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Hillary B. Smith chats on her new role on B&B, Prospect Park & the ending of OLTL!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

Shortly after the finale of One Life to Live aired, it was announced by the CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, that Daytime Emmy winner, Hillary B. Smith (Nora, OLTL and Guya, Venice) was joining the Brad Bell sudser in the newly created role of a sexual therapist ( or as they say,”a psychiatrist who specializes in sex therapy”), Dr. Stacy Burton!

Now TV Line has a new interview with Smith on her decision to tackle a brand new daytime role on the very successful B&B, what she thought of the ending of One Life to Live and her thoughts on the fallout from when Prospect Park bailed out at the last minute when they were supposedly moving One Life online.   Here are a few excerpts below!

Hillary on what attracted her to her new role as Dr. Stacy Burton:  “To be perfectly honest, what drew me to this role was the opportunity to work with Brad Bell… and that’s basically it. [Laughs] I could have gone on that show as a janitor and I would have been happy to have the experience to work with him. [Laughs] I have not seen a script yet, but Brad called and gave me a little thumbnail sketch of who I’d be working with and what I’d be doing. I’m going to be working very closely with a contract player and helping them deal with a crisis, so that works for me.”

Hillary on watching the final episode of One Life to Live: “I was in New York at [an Upper West Side sports bar] with a bunch of the cast and crew and there were times during the episode that I just started to cry, and others when I laughed out loud. At one point I had tears streaming down [my] face — especially when Woodsy [Robert S. Woods] and I say goodbye to each other [on camera]. That was really Woodsy saying goodbye to Hillary and Hillary saying goodbye to Woodsy, and that was tough. Just remembering the day we shot it all, you know, was sad. We just looked around the room and wished everyone well and hoped we’d see each other again. But lives move on. Actors are supposed to be nomadic by nature, but we found ourselves forming a family — dysfunctional albeit, but a family nonetheless — and then suddenly our family was gone.”

Hillary on how Prospect Park impacted the ending of OLTL and its stories: “I think there was unfortunately a lot of running around and fixing things. They had an ending in mind and then Prospect Park bought the rights and they changed a lot of the ending so that it could continue… So, that was very difficult and was probably really hard for [headwriter] Ron [Carlivati]. And then when the rug got pulled out again [when Prospect Park canceled their plan], they had from Thanksgiving until it aired [in January] to move things around and try to get some sort of closure. I think they did a remarkable job considering how the ending was supposed to go and how it did go. I tip my hat to them.

Hillary on if she had confidence that Prospect Park could pull off moving OLTL online, since she has been part of a successful online soap venture with Venice:  “I didn’t quite understand how they were going to do it. I don’t understand how you can raise money for something that doesn’t have a proven revenue point… but you know what? It’s none of my business how they were going to do that. Just give me the script, tell me when I’m going to show up and I’ll be there to bring that character to life. I was nervous and concerned about it at first, so it took awhile for a deal to be hammered out, and then when it all went away I was so sad. I was sad for the fans, that they had it cancelled again on them — that’s the hard part. So, it was very bittersweet saying goodbye. And then when this offer [for B&B] came through, it was like, I guess we all move on.”

What do you think of Hillary’s comments on the ending of One Life? Are you looking forward to seeing her on B&B?  Let us know!

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I now watch bb and I look forward to seeing Hillary again

I am so looking forward to Hillary. I hope her humor and her gaiety follow her. I loved her to pieces.

Yes, I have never watched B&B, Never…But I will watch when she comes on……
I look forward to seeing all of them return somewhere!

Amazing !!

That’s how I felt after reading this article.

The best summary of all that has happened, with no hint or tone of anger in her commemts.

I am also very happy that she is going to be on B&B. Her character sounds perfect and while reading, she was already bring the role to life.

I have never watched B&B but I will be when she starts. Lucky I have some co-workers who watch so them can fill in some background.

So happy that work has come her way, and hope it does too for all the other people who worked and made a living from “One Life To Life”

I wont just watch anything cause theses guys go there.

She needed a job…they all do now.

The character she will be working with is Hope I think she is finally going to get her destiny Liam and be frigid in the bedroom. Just guessing!

“I think they did a remarkable job considering how the ending was supposed to go and how it did go.” She’s right. They should win an Emmy for best editing. Under the circumstances, we got the best ending possible. We can be thankful for that. Hillary going to B&B is enough of an incentive to check it out, but Nora will live on in our hearts forever.

What she said is true, life does go on.We can’t sit and cry over spilt milk and we can’t sit waiting for our bowl to be filled again. You as actors pick it up and carry on. Tomorrow is a new day and new adventures.We fondly remember our soaps with much love and memories. Hopefully with the few thats coming to GH in Febuary the ratings will blow sky high and the show will remain for the fans that love it. Maybe somewhere down the road OLTL will spark a new start and those that played will return. We can only hope and pray. 🙂 Goodluck to all who gave us 43 years of happiness. God Bless

I have watched B&B for the last 5-6 years, when I got sick of AMC & decided to switch. So I’ll be glad to see HBS but with a 30 minute show with a large cast-I don’t expect her to have a ton of story or airtime-just the way that show goes. Brad Bell is just not good at balancing story & character time.

