General Hospital
Jason Cook Set To Exit GH! Would he return to DAYS as Shawn-D?

Courtesy/ABC
Jason Cook’s time at General Hospital is apparently almost up! The actor who has played Dr. Matt Hunter since 2008 has been informed that he will exit the series sometime next month. But would Cook return to Days of our Lives if the opportunity presented itself to reprise the role of Shawn-Douglas Brady?
Tonight at the Days of our Lives Paley Center For Media Panel discussion, members of the DAYS cast were asked by emcee, Alison Sweeney (Sami), what person do they miss the most from the cast? Kristian Alfonso (Hope) said she missed Jason Cook and the character of Shawn-Douglas, her on-screen son. With the new writing regime in place, and Cook becoming available, maybe the timing could be right for a return to Salem!
Cook, on the other hand, spoke to Soap Opera Digest about his GH departure, explaining that even before his upcoming exit, he was planning on doing some of his other projects and was going to ask for time off anyway. Jason stated, “I was going to have to take several months off the show for all these other things I’m working on. One would have been this summer, to do LifeCHANGE (his project with Arianne Zucker, Nicole, DAYS] and other shoots, as well as my new cooking show, Chop This. It’s an on-location cooking show with a different restaurant chef showing us a couple of recipes each week. It’s going to start online at www.chopthis.com. If Genreful (his short film with GH co-star Bradford Anderson) gets funded, I have that to do, too. So, I am stepping away for the time being. There is no talk about me coming back, but I was going to have to take time off anyway.”
So what do you think of Jason being written-out as Matt on GH? Would you like to see him back on DAYS as Shawn-D? Let us know!
Would love him back on Days, but only if Belle, and Claire returned with him.
Please say it is so. I love Jason Cook as SHawn D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would love for Bell and Claire to return and Jason Cook . Jason Cook and Bell made a good pair. I would like them to come back as a couple. Maybe have them get married on the show. They don’t seem to get many young couples getting married on the show. They need to get rid of all the action and get back to more romace sceens.
I’m new at watching DOOL since OLTL left. Really enjoy him sounds like a good idea. Hate to be losing Matt.
Sorry to see this Character depart. But the writing was on the wall, something has to save Maxi! Wish Jason best of luck in his future plans!
GH and Days could do a switch. GH gets Sarah Brown and Days gets Jason Cook.
BTW, what I just said wasn’t met to be pejorative or anything. I have a great amount of respect for both soaps. I just think that the switch could be a great idea that mutually beneficiate both soaps.
Good Idea Heather.
Matt should have hooked up with Elizabeth or at least been given a decent storyline instead of twisting in the wind. Poor Patrick, what is he going to do without his brother? Does this mean Matt is guilty of murdering Lisa and Maxie is going back to Spinelli? Yes, Shawn should return to Salem; Days could use all the help it can get.
his character was not written well from the beginning – it is a shame because there was much potential there for him……………….
i am so happy that he has some major projects lined up!
I agree his role was not fully developed.
Sorry… Jason Cook… but I am Spixie all the way! If your leaving means you are going to jail for killng Lisa Niles and we get Maxie back and back with Spinelli… well than everytthing is great!
I would like to see Shawn-Douglas, Belle, Chloe and Phillip come back. I think they are more interesting than Billie, Austin and Carrie. I think Kim and Shane’s son, Andrew, would be a good addition to the scene. Also, I would like to see “Days” revisit the Nicole and Eric romance. Nicole has become such a great character and it would be fun to actually see her smile again.
I hear Chloe is returning, or at least in the talks. I would love to ese Shawn-D. Maybe it would stop Peter Reckell from leaving and give Bope something else to focus on other than Stefano.
If Matt goes to jail, for being drunk as a skunk and he accidently sent lisa flying overboard Thats wrong, the pcpd knows what lisa did , He should get a award of some kind for finally taking her down she was crazy. If he goes to jail I hope john mcbain goes ballistic and starts throwing every one involved with the mob behind bars that have been in jail for a second then diane or alexis gets them out. He doesn’t remember, He was at a party, In a boat, in the middle of where ever, she was up to no good, oops she goes over who cares, we saw what she did to patrick and robin , He wasnt in a car, he was at a dumb party it was a accident , case closed. And finally Lisa niles is GONE. So let matt leave town not go to jail.
ITA. Besides, Sonny and Jason should pay for their crimes…NOT MATT!
I don’t think Sonny and Jason will ever pay for their crimes, Matt will, the good guys always do , doesnt make any sense does it? Lisa niles tortured patrick and robin, So matt did every one a favor and the pcpd know it, Matt being the good guy that he is will turn himself in. Guess we find out today.
well, this sucks, hope he comes back down the line.
I really thought he was wasted on GH. He has a lot of comedic talent ,is charming, great looking and simply delightful. I really wish they had invested in him. The hospital staff is shrinking fast! WHY???
Nice Read! charming, great looking and simply delightful…. doesn’t he man up and then some…. if given the chance.
I liked the character Matt on GH, but figured he was going to be heading out when I assume he killed Lisa. I really like Jason Cook and loved him on DOOL. It would be smart of DOOL to bring Cook and Kirsten Storms back as Belle and Shawn if Kirsten is well enough to work. Loved her as Maxie, but it seems her time at GH is over.
You’re right. It would be smart of DOOL, but they seem to be doing some dumb things with the veterans that they do have over that. How do you bring back characters like Jack, Carrie, and Austin, then turn around and let the actors go just months later?!? They’ve totally destroyed the character of Carrie to the point that I hope that they kill her off when she leaves. They’ve gotten Jack and Jennifer back together to just to tear them apart again when Matt Ashford exits. Jason would be better served trying to get fully immersed into prime time/big screen.
I agree. I love Jack & Jennifer and Matt Ashford. I’m to the point where I wish Carrie had been blown up in the cabin (no offense to the actress) because they’ve destroyed her character. And I am not loving this version of Austin either. I read on another site that apparently Jason Cook has so many different projects going on that he was going to ask for time off of GH. I doubt he’ll return to DOOL in the near future due to his busy schedule.
This sucks. Jason was SO GOOD with Kirstin on Days, and they just wasted him on GH. I was hoping that the new team would utilize him more on the show. I hope he goes back to Days.
If he goes back to Days, I believe he would end up being underutilized. They’re wasting a lot of talent at DOOL these days too!
I don’t care if he comes back.. Days just needs some good writing.. it has been many, many years since they had any good writers..
His closest thing to a story line was what Matt had with Elizabeth, and it was actually pretty decent but RC was clearly not pursuing that so he would have continued wasting away with Maxie, who’s become intolerable and can’t stop saying the word “selfish”. Way better to quit.
Where is Shawn D, Belle, and Claire Its been way to long
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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?”

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

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.
General Hospital
‘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)

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.”

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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