Connect with us

News

15

Joanna Johnson Comes Out Of The Closet as B&B's First Same-Sex Couple Begins to Air!

By Michael Fairman

Published

on

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

In an absolutely fabulous interview out this morning with TV Guide, Joanna Johnson (Karen Spencer) admits publicly that she is gay and reveals that details and emotions that led her to keep her sexual identify under wraps during her many years in daytime soaps.

As many know, this week on The Bold and the Beautiful viewers and members of the Spencer family will begin to find out that Karen is a lesbian, and she has partner, too.  Enter, Daytime Emmy winner, Crystal Chappell in her new role as Danielle.  Here are a few riveting excerpts below  from the feature!

Joanna on “officially” coming out,  making her the only performer in daytime to do so publicly:  “Daytime is a whole different world than primetime or theater or film. There’s a greater intimacy between the viewers and the characters. They think you are your character. And that creates a lot of fear. Fear of rejection. I was so worried I wouldn’t be employable as an actress if people knew I was a lesbian. Or that I wouldn’t be believable in romance stories. I had to deal with a lot of self-loathing.  After I started playing Karen, I remember doing a fantasy scene that showed what life would have been like if Caroline had not died of cancer. She was married to Ridge and had two kids and a wonderful life. When we finished shooting, I ran to my dressing room and just cried and cried because I knew I was never going to have that kind of life.  And now on B&B we’re finding out that Karen is married to this great lady Dani (Crystal Chappell) and together they have raised her daughter Caroline (Lindsey Godfrey)  So times have certainly changed. I guess that’s why I’m ready to open up. It feels weird and wrong to play this revelation about Karen’s life and not talk about my own.”
Joanna’s initial thoughts when she found out that B&B’s head honcho Brad Bell was going to make the character of Karen, gay.  “When Brad Bell called and pitched the story I was kind of thrown. I just said, “Oh.” And there was this very long pause. Then I said, “Where’d you get that idea?”  He laughed.  I laughed.  And I said, “Just make sure you get me a hot wife.” And he did!

Joanna on how her working  relationship is with Crystal Chappell:  “She’s straight and she’s more comfortable playing gay than I am! When we first met up at the show we had to shoot some photos — vacation-type snapshots of Karen and Dani to put on the mantel — and I felt kind of nervous and awkward. I think Crystal thought I was a little crazy but when I explained that I hadn’t yet come out publicly, she got it and has been very lovely and supportive. ”

So what do you think of Joanna Johnson publicly coming out?  Do you think more actors in show business should not be fearful of coming out as well?  Or, do you think it would change your perception of them when watching them portray their characters on television or in film?  Are you looking forward to Joanna and Crystal’s storyline kicking off this week on B&B?   Let us know your thoughts!

15 Comments

15 Comments
oldest
newest

Hopefully the world is more understanding. She is very brave! I was raised not to judge anyone.

That is awesome, and good for her!!!

Good for you, Joanna! I wish more performers would, or could, come out. They’d be so much happier and it would really help young people with their coming out.

Didn’t Joanna luck up with Crystal as her acting partner??

Great news! So glad she came out. Wonderful interview. Read the whole interview on tvguide.com. I have always liked her as Karen and never knew why she wasn’t on longer.

Very proud of her. At the same time I feel a bit disheartened that she had to go through so much anguish. I think she will have a great friend in Crystal Chappell and I look forward to their storyline very much!

Ms. Johnson I knew that you were gay and it never even entered my mind to be concerned about it as I loved your portrayal of Caroline. I am sorry that you have felt this way I do not put much thought into actors personal lives none of my business I just am glad you are back on B&B as long as they don’t have you become involved with Steffy/Liam/Hope and their love life it will be a welcome change to get off that bandwagon!!!!

first off… GOOD FOR HER! and 2nd… im so excited to see CC on my screen again 😀

Beautiful…. we pause, take it in… realize the truth, isn’t so bad after all… foward! March… focus on the economy… healthcare…. Jobs! so many other issues we collectively can deal with.

2ndly… my perspective. Sharing “gay” storylines… is a part of our world. We’ve been a part of your world… from the beginning. It’s not a choice. I’m so taken with the Will and Grandma Marlena story… it’s so lovingly portrayed. this reminds me so much of my life… i was raised by my grandparents… and my grandma (Nonna) loved me unconditionally…. so, hence, i cry, cheer, laugh, recall, remember… the heartache… of going thru the coming out process… the bullying. it’s a startling revelation to command oneself to take control of who you are. Acceptance, for all “americans”, is security. I watched Crystal Chapelle, on guilding light… geez! she’s a fabulous actor… she portrayed one of the best “gay” stories, ever. Thank you B&B for sharing with the public… simply put, another one of us, mixed in with the people.

Happy for Joanna, and look forward to seeing her storyline with the wonderful Crystal Chappell on B&B.