I love, Love, LOVE Hillary. I just hope Brad Bell does her justice. He’s not a very good writer, and he doesn’t do very well with a broad canvas of actors, at least in my humble opinion. Also, I’ve never quite gotten into B&B, as it seems so incestuous and sleazy.

I’m wondering who she will be working with.

We Love You In Northwest Illinois, Hillary–Yay! 😀

After yesterday’s ep, I think Hope will be her patient.

It isn’t the same!!!!!!!!! I’m glad hyilliary found a job already………… Bout I was hoping she would join Gh w/ other OLTL actors… I miss Bo & Nora!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They make a good team!!!!!!!!!!! OLTL was like a family…. They had that special closeness !!!!! And you saw it when you watched OLTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ABC messed up daytime programming BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really hate the bold & beautiful, I used to watch but not now, so I won’t see Hillary on it. I wish her well. I loved her as Margo on ATWT and Nora on OLTL. She is great.

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Eva LaRue Talks Guest Performer Daytime Emmy Nod With Maurice Benard: ‘I Only Have a Nomination Because of You’

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It was back in episodes of June of 2025 that saw the undoing and ultimate death of Natalia Rogers-Ramirez after complex and poignant scenes delivered by soap opera vet, Eva LaRue on General Hospital. Prior to her demise, Sonny (Maurice Benard) had Natalia believing they were going to head out of the country and set up their lives together, only for Sonny to pull out at the last moment after learning of all of Natalia’s deception.

Throughout her run on GH, LaRue’s Natalia became one of the most hated characters of the year, especially because of the character’s bigotry against her own gay children, Marco (Adrian Anchondo) and Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez), and that she was revealed to be the ex-wife of Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota). But even with all that, Eva triumphed and secured a Daytime Emmy nomination going into the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on October 30 in the Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series.

LaRue faces tough competition from the other nominees that include: Christopher Sean (Paul, Days of our Lives), Jasmine Burke (June Hughes, Beyond the Gates), Jeff Kober (ex-Cyrus Renault, General Hospital), and Ray Wise (ex-Ian Ward, The Young and the Restless).

Outstanding Guest Performer Nominees

Photo: NATAS

EVA LARUE SCORED HER FOURTH EMMY NOMINATION

Now, on a new Sunday, October 11 edition of Maurice Benard’s mental health series, State of Mind, the two former co-stars talked about LaRue’s fourth Daytime Emmy nomination. She previously won an Emmy for her work as as Celeste Rosales on The Young and the Restless in this same category in 2020, and was nominated three other times including this year.

The others were for co-writing the song, “Dance with You Again” for All My Children in 2004 and in 1997 in the Supporting Actress category her role as Mario Santos on the beloved ABC soap opera.

Speaking on her nomination, LaRue says it’s Maurice who was truly helped her deliver her performances. “I only have a nomination because of you,” she said to the three-time Daytime Emmy winning Lead Actor. “You said to me that you were going to get nominated.” Eva added, “God bless the writers because they wrote some fantastic stuff for me to go out on.”

Maurice responded, “You had levels in your work that day that we did those scenes. But you were on fire!”

Sonny and Natalia, GH

Photo: ABC

MAURICE BENARD’S BOLD EMMY PREDICTION

Explaining the category she is nominated for to Benard, LaRue said, “I’m nominated for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series. So (the category) was those of us who were like not on contract, but we were there for a while. I mean now, I feel like that guest thing is so much more competitive than it ever was, because so many of the soap operas are taking people off contract, which then throws them into the Guest category.”

Benard, who shares he has great Emmy karma predicting the acting awards on daytime’s biggest night, made his bold 2026 prediction sharing his pick. “I would say you’re gonna win (to LaRue). And I would say if not, it’s between you and somebody else. There’s no reason why you wouldn’t win for the ‘Guest’ category.”

You can watch part 1 of the conversation between Eva LaRue and Maurice Benard on State of Mind below. With part 2 being released next Sunday on October 18.

Now, let us know, do you think Eva has a chance at grabbing the gold for her work as Natalia-Rogers Ramirez on General Hospital? Would you like to see her win? It’s been a very heavy time for Eva after just recently losing her brother. Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Who Winds Up Hitting the Sheets First? Jordan and Michael or Curtis and Monet?

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Curtis, Monet, Michael and Jordan

After today’s Friday, October 9 episode of General Hospital, Monet Mitchell (Blythe Howard) informs Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner), that not only is she Jordan’s (Tanisha Harper) half-sister, but the best damn lawyer there is to get him out of spending the rest of his prison sentence in Pentonville. Does he believe her?

