OLTL’s Dorian, the incomporable Robin Strasser talks with Michael Fairman for Advocate.com about her 30th year with the soap, and Dorian’s same-sex shennigans to beat her rival for the mayoral seat, Viki.
The new interview also deals with hot button issues such as: OLTL’s cancellation rumors, KISH being moved to AMC, Strasser’s intense contract negotiations, playing gay in a storyline. Strasser;s work with LGBT community, and in particular on Saturday night as the honorary chairperson for “Marching for Equality..in Heels” to benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation. is also of high interest in the feature. Here are just a few of the tantalizing quotes from La Strasser!
Gay fans were concerned over the part of the cancellation item that had Kish’s story line potentially being shifted over to AMC if OLTL gets the ax. We can’t let this show fade away! I don’t have a crystal ball, but if our show did not make sense financially, and if our show did not have the edgy audience and wasn’t this good and didn’t have the passionate audience that it does, then maybe we wouldn’t have survived. Our cast is so diverse, so edgy, and so unpredictable to be filed into a pigeonhole. I mean, we might adapt if need be to a move to Los Angeles, if needed. The cast is a wild a mix of the city of New York itself. If one of the ABC entities has to be branded or rightfully branded in a New York moment paradigm, there is no question it would have to be our show.
Robin, we almost lost you there when you were going through intense contract renegotiations. Looking back, how do you feel about the situation now? Here is what I want to impart: It was extremely painful for me. I was never for a moment trying to manipulate a reaction from the fans that might generate a different reaction from ABC and the stated immovable offer they were giving me. Then I had a moment of sanity that suffering was optional and that I never made the decision to become an actor to be rich and famous. Somehow the universe was in alignment with that, and I said, “OK, whatever. You can cut my salary, but you can’t cut my enthusiasm.” I still love what I do. And I have been doing it a good long time. I decided it was not about the money. I just got busy doing what I had to do, which is keep being connected to the part and keep being connected to the show because I love it. It does not matter that we take pay cuts, we are still telling stories. I want everybody to back off that whole “it’s fair or not fair” because I will leave the room. I do not want to hear that opinion because it does not serve me as an actor. I am fortunate. I found life so scary as a child, and all I wanted to do was dress up and pretend I was somebody else and hide in plain sight. That is all I wanted. I have been able to do that all my life. There were times I had to take a day job, but not that often. And when I was selling clothes at Henri Bendel’s I was a great salesgirl because I acted the part.
‘The View’s’ Whoopi Goldberg Tells Audience to Stop ‘Booing’ Republican Senator Tim Scott
June 5, 2023
During a bizarre couple of segments of Monday’s episode of The View, Republican presidential candidate, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, was the special guest.
The conversation between the conservative politician and The View co-hosts, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro took some uncomfortable and tense turns.
At one point, Goldberg posed the question to Scott, as to why the Republican Party was trying to “stop the progression that people are making.” Scott started answering and said that his political party was doing a “fabulous job at making progress” with social issues. Hostin asked him to elaborate on that point. It was then, that the senator turned his back to Goldberg, which promoted Whoopi to interject “That was me talking to you …. shall I come next to her?”
Goldberg then stood next to Hostin as Scott continued to face away from the other co-hosts and address the two. After proving her point, Whoopi went back to her seat a The View table.
Courtesy/ABC
Then, production signaled Goldberg to toss to break, but Scott was continue to speak. So instead of interrupting him, someone else from the production staff walked on camera and told Scott they were going to break.
However, when the show returned, and Ana Navarro asked her question, if the senator thought the ‘Republican Party had gone too far’ in introducing legislature against the LGBTQ+ community, including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, plus Floria governor and Republican presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney, Scott’s response drew ire from some in the live audience with many booing the guest.
Next, Goldberg shut down the ‘boos” scolding the audience with: “Not here. I’m sorry sir. Do not ‘boo’. This is The View. We accept … we don’t have to believe everything people say, but you cannot “boo” people here, please. You cannot do it.”
Watch the ‘daytime drama’ on The View below, and then let us know what you thought of Tim Scott’s appearance on the ABC daytime talk show via the comment section.