Joanna is SO GREAT! I can’t wait to see two of my favorite actresses together as a couple 🙂

Our straight male President has come out in favor of gay rights, taking a huge political risk. If he can take this kind of risk during a combative political climate, then gay people EVERYWHERE- sports stars, politicians, film stars, rock stars, policemen, firemen, teachers, and yes, soap stars- owe him one and need to come out of the damn closet already.

Bless you, Joanna, for taking that extra step towards opening up the closet door a little wider.

Big Congrats Go To You, Joanna!

Brian 😀

Read this yesterday in my TV Guide. Super surprised, but a bit saddened when she said she hoped B&B fans would still love her (for her to think that we wouldn’t). WE DO!!!!!

I am not happy with same sex marriage or same sex so called sexual relationships. Please write this story line off the show & let’s not go there.

Days Of Our Lives

Suzanne Rogers Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in All-New Episodes

Published

on

By

Suzanne Rogers

Daytime Emmy winner and Gold Circle Honors Inductee, Suzanne Rogers will be on your screens this week on Days of Our Lives, when Maggie Kiriakis is back in action. Previously, Maggie was written-off the canvas in April of this year when she left Salem to visit her daughter, Melissa.

Back in October of 2025, it was revealed that Rogers was battling stage II colorectal cancer. Then in November 2025, Suzanne told PEOPLE that she was now in remission.

Suzanne shared, “I’m feeling so much better. I mean, my summer was rough. I had cancer removed, radiation, that was tough. But I didn’t lose my hair. I guess I got it early. I was stage two, and it was a certain kind of chemo that they gave me, it was pills and the radiation, and it didn’t affect it so that was good.”

Photo: JPI

SUZANNE ROGERS JOURNEY BACK TO DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Now, official Days of Our Lives spoilers indicate that Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) will reach out to Maggie on the Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Due to Days of Our Lives’ advance taping schedule of 10-11 months in advance of streaming new episodes on Peacock, Suzanne’s reintroduction to the story will play out this fall.

In a interview with TV Insider last year, Rogers shared that as of July 31 2025, she had completed cancer treatment and was headed back to work to continue the story of Maggie Horton.

Rogers explained, “I start back to work next week, so we’ll see how that goes. Now, I’m feeling anxious like I do any time I get scripts because I want to do my very best and you don’t want to hold up anybody.”

As Days of Our Lives fans know, Rogers has been with the soap opera as of last week for 53 years having debuted back on August 20, 1973. Then in 1979, Suzanne became the first actress ever to win the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series at the Daytime Emmy Awards.

In 2024, Rogers was honored with induction into the Emmys’ Gold Circle by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. This award recognizes individuals who have made a significant and lasting impact on television for 50 years or more.

Before her recent health scare, Rogers has battled myasthenia gravis starting in 1984, which also has gone in remission.

So, happy to know Suzanne is back as Maggie this week on all-new episodes of Days of Our Lives? Have you missed seeing this Salem staple for the past many months? Let us know via the comment section.

Continue Reading

News

RATINGS: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Loses Most Viewers Week-Over-Week; But All Soaps Up Year-Over-Year

Published

on

By

The latest network television broadcast ratings are out for the week of August 10-14, 2026 and it revealed that while all four daytime dramas took a hit in viewers from the previous week, it was the top rated The Young and the Restless which saw the largest viewer decline.

According to Soap Opera Network, Y&R lost – 161,000 eyeballs from the previous week, even though it is still the most-watched soap opera in the U.S. with 3,041,000 tuning-in. The storylines for the week included: Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) nightmare after getting high and relapsing and checking into a seedy motel. He later crosses path with another addict, Marie Kirkland (Jade Harlow), with whom he has sex with, but then she OD’s.

In addition, Y&R also showcased that week, Billy (Jason Thompson) making a bold play to stake his claim on Chancellor, causing Jack (Peter Bergman) and others concern. Devon (Bryton James) and Nate (Sean Dominic) charting new career paths for themselves, and Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) struggling to help their children, Nick and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), while after renewing their vows, still battling over Jack Abbott in their lives.

Photo: CBS

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

Y&R’s sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful came in second again in overall viewers for the ratings period and lost the second most viewers of the week with – 59,000, but still came in with 2,676,000 in total audience.

The storyline involved Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) in Monaco, which led to Steffy leaving Finn due to his mother’s presence and lying to her that she was in the country, plus Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) walking away from Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) after she could not handle not being able to have his child.

Courtesy/ABC

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Over at General Hospital, the show was only down -22,000 week over week, tallying 1,848,000, which is still down and not back over the 2 million mark, which they had been in some previous weeks. In story, Michael (Rory Gibson) gets to Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) just in time after Jacinda (Paige Herschell) drugged her. As Willow was high, she was about to take Amelia and Wiley for a drive when Michael intervened.

Michael later had an emotional goodbye with Jacinda where he paid her off to start a new life somewhere else, so her actions did not come back to bite him in his effort to secure custody of his children from Willow.

