General Hospital
Marcus Coloma On COVID-19 Struggles Towards Final Days as GH’s Nikolas : “I Felt That I Couldn’t Memorize My Lines Towards the End”
As the world has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, in soap opera land, many times actors were taken ill by the virus, which often times found them to having to be replaced in their respective roles for a short time. As daytime drama fans know, there is no stoppage of work in your favorite soap towns, as episode after episode needs to be churned out.
Marcus Coloma, the former Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital, had to exit the series a few times due to Covid-19, or an exposure to it, during his run on the series. Being sidelined brought in Adam Huss to take on the role. Huss is currently the most recent actor to continue the story of the dark prince of the Cassadine clan.
Now in an interview with Soaps.com, Coloma is opening up about his health struggles with Covid-19, which kept him from filming his final scenes in the part.
Photo: AHussIMDb
Coloma shared, “I got this brain fog and fatigue. That lasted a while to the point that I felt that I couldn’t memorize my lines towards the end, which thankfully, it’s gone.”
The actor noted that it’s just been recently that he has been able to feel like his old self: “I’m really back to 100 percent. And I’m exercising again. But I was surprised at the length of the after effects of it for me. It seems to hit everybody differently.”
Photo: ABC
Saying goodbye to the role he played for over three years was difficult for Coloma, because he had to sit out his final scenes: “It was disappointing, because I don’t feel like I got to wrap up. It’s kind of like letting somebody else finish a puzzle that you’ve been working on for a while. But I think it was mitigated by the fact that it had happened before.”
COVID-19 had affected so many people, in so many ways. Let us know in the comment section below, if you had a battle with it, or what you thought of Marcus detailing what he endured that caused him to miss taping his final scenes on General Hospital.
In case you missed, Kin Shriner (Scott, GH) and Marcus appeared on a livestream interview on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel talking about their side projects and time on GH. You can check it out below.
Glad marcus is feeling better! Loved him in the role – the charming dark prince with humor and of course amazing chemistry in his Nava pairing – sorry he was ill but as a Nava fan I was glad he wasn’t in that terribly written vile Nik threatening Avery scene- ending his Nik with the scene where he hopes Ava he can earn ava back fit his character as an ‘exit’- we could tell the writers were out to destroy the Nikolas any – probably to prop nonsense. When this GH writing team gaslight a character, it’s brutal to watch and hear about! I miss watching GH but it was a fun Nava ride and nik return ride UNTIL Esme…
DId he get jabbed and boosted?! That caused MANY ill effects.
Oh for Hell’s sake….. is this Q-Anus vaccine conspiracy dragonshit still a thing?
He would have been required to in order to keep his job. ABC Disney mandated it back in 2021 I think. That is why Burton and Ingo were fired.
That’s correct. And Steve Burton thought he didn’t need a vaccine because he had already had COVID previously… Which he actually caught on the GH set!
The “natural immunity ‘ argument may have SOME truth to it. You aren’t likely to get the same strain of the virus more than once. Of course COVID mutates and evolves constantly.. I don’t even remember which letter of the Greek alphabet they’re using for the most recent variant.
Fortunately I am immortal so I don’t have to worry about keeping up with it. But I can sympathize with you mortals as a new surge has kicked in up there. Poor Stephen Colbert got in about one week of shows after the writers strike ended and then he was forced to stay home sick.
Satan
This has nothing to do with COVID, but know you’ll know the answer. Is Victor Cassadine dead or alive? They say his body was recovered in Greenland, but Laura and Valentin act like he’s still alive. Is he there with you, or still out there ready to muck up someone else’s life?
Victor is definitely down here, and we plan on keeping him! Yes, Cassadines have been known to escape once in a while (same with the DiMeras) but we have tightened up security down here in the last couple of years. So don’t look for Victor… or Stavros or Helena up there any time soon. And Mikkos wouldn’t even want to leave… he’s making good money down here installing air conditioning systems, based on his “weather machine” technology.
Laura & Valentin are concerned that Victor is controlling Charlotte, and technically he is, even though he is in Hell and not currently communicating with his granddaughter. You may have noticed Charlotte playing with tarot cards recently and a flashback scene of her wearing a school uniform when she got those cards, and a letter from Victor. You might also remember when Drew was held prisoner on Cassadine island two years ago, there was one tarot card that activated his brainwashing, and another card that turned it off. Of course the “off switch” card was still in Jason’s pocket when he disappeared in the collapsing tunnel, so I’m not sure how Drew was ever deprogrammed. So Charlotte may have been brainwashed in much the same way, when Victor had her locked up in that boarding school. I’m thinking her deck of tarot cards probably has a card “missing” and that would be the one that breaks her programming, just as it was with Drew.
