General Hospital
Jonathan Jackson Speaks Out on His Aborted Return as ‘General Hospital’s’ Lucky Spencer, Potential Comeback, and Making Tony Geary and Genie Francis Proud (Exclusive)
It was back in June of this year that General Hospital fans were stunned when they learned that Jonathan Jackson was wrapping up his return as Lucky Spencer after only nine months and heading back full-time to his home in Tennessee. Up to that point, it had been 10 years since Jonathan appeared as Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura’s (Genie Francis) son on the ABC daytime drama series; in a role he originated in 1993 at only 11-years-old.
Even though his return was abridged, and not how anyone wanted it to end, Jonathan still managed to rack-up some unforgettable scenes that landed on his Emmy reel, which ultimately just a few short weeks ago won him his sixth Daytime Emmy at the 52nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. That means, other than his mentor, Tony Geary, who has the record 8, Jackson is the second-most winning male actor in daytime with 6 along with Justin Deas (ex-ATWT, GL, Santa Barbara).
Jonathan’s reel contained when Lucky’s son, Aiden (Colin Cassidy) admitted to his father that he was gay, Lucky hallucinating Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) to come save him from the clutches of Sidwell (Carlo Rota) while imprisoned in Africa, and Lucky’s guilt over finding out from his mother, Laura that he isn’t a donor match to save his sister, Lulu and more.
Photo: ABC
Michael Fairman TV was on the Winners Walk where we spoke to Jonathan shortly after he won the gold for the sixth time and got his take now on: his decision to exit GH earlier the planned, if a return is at all possible in the future, why Lucky seemed so wishy-washy and claimed he could never put down roots while every one he loved and loves him lives in Port Charles, and more.
GOLDEN BOY
An emotional Jackson, shared how this win hit him harder than the others in his career, “It’s very overwhelming. It’s like surreal. I’ve lived in Tennessee for the last 13 years and I was away from the show for over a decade. When I came back, it was like a whirlwind,” recalled Jonathan. “It was a lot of work. It took a lot out of me commuting back and forth, not to mention the emotional toll of it. So, to be here with my coworkers, with my beloved wife (Lisa Vultaggio ex-Hannah), I just got overwhelmed. I think when you’re younger, you’re focused on different things. And as I’ve gotten older, I’m taking it in differently. I feel more present now than I think I was in the past.”
Photo: JPI
Jonathan reflected and was very thankful of the kinds of material he had this time back, which in his eye didn’t require Lucky to be crying every day as opposed to do 10 years ago, “I hit the ground running thanks to Frank Valentini. (executive producer, GH) and the writers. I loved the kind of ‘mission impossible’-esque beginning stuff … that adventurous Luke-like material, because I was having all these memories of Tony as I was doing the scenes. That was super fun. Then, to get to have Lucky and Elizabeth reconnect and even get as close as they got to getting married again was nice. The last time I was here over a decade ago, it was mostly tragedy. I always felt that the fans wanted Lucky and Elizabeth, to get back together. And so this time around, I was very grateful that Frank and Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) and all the writers were very open to that.”
EARLY EXIT
Although, Jackson spoke of getting Elizabeth and Lucky back together, in the end, it couldn’t be, because ultimately he choose to depart GH. “It was my fault that I had to leave, because of the commuting and my family and so I felt bad for the fans about that. I truly did,” shared Jonathan. “But I was also grateful for the moments of sweetness and beauty. There’s a lot of tragedy in the world. One of the things I mentioned as I was coming back, I said, ‘look, if it makes sense, I just think a little bit of beauty can go a long way in the world right now’. So to have those moments with Lucky and Elizabeth including singing the song to her flashing back, we need those kind of moments right now, especially.”
Photo: JPI
GH fans were critical and rightfully so, at how Lucky was written saying he wanted to be with Elizabeth and his son, Aiden and family, but then countering that he needs to be free, not tied down in one place, etc. Jonathan admitted that material can be frustrating, “Yes, (I know). I’m a very different person than him, right? It’s also one of the cool things about daytime soap operas. It’s a double-edged sword because you can’t really have an ending because the show just keeps going, and going. So unless Lucky and Elizabeth left the show together, you’re never really going to have that ending. That’s one of the things I have to kind of reconcile with mentally to go, ‘There isn’t a beginning, middle and end here. It’s just moments, you know?'”
NEVER SAY NEVER
However, Jonathan is not closing the door to another General Hospital return down the line. However, at this moment it would be hard to pinpoint when with all of his music projects and other projects scheduled to drop at thee end of 2025 and 2026. When asked would he come back and reprise Lucky yet again, Jackson revealed, “Yes, absolutely. That was part of the discussion with Frank, because my preference would be that it’s open for me to come back. And thank God they were on board with that. I mean, it’s really a logistical thing of music and other projects and if my back can hold up with all the commuting.”
MAKING HIS TV PARENTS, TONY GEARY AND GENIE FRANCIS, PROUD
For many of us, we grew up watching Lucky go from a young boy, to a teenager to a young man up right before eyes. Jackson from the very beginning could always hold his own in scenes with the iconic Luke and Laura, too. In Jackson’s heart, Tony Geary and Genie Francis remain in his heart in everything he does to this day.
Photo: ZumbaphotoAlmay
Speaking on Tony Geary, Jackson expressed, “He’s my mentor. I owe him so much. It’s like, it doesn’t matter how old you get, you still want to make your parents proud. I feel that about my actual parents and my life. But I feel that about Tony and Genie as an artist. It’s not just General Hospital, either. When I was on Nashville, Tony sent me a message at one point. He had seen some of the episodes, and that meant so much to me. So, no matter what project I’m working on I want to make Tony and Genie proud and put the same kind of work ethic that they put into it and the love for the craft. That’s in me because of them. So, this is a little a moment of just like, I want to make them proud and I’m very grateful.”
Now below, watch our interview with Jonathan from the 2025 Daytime Emmy Awards and for more Winner Walk conversations subscribe to the Michael Fairman Channel or click here.
So, what do you think of the remarks made by Jonathan on his recent run on GH, his decision to exit, hope he might one day return and love for Tony Geary and Genie Francis? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
I love him
I believe Justin Deas has six daytime Emmy’s as well.
It says so right there in the article
Geary and Genie were great role models. I still often think of the passion that Geary displayed in his work.
If we can’t have Lucky, bring back Morgan. Ethan is not a legacy character. We will be thrilled with Morgan !!! Ethan will not get our attention !!
Retired and started watching GH again, through the years I always caught the show on a day off-lol…miss Tony G and Lucky/Jonathan. The show does continually role on-but love love that he will keep the door open or GH will for him> Good luck to you Jonathan in your future in acting or where ever you land.
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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