On Sunday, it was Mishael Morgan’s (Amanda Sinclair, The Young and the Restless) turn to host the annual Lead Actress nominee luncheon, for this year’s talented woman who are going for gold at the upcoming 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday night, December 15th on CBS.

Morgan took home the Daytime Emmy in this category in 2022 becoming the first Black actress in the now 50-year history to ever win it. In a tradition that was started by four-time Daytime Emmy winner Susan Flannery (Ex-Stephanie, The Bold and the Beautiful), the winning actress from the previous year has to pick up the tab, choose a restaurant and host a fun afternoon gathering for this year’s crop of nominees.

Attending the festivities were 2023 Lead Actress nominees: Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea, The Young and the Restless), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, The Young and the Restless), Sharon Case (Sharon, The Young and the Restless) Finola Hughes (Anna, General Hospital), and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy, The Bold and the Beautiful).

Photo: SCaseIG

Taking to her Instagram, Melissa Claire Egan shared: “To be nominated alongside this incredibly talented group of women is a TRUE HONOR!!! Thank you to last years winner, the fabulous Mishael Morgan for hosting an epic Lead Actress Nominee Luncheon today. It’s so nice that they all offered to give me their Emmy if they win!!”

Michelle Stafford took to her Instagram and expressed: “Lead Actress Brunch. This is a real honor. I’m truly honored to be in a group with all of these incredible women. I’ve loved them all for a very long time. We are all so grateful to be working on our shows… to be working in general, as actors. What a spectacular group of women. Mishael (Last years winner) put together a brunch that was BEYOND spectacular with gift bags even!! I mean Mishael, you are an absolute class act. Thank you for the beautiful day 🧡”

Finola Hughes posted her sentiments as well, “Yesterday was the leading ladies lunch for the Emmy’s. It’s a tradition started by the inimitable Susan Flannery. (The previous years winner throws a luncheon for the nominees). Yesterday was a very special lunch. Mishael Morgan raised the bar! The conversation was at once light hearted and deep. This was an amazing group of women, supportive, funny and caring. Thank you all for a brilliant few hours 💕 🌸 ✨”

Posting on their Instagram Stories were Michelle Stafford who gave us a little more behind the scenes of the luncheon, where Mishael also handed out a gift bag to each of the ladies, and Sharon Case who accompanied her photos with the tune “This One’s For the Girls” by Martina McBride.

So, looking forward to seeing which of these talented actresses takes home the Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy on December 15th? What do you think about how the tradition has been handed down for many years that the luncheon carries on? Comment below.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since back on December 3rd, 1993, when General Hospital viewers got the shock of their lives as the ABC soap opera introduced the psychiatrist twin brother of serial killer, Ryan Chamberlain, in the form of Dr. Kevin Collins.

For soap fans that meant we got to see even more of one of the finest actors ever to appear in the genre in Jon Lindstrom. The talented actor started on GH a year and half earlier in June of 1992 as Ryan.

Fast-forward to 2023 and Lindstrom is in the running for this year’s Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series when the 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards are given out in less than two weeks on Friday night, December 15th on CBS. Could an Emmy on his 30th year playing Kevin and Ryan be in the cards? Stay tuned.

Photo: JPI

It has been well-documented that former GH creatives Wendy Riche (ex-EP), Claire Labine (ex-head writer) and Michelle Val Jean (ex-writer) were all instrumental in keeping Jon in Port Charles with a second role as Kevin, when he could have headed to As the World Turns at the time to play the role of Damian Grimaldi, that eventually went to Paolo Seganti.

Taking to his Instagram on Sunday to acknowledge this special milestone, Jon shared via video message, “I woke up this morning to see that today December 3rd, marks 30 years since I debuted as Dr. Kevin Collins on General Hospital. I knew that it had been a long time, but 30 years since the doppelgänger to Dr. Ryan Chamberlain was introduced. It really is remarkable. It’s been a great ride, a great run. it’s like an entire career right there. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s just been great.”

Photo: JPI

Lindstrom paid tribute to those who helped create Kevin, expressing, “I have a lot of people to thank about that, let alone people like Wendy Riche and the brass at ABC at the time … Claire Labine who was writing the show back, but Michelle Val Jean was really was the one who I had the pleasure of working with to develop and bring to life Kevin Collins. She’s still a great friend today. So, there’s been a lot of blessings around this for me, and don’t think, I don’t know it. I pretty much drop to my knees every day in gratitude. Thank you world for supporting Dr. Kevin Collins and Ryan Chamberlain, for that matter. I’ll do it as long as they’ll have me.”

Accompanying his video, Jon wrote: “So grateful today for my 30 years of ‘Kevin Collins’ (and ‘Ryan Chamberlain’) on General Hospital, and for the wonderful journey my life has been, for my friends, my the family and incredible opportunities I’ve had. Hope you all have much to be grateful for.”

Share your congrats and well-wishes to Jon for 30 years as GH’s Dr. Kevin Collins via the comment section below.

 

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As many GH viewers have predicted, things have swung back around to Kristina (Kate Mansi) seemingly being the most viable option in Molly’s (Kristen Vaganos) mind to carry her and TJ’s (Tajh Bellow) baby as their surrogate.

If you recall, Kristina offered a few months back and was shut down by Molly, and then TJ, as the couple then went looking through agencies to find a surrogate to carry their baby to term. The surrogate they found, Andrea, told TJ she lost the baby in a miscarriage, which was confirmed by a doctor at Mercy Hospital, and she won’t go through trying to have a baby again. Leaving the couple devastated. But, is her story suspicious?

Last week on General Hospital, Molly was overwhelmed when having to look through a file to start the process of finding a surrogate and identifying the right candidate all over again and it brought her to tears. Kristina found her in the park, and that led the two to have a heart-to-heart conversation. While the two sisters have come to an agreement, now it comes to convincing TJ that this is the right move.

Courtesy/ABC

However, fans of the show can see how complex this will be for everyone down the line. If Kristina’s relationship with Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) moves further down the line, will she be so willing to give her sister the baby? Could there be an ugly court battle for the little one between two moms vs. TJ and Molly?  Will Kristina having their child, bring TJ and Kristina actually closer together, and cause rifts in Molly’s relationship with her man and her sister? What does the long-running soap opera have in store in the storyline by making Kristina the ultimate surrogate? Or, could Kristina lose the baby, only to find out that Andrea, the original surrogate has TJ and Molly’s child? So many possibilities.

Photo: ABC

Soap Opera Digest spoke to Kristen Vaganos on where Molly’s head is at with the situation. Vaganos shared, “I think there’s a little bit of desperation there, wanting to take a route that might be more trustworthy. (Surrogacy is) such a hard process to put trust and hope into because anything can happen. And Molly is a control freak! She wants to control as much as she can, so having a relative involved is, I think, comforting in a way.”

In terms of how Molly will re-approach TJ with Kristina being the prospective surrogate, Vaganos added, “Molly knows that it’s going to be an uphill battle, convincing him. Kristina’s track record with TJ is what it is. But it’s another leap of faith that Molly wants to take, and she just wants TJ to be on board with her. Plus, I think that TJ will really trust Molly’s opinion because Molly knows her better than anybody, and Molly would be the first person to doubt Kristina, to make sure to double-check her work. So if Molly says that she really feels strongly about this and thinks it’s the right decision, I think that’ll go a long way. I think TJ will take that to heart. But unless he’s on board with it, too, it’s a nonstarter.”

So, how do you see this playing out and what do you want to see? Are you in favor of Kristina being the surrogate for Molly and TJ’s baby? Are you for or against it, and what it could mean for long-term story implications? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.