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OLTL Icon Erika Slezak Gets Birthday Surprise Via Linda Dano, Bob Woods, and More!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos

Photo Credit: Sue Coflin/Max Photos

On Friday, One Life to Live’s six-time Daytime Emmy-winning star, Erika Slezak (Viki) celebrated her 70th birthday, and she had quite the surprise awaiting her on this special day!

If you follow former Another Word and OLTL star (Yes! She was on AMC and GH, too), Linda Dano on Twitter, you saw that the ever-creative Dano was documenting the day’s adventure …. on her way to meet Erika and surprise her for her birthday!

Dano, along with whomever was filming these video gems, captured the moments when Erika was greeted first by Linda, then by Anna Holbrook (Ex-AW, OLTL), Loyita Chapel (Ex-OLTL), and then Loyita’s husband, the one and only Bob Woods (Ex-Bo, OLTL)!

Erika’s reactions are priceless and sweet, and we have to thank Linda for sharing this with One Life and soap fans around the twitterverse.

Watch the videos after the jump of Linda, Bob, and more greeting Erika on her birthday.  Then send your bday well-wishes to Erika in the comment section below.

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Happy Birthday great lady!

Happy birthday Erika!! I miss you and Viki so much.

Happy Birthday to Erika! So good to see her and all her cronies looking well. I miss the OLTL family! God Bless to all.

Love it! Everyone looks beautiful and happy. Robert S. Woods looks so good with a beard! Thanks for posting. I miss my 2nd family very much. When I can’t see them every day, it’s just really nice to know they are chugging along and to see their lovely faces now and again.

Happy Birthday Erika !
So good to see you again.
And some of your former costars as well – you are so missed on screen. <3

What a cool thing to do! One of the many, many reasons why OLTL and its cast were so special!

Happy Birthday! U are so missed on our screens!

Oh how I missed these people and my beloved #oltl

wishing a happy belated birthday to an icon of an actress erika… you look amazing as well as everyone else that celebrated with you. missing you all!!!!!

Happy Birthday Erika! I loved you on OLTL and hope you are doing well.

I’m crying!! Love these people! They all look very happy. Me: I’m missing One Life to Live everyday.

Me too Louisa.

Same here. I just found this gem. I often think of my old friends from OLTL. Shame shame ABC.

It’s great starting off the day seeing an old friend. 🙂 Happy Birthday, Erika!

Happy Birthday! Looks like a fun day for you!! I enjoyed it – thank you & happy day!

Oh my goodness… The best cast ever, the greatest actress ever. Miss the show. Happy Birthday beautiful Erika.

Happy Birthday Erika (Vicki)! Miss getting to see you and all the OLTL cast 5 days a week! So good to see you are well and happy!

Happy Birthday! 😉

Happy, Happy Birthday Erika!!!!! 🙂 I love and I miss you and OLTL soooooooo much!!! I hope that you have a fabulous day!!! 🙂

Take good care,

Love,

Catherine Climpson

Happy birthday, dear Erika! Just like Snoop Dog, I love you, Miss Viki!

Happy Birthday Erica ! And hello everybody ! I miss you guys !

So glad to see u ! In her best billy crystal voice—u look marvelous!

Happy 21st bday Erika!!!!!

What a wonderful treat to see everyone looking so well. Very happy birthday Erika!!!!!!!! I miss you and everyone else from our beloved One Life to Live everyday.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y, ERIKA SLEZAK!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE SUCH AN A+ CLASS ACT!!!!!!!!!! HAVE AN AWESOME BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Erika you are so missed!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ,ERIKA ,

Happy Birthday Erika I miss you and one life to live family enjoy your birthday

Happy birthday

Happy Birthday, Erika! Miss you very much!

Happy Birthday Erika! You look beautiful as always! It was great seeing everyone, thanks for sharing Linda Dano! I miss One Life To Live so much, it was my daily treat and I loved it!

Happy birthday to you and looking at everyone from OLTL is certainly a treat. Thank you Linda Dani for sharing this with us.

That is so cool, if I was there with those OLTL and AW stars I would have died! So cool seeing them all get together, that is really great!

Anna Holbrook! She was amazing as Sharlene on AW, her and John were perfect as the hippie types from the 60’s all grown up. She was so talented that I’m surprised another soap didn’t grab her, but I think she did a lot of prime time shows.

Happy B’day Erika! Loved you in everything you’ve been in & of course OLTL. Sure wish we could get you on #GH as Monica or Tracy’s college roommate. Best wishes

Love Erika and Linda!!!

Erika of course I’m going to wish you a VERY HAPPY BDAY FROM A FAN WITH THANKS AND LOVE FOR DECADES OF GREAT DAYTIME.

Lovely lady miss her on the soaps but their is not one that is airing today that I would want her in terrible writers !

Happy Birthday to you dear Erika Slesak….