Photo: CBS

BEYOND THE GATES

Finally, Beyond the Gates actually saw the smallest loss of viewers for the week only down -3,000 and coming in at 1,648,000. In addition, Beyond the Gates topped General Hospital in key demos for 3rd place in the women 18-49, and women 25-54 rating shares.

In story, Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) is rushed to the hospital after he suddenly becomes ill as Hayley’s (Marquita Goings) plan to get him out of the country gets derailed and Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman) receiving ominous messages from someone from his past, which eventually turns out to be The Impaler herself, Heather Armstrong (Ashley Jones).

ALL SOAP OPERAS UP IN VIEWERSHIP YEAR-OVER-YEAR

The good news is that year over year, all four network daytime dramas are exceeding last August of 2025.  According to the ratings report, The Young and the Restless is up year-over-year +82,000, The Bold and the Beautiful, which far and away has had the best season in 2026, is way ahead of last year at this time with + 234,000, General Hospital slightly up +54,000 and Beyond the Gates doing much better than last year with +144,000.

It should be noted: The ratings numbers reflected use the Live+Same Day Big Data+ Panel viewing and DVR playback, defined as 3:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m., and are courtesy of Nielsen. Ratings are the percentage of U.S. TV viewers who tuned in to a specific program.

So, what do you think about how your favorite soap opera performed in the latest ratings period? Which show is piquing your interest? Which is not at all? Share your thoughts via the comment section below and weigh-in.

Continue Reading

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Sawandi Wilson Marks 2-Year Anniversary as Dr. Isaiah Gannon with Heartfelt ‘Thank You’ Video to ‘Best Fans in the Universe’

Published

on

By

Sawandi Wilson

This week, Sawandi Wilson is celebrating his second year as Dr. Isaiah Gannon on General Hospital. Wilson made his on-screen debut back on August 26 when he was introduced onto the canvas as a good friend to Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson). At the time, both men were being held captive by Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in a refugee camp in East Africa.

Fast-forward two years and Isaiah is still on the GH canvas, Lucky has left Port Charles for parts unknown, and in real-life, since joining the cast of the legacy ABC daytime drama series, Wilson’s life has changed for the better!

Taking to his Instagram, with a very cute video acknowledging his two years as Dr. Gannon, during Sawandi’s first attempt to complete the video he is interrupted from afar in the GH parking lot by castmate, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri).

Photo: ABC

THE ROAD TO PORT CHARLES

When Wilson does his second take for the video, here is what she shared: “Real quick. I want to say thank you to all the fans because I am celebrating two years on General Hospital.” He then added, “So, a couple things that have happened since I’ve been on the show is: I moved cross country from New York. I got married, and most recently we had a baby. I am so happy to share that personal journey with you guys.”

Sawandi concluded with, “But more than anything, this post is a ‘thank you’ to the fans, the fans who have been there supporting Isaiah from day one. I love you guys with all my heart. You guys are the best fans in the universe, and the most loyal, dedicated, best fans. I love you guys so much. We are a family out here and I’m happy to be part of the family. I love you guys.”

In the written post accompanying his video, Wilson also expressed, “GH family, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, I love you! 2 years ago, Dr. Isaiah Gannon landed in Port Charles for the first time. I had no idea how many people would be invested in every twist of every storyline along the way. But I’m grateful. Thank you for watching. Dominic Zamprogna, thank you for the cameo. #sawandiwilson #Gh #isaiahgannon #Blackscrubs #bts”

As viewers know, over the past few weeks, the GH star has been sharing updates on his newborn daughter Zelda’s battle from birth, when she was barely crying and landed in the NICU. Later, with good news to report, Sawandi praised the entire medical team at Cedars Sinai sharing, “You saved my baby’s life. You saved my wife’s life. And you saved my life. I love you guys.”

Photo: ABC

THE MYSTERY OF THE LLANVIEW GANNONS

One Life to Live fans are still hoping that the General Hospital writers connect the dots with Isaiah’s last name of “Gannon.” From 1992 on, the Gannon family was represented in Llanview.  First, by Hank Gannon (Nathan Purdee), then RJ Gannon (Timothy D. Stickney) and Hank’s ex-wife, Nora Hanen Gannon Buchanan (Hilary B. Smith), and her daughter Rachel Gannon (at one time played by Beyond the Gates star, Daphnee Duplaix).

Currently in story, Isaiah is involved with Dr. Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr), who recently gave birth to her ex’s baby. That ex is Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) who was sent away to prison for assaulting Isaiah and injuring his hand which now makes him unable to perform surgery.

Take a look at Sawandi Wilson’s very special ‘thank you’ message to the fans on his 2nd year anniversary with General Hospital below.

Now weigh-in; do you hope GH closes the loop on the “Gannon” connection? Do you hope more of Isaiah’s family shows up in Port Charles? Have you enjoyed Sawandi Wilson’s 2-year and counting run on the ABC soap opera thus far? Let us know via the comment section.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SawandiWilson (@sawandiwilson)

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

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

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful

Airdate: 7-24-2026

Popular

15
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x