If Monet can come through, would Curtis look at her in a whole new light, especially since his girlfriend, Jordan has headed to Europe with Michael (Rory Gibson) to visit the burn clinic to restore her face and remove the scars that have plagued her since the car accident with him?

It appears GH is ready to shake-up the couples and the romance on the long-running ABC soap opera. We already know Tanisha Harper previewed that the series is trying out the chemistry between Harper and her GH co-star Rory Gibson, and that Michael and Jordan might explore their burgeoning feelings for one another since both currently work together at Aurora Media, and understand what the other went through following horrific sets of circumstances that left them scarred.

Photo: ABC

As for Monet, she would like nothing more than to stick to her sister as their is still a deep troubled history between the two yet to be fully revealed. It would seem Monet would love to flaunt a relationship with Curtis. And knowing Curtis, he will be so eternally grateful to Monet for helping him gain his freedom that this might be a possible scenario. But the question becomes, who cheats on who first?

Do you think Jordan and Michael hook-up while away from Port Charles? Does Monet take advantage of Curtis, if and when, he becomes a free man? Does Curtis already sense Jordan pulling away from him but is keeping that inside, or will this all come as shocker if he were to learn Michael and Jordan have become closer?

Tanisha and Rory

Photo: ABC

While much of this is speculation, it does seem like the trajectory of the storyline; given that Michael’s recent love interest Jacinda (Paige Herschell) was written-out of the story, and it appears that Serena Baldwin (Kelly Kruger) is now being put in the romantic path of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).

GH spoilers for the week of October 12-16 indicate that on Wednesday, October 14, Michael reflects on his past, while on Thursday, October 16 Monet advises Curtis.

So, do you think that Jordan hits the sheets with Michael, and Monet and Curtis will hook up? Or, do you think it will all be a giant tease? If it becomes true, who would you be rooting for to end up together? Any of them? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of our Lives’ Rachel Boyd on the Return of Sophia Choi as She Makes Her Way To Salem: ‘I Wanted Her to Come Back Stronger Than Ever’

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Sophia Boyd

Next week on all-new episodes of Days of our Lives, the Peacock streaming soap opera will pick right back up from where Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) has tracked down a very much alive, Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd) in a diner in Kentucky. But what will happen when Sophia returns to her old stomping grounds of Salem?

In official spoilers for the week of October 12-16, look for Kristen to make a deal with the woman she supposedly killed, and by week’s end for the once-conniving Sophia to make her way back to Salem. Meanwhile, in a new interview with TV Insider heralding her return, Rachel Boyd, who did a tremendous job with Sophia’s original exit story, explains how she thinks this version of Sophia will be different than the last.

The exit story had Sophia setting out to kill Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) by a demand made by Kristen DiMera. Sophia failed to end Johny’s life and Kristen lured Sophia to the bridge and clunked her over the head with a rock and pushed her over the rails to the steely waters below.

Rachel and Kristen

Photo: Corday Productions

Sophia’s body was never found, but she was declared dead. At the time, Boyd thought Sophia might be ‘dead-dead’ but in soap opera’s and especially Days of our Lives, nobody really ever truly dies!

WHAT’S DIFFERENT WITH SOPHIA CHOI COME FALL OF 2026?

Reflecting on her first run, which featured many an emotional scene, Rachel recalled: “As crazy as some storylines can be, working on a soap opera is truly a boot camp in acting because you’re given one take and you have to tackle really hard circumstances.”

Those dramatic circumstances included: “Giving birth in my bedroom alone, penning a suicide note, or even attempting to murder someone by blowing him up are all things a younger version of myself would be so intimidated by,” expressed Boyd. “But I learned that preparation is everything and as long as I do the hard work before I show up to set, then I am capable of it.”

Rachel ended her first run back in December of 2025, but due to DAYS tape schedule, the character of Sophia “died” five months ago on episodes on Peacock. Once she returned to the set for her second-go round, it was all systems go. “It was more like being thrown into the deep end, which honestly worked for me. I enjoy working under pressure and with momentum.”

The actress hopes viewers will see the internal change with the character as things move forward. “I knew I wanted her to feel distinctly different,” she explained. “I’ve always tried to keep the character constantly evolving and changing as she experiences new things and responds to trauma. But now that the audience hasn’t seen her for months, I had a great opportunity to fill in those blanks for myself and come back in a whole new way.”

DAYS fans should really began to notice the change on next week’s episodes. “I wanted her to come back stronger than ever,” admits Boyd. “Now that she’s survived a near-death experience and kept herself alive and hidden for six months, this version of Sophia is going to be much more independent and a fighter. I can’t say exactly what is going to happen, but as long as Sophia’s alive, chaos will follow!”

So, are you glad that Rachel Boyd is back as Days of our Lives Sophia Choi? What do you think she will do once she gets back to Salem? Turn a new leaf or be back to her scheming ways? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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