Please Frank give her a great reccuring role on GH.

Happy Birthday , miss u on TV wish we could see u on the TV again .

Happy Birthday, Erika. Wishing every happiness and good health. Would you consider a guest appearance for a few weeks (or forever) on GH? What about nighttime? Anyway, i hope life is wonderful for you. I miss seeing you.

Happy birthday Erika. Miss seeing you every day♡

Happy Birthday Erika! You are the greatest actress to ever grace daytime television.

Happy Birthday, to the lovely and talented Erika Slesac!!

Happy Birthday to Erika Slezak who made Vicki (and all her other personas) come to life for so many years. You provided endless hours of escapism…Vicki was heart and home in the show and on the screen. Bob Woods? You are the essence of likeability and charm. If you still have the desire to work in daytime, hope you both wind up someday soon in Port Charles. 🙂

Happy Birthday to one very classy lady surrounded by a bunch of classy friends. Love to them all.

Thank you all who posted Erikas birthday celebration. She’s a beautiful woman. Happy birthday Erika

Hope she had a wonderful birthday! After watching OLTL for over 30 yrs, it was like she was a 2nd mom, except with GOOD advice (except when she was Niki… or Tommy…)!

Happy Birthday, Erika–miss all those actors and their characters so very much!

Happy Birthday, Erika! I miss this bunch so much, but I am watching old OLTL episodes and loving that! Have a great year!

I still remember the first scene I saw of Viki- it was 1971 during the Steve Burke/Marcy Wade arc- Erica Slezak was 26 years old!

Happy belated to Ms. Slezak! It looks like an awesome time, and Ms. Dano appears to be a very cool friend! Best wishes for many more celebrations!

What a treat. It is 12/29/16. I just googled Ericka’s name. I often think of her and wishing she is having a wonderful life. But deep down I want her back on one of the remaining soaps. I adore her so. It is wonderful to see Bob and his wife and Linda Dano too. My favorite soap was OLTL. I still have not forgiven ABC for the AMC/OLTL cancellation. Linda thanks for doing this for us fans out here.

Beyond the Gates

‘Beyond the Gates’ Emmy Winner Ambyr Michelle Wants to Compete on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: ‘Pick Me’ (Exclusive)

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Ambyr Michelle

Soap opera fans are always clamoring for when Dancing with the Stars reveals their cast each season, that they would include a familiar face from daytime drama, but it rarely happens, if ever, anymore.

Over the last several years, the series has leaned heavily into casting celebrities with massive TikTok or Instagram followers, which in turn, have helped this season and last have their best ratings numbers in years.

But, how about for next season’s cast of Dancing with the Stars, that it could include newly-awarded Daytime Emmy winner, Ambyr Michelle (Eva Thomas) of Beyond the Gates?

Ambyr Michelle

Photo: CBS

LOVE OF DANCE TO LOVE OF ACTING

Michael Fairman TV spoke to Michelle about her dance background and if she would love a shot at lifting the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during Wednesday’s November 11, livestream chat on the Michael Fairman Channel.

Ambyr explained to fans (who joined in on the live chat), how she began her show business career. “I started off as a dancer, first and foremost. Acting wasn’t really something I wanted to go after. I did plays when I was younger, but it was just something we did in school, but I really wanted to be a dancer. I moved out to LA to dance, and I fell out of love with dance, which was so weird.”

This year’s Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series winner, added, “I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I moved all the way out here for dance. I found I was forcing myself to go to dance class, and I just didn’t have the passion for it. I was working at this restaurant at the time, and one of my coworker was like, ‘What about taking an acting class out here?'”

Next, Ambyr took the coworker up on the idea. “So, I took an acting class and I fell in love with it that day,” shared Michelle. “I was like, ‘I want to do this for the rest of my life.’ I thought, I would love to book a role, of course, as a dancer, but I think acting has a little bit more longevity.”

Photo: ABC

A SHOT AT THE LEN GOODMAN MIRRORBALL TROPHY

When the talked turned to if Ambyr would consider or be interested in appearing on the ballroom dance competition series, she piped up with, “I would love to do Dancing with the Stars! Pick me!”

As those in the live chat rallied around this idea, it made us think, Ambyr could be the first contestant from Beyond the Gates, and someone representing the soaps. It checks off so many boxes! To which Ambyr replied, “That would be beautiful.”

You can check out the full conversation with Ambyr below.

So, what do you think soap fans? Can we make sure Ambyr’s name gets in front of the producers and casting director for next season’s Dancing with the Stars? Would you like to see her in the competition? If so, who would be your dream pro professional dance partner for her? Let us know in the comment section.

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Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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Beyond the Gates and General Hospital

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.

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General Hospital

Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

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Antonio Sabato Jr.

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.”

Jack Sabato

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.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Antonio Sabato Jr (@antoniosabatojr)

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

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