The Men of Charity Lawson’s Season of ‘The Bachelorette’ Revealed
June 5, 2023
Bachelor Nation got a preview of the twenty-five men who are searching for love and are hoping to find it with season 20’s ‘Bachelorette’ Charity Lawson. The new season of the reality-dating competition kicks-off on Monday June 26th (9-11 PM ET) on ABC.
Viewers met Lawson during Zach Shallcross’ season of The Bachelor. During a recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Charity said on being the producers choice for the lead role in season 20: “This puts me in the position of being the fourth woman of color to hold this role and the second monoracial African American woman to have the opportunity to find love. I notice and acknowledge that this is so much bigger than myself. It is my journey to love, but it’s bigger than me.”
The men vying for the final rose will include:
Aaron B., 29, a software salesman from San Diego, Calif.
Aaron S., 33, a firefighter from San Diego, Calif.
Adrian, 33, a realtor from Northridge, Calif.
Brayden, 24, a travel nurse from San Diego, Calif.
Caleb A., 29, a resident physician from Ann Arbor, Mich.
Caleb B., 24, a pro wrestler from Orlando, Fla.
Christopher “Chris,” 27, a world record jumper from White Plains, N.Y.
Dotun, 30, an integrative medicine specialist from Brooklyn, N.Y.
James, 28, an attorney from Chicago, Ill.
Joe, 32, a tech operations director from San Francisco, Calif.
Joseph “Joey,” 27, a tennis pro from Lawai, Hawaii.
Photo: ABC
John., 27, a data scientist from New York, N.Y.
John Henry, 30, an underwater welder from Virginia Beach, Va.
Josh, 28, a Harvard grad student from Bethlehem, Pa.
Kaleb K., 26, construction salesman from Norcross, Ga.
Ahmad Khalid “Khalid,” 28, a tech recruiter from Dearborn, Mich.
Michael, 28, a yacht captain from Chicago, Ill.
Nicholas “Nick,” 32, an HR executive from Bayonne, N.J.
Peter, 33, an airline pilot from New York, N.Y.
Sean, 25, a software sales representative from Tampa, Fla.
Spencer, 32, a medical sales director from Moorpark, Calif.
Tanner, 30, a mortgage lender from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Taylor, 32, a loan officer from Springboro, Ohio
Warwick, 27, a construction manager from Nashville, Tenn.
Xavier, 27, a biomedical scientist from Carrboro, N.C.
Over the past weekend, a video teaser for the men of Charity’s season was released by ABC. You can check it out below.
Then, let us know, any picks on which guy could steal Charity’s heart on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette? Let us know in the comment section.
Walt Willey Brings All My Children’s Jackson Montgomery to General Hospital
June 5, 2023
Look for another legal eagle character from a former ABC soap opera to pop up on General Hospital!
News today out of Soap Opera Digest has that none other than Walt Willey set to reprise his role as All My Children’s Jackson Montgomery on upcoming episodes of GH in July.
Willey played Erica Kane’s (Susan Lucci) love interest and the Pine Valley lawyer from 1987 through to till ABC’s cancellation of the series back in 2011. The actor previously crossed-over to another soap opera in 1996, when he played Jack on ABC’s The City.
Photo: ABC
Taking to his Facebook account, Walt confirmed the news on his appearances on GH: “Hey Folks… Been sitting on this one for a while but now I’ve been given the clearance to announce that “Jackson Montgomery” is visiting Port Charles! I’ll be doing a few episodes of General Hospital, due to air mid July. So excited to reprise my character and see and work with old friends! I’ll keep you posted on any details. “Jackson” in Port Charles…who would have thought it? Let me, and ABC, know what you think about it!”
Could Jack’s sudden arrival in Port Charles have to do with the SEC and the trouble that Carly (Laura Wright) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) find themselves in? Will AMC fans get to see Cameron Mathison and Willey share scenes together again? Mathison played Ryan Lavery on the beloved former soap opera … or might Jack go up against Martin Grey in a GH legal battle, so Michael E. Knight and Willey could share scenes together again since their AMC days?
So, excited to see Walt on General Hospital? What do you think brings Jack to Port Charles? Weigh-in below and stay tuned.