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Jacqueline Grace Lopez Talks Her General Hospital Exit, Blaze and Kristina’s Break-up, Ricky Martin, and If She Could Return

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: ABC

Back in mid-August, in an abrupt on-screen departure, Allison “Blaze” Rogers (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) not only had a devastating break-up of her relationship with Kristina Corinthos-Davis (Kate Mansi), but then left Port Charles and headed out to be the opening act and go on tour with music superstar, Miguel Morez (formerly played by Ricky Martin).

As General Hospital fans also know, Jacqueline Grace Lopez previously opened up that she was also caught off-guard when her storyline quickly wrapped. Now, for the first time since her exit, Lopez spoke on what went down behind the scenes at how she learned she would be leaving the role she loved to play on and off since 2022, and more.

During a livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Jacqueline spoke on her exit, how the decision was made to make Allison gay, working with Kate Mansi and creating the couple known as ‘Kraze’, and if how you’re going to leave a show best to do it to go on tour with Ricky Martin, right?

Photo: ABC

HOW LEARNED BLAZE WAS BEING WRITTEN-OUT

Jacqueline found herself in shock when she found out after the most recent co-head writing change, she was leaving GH. “I found out via script and I confirmed it. I received the script for the first episode where we first learn about the tour,” Lopez began. “I remember reading that and going, ‘Oh, well, I changed  mind. So I’m staying and I’m taking care of my girlfriend because that makes sense because I love her and I want to be there for her.’ Then, the next day I got the second script, and I remember reading that and I was like, “Oh, I’m going.’ There was this ‘spidey sense’ for me of, ‘I think I’m being written off the show this time.'”

After reading the script details, Lopez checked with GH execs to make sure she is interpreting this to mean she is definitely exiting.”My last two days were the Monday and Tuesday before we went to break in July,” Jacqueline recalled. “So the week before, I sent an email to the powers that be. And I said, ‘I just need to know if I’m coming back on the other side of the break. And the response was, ‘We love you, but Blaze has to be gone for a while.’ So that’s how I found out.”

COULD A RETURN FOR BLAZE BE IN THE FUTURE?

On soap operas, the key phrase for all actors is ‘”never, say never.” After all, even if your character dies that doesn’t mean you cant come back! Looking at the current GH canvas, Lopez thinks there could still be a place for Blaze. “I think there’s possibility. I have an anchor parent (in Natalia). I have family on the show. I speak about additional family on the show. I think there’s space to come back, be it in passing. You know, Blaze has a tour date in Port Charles,’ shared Jacqueline. “From a character standpoint, I think Allie would drop everything for Kristina if need be. 90% of the heartbreak in that last scene between Allie and Kristina is that she knows she’s doing this because it’s about, ‘I love her so much and this is what she needs.’ So, I’d like to think there’s space to come back.”

Photo: ABC

FINDING OUT BLAZE WOULD RETURN TO THE SHOW IN AN LGBTQ+ LOVE STORY

When Allison first arrived on the scene back in 2022 as a singer, she was managed by the abusive Linc Brown. However, when GH brought Lopez back in this last incarnation, viewers learned Blaze was gay. Jacqueline explains, “I was off the the show for two months already. All of a sudden I get a call from Mark Teschner (casting director, GH).  He goes, ‘So Frank (Valentini, EP, GH) wants you back and but he wants to make Blaze queer. Are you comfortable doing that?’ I first wanted to sit with it because I said, ‘I don’t want to take an opportunity away from someone else who can authentically live this experience because I identify as straight.'”

Later, Lopez had second thoughts on her stance, adding, “Then, I thought about, and I said, ‘I’ve established this character. This character is mine. It’s just another layer (to her). Frank actually got on the phone with me, which I give him immense credit for, and he quelled my fears. I said, ‘I want to earn it. I don’t want to just drop in and all of a sudden I’m running around and this is my new identity. I want it to be a slow burn. So, fans don’t see it as just a token storyline drop kind of situation.’ Frank was wonderful. He said, ‘The gift of this medium is we can tell and build relationships organically and in long form, and we’ll earn it.’ He’s like, ‘Don’t worry. The audience will know it before the characters do.’ And he was absolutely right. They did it in a way where we learned all the layers of what she had gone through – that her mother was conservative-valued, and completely not accepting of this life that she believes her daughter was having.  It wasn’t just like, ‘Wait, all of a sudden, Blaze is gay?”

Photo: ABC

Jacqueline, who has shared the importance of representation in the media not only for LGBTQ+ community but as a Latina, earned many new fans on her GH journey.  She expressed, “It was a huge responsibility and something I don’t take lightly at all. One of my throughlines with how I try to carry myself in the world, both personally and professionally, is I try to help people feel seen. I tell stories. I want to get it right. I’m very blessed to have a lot of gay friends, and a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community and allies as well. I have a friend who’s from Puerto Rico who came out, who ended up having to sleep with a bible under his pillow with passages just completely demonizing homosexuality and to pray the gay away. I get to go through this and feel the hurt and feel the shame. But to get to be Blaze, to get to be Allison, and feel my mom (Natalia) dismiss me in that way and not see me and not want to see who I love in my heart. I mean, even now, it’s just heartbreaking. It’s given me such an insight that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to experience in this way.”

Photo: ABC

WORKING WITH KATE MANSI

The main thrust of Jacqueline’s recent storyline was bringing the on-screen relationship of Blaze and Kristina to life. “Kate pretty much knows what she wants to do,” explains Lopez.  “For me, I was more the person where I was like, ‘This line it’s weird to me.’ And she goes, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ We would talk about it. We developed this routine where we would run lines with each other, then we would block on the day if there were questions brought up. Jacqueline recalled a key scene for Kate. “If we had any emotionally, impactful scenes, I made it a point to call her up or text her ahead of time, like the day when Kristina was in the bathroom after Chase and Brook Lynn’s wedding and she sees her dad (Sonny) beating up Dex. Kate had to come in so emotionally raw. I just remember texting her on the day just being like, ‘If you need anything from me or whatever you need from me, you let me know. ‘”

Photo: JPI

RICKY MARTIN

Now that Allison is off on a world tour with Miguel Morez, did Jacqueline realize at the time, that it meant her character was essentially going on tour with Ricky Martin in the story? Lopez recalled, “The only reason I knew Ricky played Miguel on GH is because of fan Wiki. So, when I saw Miguel Morez, I was like, ‘Either they just really love alliteration with names or this is an actual character.’ So I googled it and then I saw Ricky Martin and then I called casting and I was like, ‘I’m sorry … is Ricky Martin coming on the show? And they were like, “Not to my knowledge.” And then I left. (Laughs)

Watch the full interview with Jacqueline below.

Now, let us know do you want Blaze to return and eventually go back to Kristina? Were you glad the GH tackled, albeit for a short time this same-sex relationship, but also showing how a mother can be so disrupted and bigoted against her own daughter just for being her ‘authentic’ self? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Bring her back

Good for her for speaking up before accepting the storyline. She’s so right. Don’t pander to audiences. Just write all characters with depth and it will transcend everything else.

I think it would make perfect sense for her to return considering what Kristi’s going through because she can’t depend on her sister..

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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 about 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 episodes of 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 Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. 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 early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “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, Zamprogna 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 100% down for. “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, 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. There’s 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 guy  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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