Oh, thank you for all the information I had totally forgotten as I bet others have about the cards with Drew and Jason, but recall it now. I also think you are exactly right about Charlotte and HER Tarot cards, and now I want to know where or who has that missing card.Why didn’t Val get a clue when she was spreading them out before him the other day?
I had covid fog was crazy put deisel gas I n my new car had to have it flushed your not always your self with covid crap .Man I was sick with it in late Summer 2020
I don’t believe he got fired because of long covid while GH brought back Emma Samms… I think the writers wanted to pair Roger and Maura so they fired MC. Too bad because Nava was hot while Ava and Austin aren’t great.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Tabyana Ali on a Potential Kai/Trina/Gio/Emma Quadrangle, ‘I Don’t Think That’s Impossible, But That Would Be Messy’
On recent episodes of General Hospital, music executive Simon Craft (Grady Eldridge) has been pushing and demanding that Trina (Tabyana Ali) and Gio (Giovanni Mazza) play up a faux relationship when they are onstage, or in front of the camera, to add to their allure as new recording artists to his label.
Simon knows full well that Gio is dating Emma (Braedyn Bruner), and Trina is with Kai (Jens Austin Astrup). It was apparent from the start, that Kai seemed a bit more comfortable with the “arrangement” understanding this was for business, and not pleasure, while Emma initially didn’t like the idea.
Now with Trina’s stalker story in full gear, and as fans eventually find out who is completely obsessed with the budding young singer, while initially seeming to be Simon that would seem to be too easy of a choice. But is GH toying with the idea that somehow Gio and Trina get stuck in a situation and one thing leads to another and they develop feelings one another, too?
Photo: ABC
SIMON’S MANUEVERS
In addition, after Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) beatdown at Pentonville, where everyone is accusing Sonny (Maurice Benard) of ordering the deed, will this find Gio and Trina on the same side, believing it’s Sonny, or will Gio end up sticking by his grandfather when by week’s end he was also questioning if he was telling the truth?
During a new conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel, Tabyana Ali shared her thoughts that if Gio and Trina were pushed closer together, what that would mean for their relationships with Emma and Kai, respectively.
Photo: ABC
MUSICAL CHAIRS?
Pondering the soap staple, Tabyana exclaimed, “Oh, my goodness. Who knows? I mean, quite honestly, I don’t think it’s it’s impossible, but, oh, wow! That would be messy!” Ali added that its something that could be quite intriguing to play. “There’s a part of me that wants it to happen just to see, how does it play out? Right? Then, there’s another part of me that’s like, “You can’t do that to Emma and Kai.” That’s so wrong,” believed Ali.
However, Tabyana did admit a complicated love story wasn’t far from her mind. “Originally, I wanted something like a quadrangle. I really wanted that to happen. And if this is a moment where it could happen, I think that would be fun too.”
When asked to tease what’s coming up for Trina in the next several weeks, she offered up three words. Things for her will “(get) Suspicious, (be ) spontaneous, (and) very dangerous.”
So, do you think the GH writing team is teeing up a situation where Trina and Gio become more than friends and musical artists together? Would you be down for it, or be against it? do you like Emma with Gio and Kai with Trina? Share your thoughts via the comment section, nd in case you missed it, check our chat with Tabyana below.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sonny Tells Dante, “I Don’t Want a Son Like You,” While Michael Tells Brook Lynn to Bide Her Time Till Chase and Willow Have an Affair
On the Thursday, October 1 episode of General Hospital, both Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) had some things to say and what they had to say didn’t go over well with whom they were talking to!
Sonny had a confrontation with his son, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), while Michael leveled with Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) over Chase (Josh Swickard).
GH is setting up a scenario where everyone is going to make it look like Sonny was responsible for having Sidwell (Carlo Rota) beat up in Pentonville; while viewers already know Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) were behind it.
Courtesy/ABC
A VISIT WITH DAD
Now, Dante comes to Sonny’s house. He wants to know straight up from his dad if he ordered the attack at Pentonville. Sonny flatly denies any culpability or responsibility, but Dante refuses to believe him.
Dante informs Sonny he has video footage of Sully and Vito at the prison. Sonny explains to Dante he doesn’t know why Sully beat up both Curtis and Dante. Things escalated when Sonny was deeply hurt that Dante refused to believe him. Dante says he was disappointed that his father didn’t respect him enough to be truthful with him!
