acted him off the screen at the picnic. Maybe he’s disappointed that the character has become, as Ava put it, a weak spineless coward.

This young man is a superstar and I see big things in his future. What an amazing performance and it has Emmy written all over it.

Shari, I agree. Nicholas Chevaz was so good yeaterday.He really does remind me when Jonathan Jackson was on. I see 2nd Emmy for Nicholas. And of course, Maura nailed it as always. I believe it was Esme.

This thing with Ava seems like the work of only one madman we know,although he claims to love her,I bet he’s escaped now that Esme isn’t there for him. Speaking of Esme I don’t know if she’s that vicious, but very capable and blames Ava Iam sure, for their last go around. I know it wasn’t Nickolas, he hasn’t got the guts for something that brutal. It looks like Austin’s cousin but I doubt it.

I doubt it was Esme because she knows that Ryan would never forgive her. I believe it was ryan. After all, he is a doctor he knows how to injure without killing. I believe he would love to see Ava suffer although he would never want her to die

I agree, Violet, regarding Esme. Her games are psychological and sneaky; I could see her poisoning someone (again) but not a fishhook. If it IS Austin’s cousin, then I really need to question why we need MORE violence-oriented people. Aren’t Ryan, Miss Wu, and Sonny’s mob enough? Either way, I’m already turned off by the way this began. A foul taste lingers.

Spencer is a great young actor, played his role so real like. When you found him he is phenomenal.

I fell asleep during Friday’s show. From MF’s summary and fan comments I think I’m glad I did. What a horrible, dark story this has turned into for day or nighttime. And for all “Ava the cat” has done I have no sympathy no matter how well Maura plays the part. And “poor, poor” Spencer…grow up, get over yourself. Same for Michael. Nicholas is an embarrassment to the Cassadine “tradition.” The only one who amuses me out of all of the characters on GH is Leo and his love potion.

rose
I love your take on this, I also do not feel sympathy for any of the Cassadines. Now the thing that has been bugging me. Not that I really know any Socialites, but I can’t imagine them just literally opening up their home to let anyone just come in, wander all over ,in and out all over the grounds, etc and the lady of the house, in this case Olivia, prepping, cooking, serving, etc.Its ridiculous! Don’t they usually have a venue with Caterers? Good thing you missed the horrible thing with Ava, I think Ryan is loose, and its sonething he’d do. but another thing I wonder why people like this would have these grappling hooks just hanging right there where anyone could grab one. They must have some big fish in their lake ,or whatever. Anyway, thanks for “listening” to my griping.

A Star is Born! He channels James Dean with his ability to play a vulnerable and hurt little boy and then seamlessly moves on to externalize that sadness into the anger of a man.

Well Spencer is in prison,wonder if we’ll see all his problems he has there as they have with other Characters who’ve been there, especially M8chael who was violated by that burly prisoner.

Really can’t see these writers going that direction. Maybe in act of redemption, Great Uncle Cyrus protects Spencer – making Laura forever grateful.

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‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s GH Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned,

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where they were previously, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. And Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, “Well, so much for that!”

Fast-forward to 2025, and “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said we’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth, My internal monologue is going ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is. or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprongna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric and a big fan base with with Jason and you know you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is down 100% to play. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.:

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit and the buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other. and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect Ric, Sonny, Lulu? So, much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither of them for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)

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Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.

Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Chad Duell

Photo: ABC

WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON

Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”

Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC

Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”

When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC

MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES

One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”

“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good.  I was working with Dominic  Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.

A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?

As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”

Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.

You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.

Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.

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