Sonny asks Dante to consider that he was being set up. He says all he did was to tell Vito to instruct Sully to keep a watchful eye on Sidwell, not to harm him. No matter what Sonny said, Dante continued hammering him with how he knew deep down, even though he said he left the mob, he had to finish off Sidwell for himself.
Next, Sonny explains everything he has ever done was to provide for and to protect his family. Dante fired back that he doesn’t want to deal anymore with Sonny’s half-baked truths. As the two men argue, Gio (Giovanni Mazza) shows up at Sonny’s front door and overhears Sonny losing his temper and shouting at Dante, “Get out of my house! I don’t want a son like you!” The scenes featured an excellent performance by Maurice Benard.
Courtesy/ABC
MICHAEL THE MANIPULATOR
While this is going down, outside the Quartermaine boathouse, Brook Lynn opens up to Michael about living at the Q’s with Chase being there, since he only came back due to legal advice from his lawyer, Monet Mitchell (Blythe Howard).
Brook Lynn questioned whether they should get legally separate. Michael insisted that would be a big mistake. When she asks why, Michael tells Brook Lynn to bide her time until Chase and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) have an affair; then she’d have full custody of Phoebe.
An angered Brook Lynn pushed Michael into the water and accuses him of moving Willow back into the gatehouse with intent on putting Chase and Willow in closer proximity and sacrificing Brook Lynn’s family in the process. As the two cousins bicker, Chase shows up asking Brook Lynn if she is OK. Michael punctuates their talk with “You know, I’m right.”
CURTIS FIGURES OUT A WAY TO GET OUT OF THE SLAMMER
At GH, Willow visits Curtis (Donnell Turner) in his hospital room. Curtis wants Willow to get him pardoned and keep him out of jail, and in return, he will help her nail Sonny.
Next, Willow tells Dr. Tristan Roberts (Dean Geyer) she wants Curtis held for observation for three more days. He agrees to do so under one condition, that she understands that he may need to call in a favor from a congresswoman.
So, what did you think of how Dante accused his father and refused to believe Sonny’s answers? Is this the end of their father and son relationship for good? Is Michael the most manipulative person of all, except for Willow? Do the two deserve each other? Do you want Chase and Willow to have an affair? And what of Curtis? Does he have many redeeming qualities left? Share your thoughts via the comment section, but first check out the talk Michael had with Brook Lynn.
General Hospital
GH Alum Tajh Bellow and Y&R Alum Loren Lott Star in New Tiktok and Microdrama ‘Love Island’ Spoof
Two soap opera alums very familiar to fans of General Hospital and The Young and the Restless are paired together in a new short-form digital series from none other than Issa Rae’s production entity HOORAE Digital.
Look for Tajh Bellow (ex-TJ Ashford, GH)) and Loren Lott (ex-Ana Hamilton, Y&R) as part of the cast of The Compatibility Experiment, premiering on October 14, 2026, exclusively on TikTok and its companion microdrama platform, PineDrama.
In the video teaser, it appears that Bellow and Lott play a couple, Kelvin and Camila, set in a Love Island reality show-esque environment trying to win the one million dollar cash prize, only what could go wrong?
Photo: HOORAE
The Compatibility Experiment loglines share that it brings a fast-paced, relationship-focused reality check—much like Love Island with a twist. The show takes a participant’s current relationship, introduces them to a potentially more compatible partner, and forces them to navigate the differences with life-changing money on the line.
The new series is part of a groundbreaking content deal between HOORAE Digital and TikTok to develop premium short-form storytelling. The ensemble cast also features; Ayona, Reggie Luck, JaNa Craig, Tosin Morohunfola, Jessica Jacoby, Georgia Warner, and Nick Cassidy.
General Hospital fans know Tajh Bellow for his performances as TJ Ashford, and who earned two Daytime Emmy nominations along the way during his run. Bellow took over the role in 2018 and last appeared on the ABC daytime drama series in December of 2024.
Loren Lott first appeared as Devon’s (Bryton James) sister Ana Hamilton on The Young and the Restless from 2018 to 2019; making a brief return in 2024. She has continued to perform on the stage and screen with recent credits including: Bel-Air, Cherish the Day, and All American: Homecoming.
Check out the trailer for The Compatibility Experiment below and let us know what you think of its concept and if you are glad to see Tajh and Loren again? Hoping they might return to daytime in their GH and Y&R roles at some point in the future? Weigh-in via the comment section.
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GH Alum Tajh Bellow and Y&R Alum Loren Lott Star in New Tiktok and Microdrama ‘Love Island’ Spoof
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