News
OLTL's Scott Evans Interviews before Kish Crushed and After!
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
Kish fans will make sure to note of two interviews on the web right now with One Life to Live’s departing Scott Evans. First right here at On-Air On-Soaps, Michael Fairman talked with Scott about Fish being revealed as the biological dad of Sierra Rose, and his feelings on Fish’s entire story arc from the coming out story, to the sex-scene, to the pushback and the prejudice. This interview was taped a few days prior to Scott shockingly finding out he was released from the show.
Today, We Love Soaps posted a fascinating interview from this weekend’s Gay of our Lives event in New York. Damon L. Jacobs caught up with Scott for a few minutes to ask how he was handling things post-Kish, and his how he is dealing with the disappointment, and confirming how he found out about the end of his character via the Internet!
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric
General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).
On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.
Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”
Courtesy/ABC
HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT
Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”
Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”
Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”
Photo: ABC
DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES
In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”
Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”
You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.
Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.
While Smitty tries to hold the fort down in his marriage to congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) and their two teenaged children, Samantha (Najah Jackson) and Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) on Beyond the Gates, Emmy-winner Mike Manning has also landed another feature film role.
According to Deadline, Manning has joined the cast of Deify with 6 other new cast members for the indie psychological horror film starring Neal McDonough and Skeet Ulrich, which was previously announced last week.
Joining Manning as the latest cast addition are: Dennis Haysbert, Ashley Greene, Casey Harnett, Kirk Avecdo, Anji White, anf Nicholas Chimera who’s directing the pic also has a part in the film.
WHAT’S THE STORY OF DEIFY?
Taking to his Instagram with the news of his casting, Manning shared, “A movie about a cult? What could possibly go wrong? Come for the enlightenment. Stay because they won’t let you leave. DEIFY is coming…”
The movie is currently shooting in Chicago and in story, “a cult leader is put on trial after causing his devoted followers to be burned alive. The film is inspired in part by events surrounding the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff between members of the Branch Davidians church and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one of the largest civilian firefights ever recorded on American soil.”
MIKE MANNING IS A DAYTIME EMMY NOMINEE
In addition, the multi-talented Manning is a producer on the feature. Previously, Mike was nominated last month in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. He previously won an Emmy for his role on The Bay and for being a producer on the digital drama.
Mike’s previous credits include the role of Charlie Dale on Days of Our Lives and the Manny on This Is Us, plus various primetime and screen credits.
So intrigued to find what role Mike will play in the upcoming horror/cult film, Deify? Enjoying him as Smitty on Beyond the Gates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
General Hospital
GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)
At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.
However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.
Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.
Photo: ABC
FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG
Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!
Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”
MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL
Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).
Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”
Photo: JPI
PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY
Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”
It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”
A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”
Photo: PGibbons
IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS
As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”
He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”
Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.”
So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL Preview: Kelly Sullivan Debuts as Dylan’s Mom; Suspicion is Raised About Carter and Steffy
‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Mike Manning Lands Role in Indie Horror Feature ‘Deify’
GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)
‘Guiding Light’s’ Grant Aleksander Shares Heartfelt Remembrance of TV Daughter, Hayden Panettiere On What Would Have Been Her 37th Birthday
‘General Hospital’s’ Maurice Benard Talks: New ‘Sonny’ Storyline, His Contract, and Three Characters He Would Want to See Back in Port Charles
How John Oliver’s ‘Days of Our Lives’ Guest Star Turn as ‘Devlin St. John’ Came to an End
‘Veronica & Julian’ Feature Starring ‘Days of Our Lives’ Alums Nadia Bjorlin and Kyler Pettis Releases Key Art and More (Exclusive)
John Oliver Recaps His ‘Days of Our Lives’ and ‘General Hospital’ Soap Opera Experience on ‘Last Week Tonight’
‘General Hospital’ Alum Bryan Craig Cast in ‘The Weapon’
‘Guiding Light’s’ Grant Aleksander Shares Heartfelt Remembrance of TV Daughter, Hayden Panettiere On What Would Have Been Her 37th Birthday
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Ric’s History of Jealousy Where Elizabeth is Concerned Has Come Back Around
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy and Carter Get Lame Excuses From Their Spouses, and Try to Shake Off Their Night Together
‘Veronica & Julian’ Feature Starring ‘Days of Our Lives’ Alums Nadia Bjorlin and Kyler Pettis Releases Key Art and More (Exclusive)
-
General Hospital1 week ago‘General Hospital’s’ Maurice Benard Talks: New ‘Sonny’ Storyline, His Contract, and Three Characters He Would Want to See Back in Port Charles
-
Days Of Our Lives1 week agoHow John Oliver’s ‘Days of Our Lives’ Guest Star Turn as ‘Devlin St. John’ Came to an End
-
Days Of Our Lives6 days ago‘Veronica & Julian’ Feature Starring ‘Days of Our Lives’ Alums Nadia Bjorlin and Kyler Pettis Releases Key Art and More (Exclusive)
-
Breaking News7 days agoJohn Oliver Recaps His ‘Days of Our Lives’ and ‘General Hospital’ Soap Opera Experience on ‘Last Week Tonight’
-
General Hospital5 days ago‘General Hospital’ Alum Bryan Craig Cast in ‘The Weapon’
-
Breaking News1 week agoHayden Panettiere, ‘Guiding Light’ and ‘Nashville’ Alum, Dead at 36
-
Recaps1 week agoTHE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Sharon, Nick and Marie Struggle in Aftermath of a Relapse; Jade Harlow Shares She’s ‘Really Proud’ and ‘Grateful’ to ‘Show How Addiction Can Touch Anyone’ (Exclusive)
-
News1 week agoB&B’s Don Diamont Recalls His Soap Start on ‘Days of Our Lives’ and Confrontation with Exec Prod Al Rabin (Exclusive ‘Soapy’ Preview)
OLTL doesn’t deserve such class. Although I’ve been sending in my postcards and emails. I’m sure we will be seeing Scott a lot more in the future. He’s a great actor.
Once Kish is gone it can be the Rex/Gigi hour.
Damon Jacobs is jokingly (not really IMO) offering his therapeutic services to Scott Evans for kish firings? The clear favoritism and kiddy (or kishy) gloves for Scott Evans and Brett Claywell is out of control. Some in the media are feeding into kish actors’s delusions that OLTL’s homophobic and this is a homophobia issue when it’s not.
This is not the first firing on Daytime done in a brusque way and it certainly won’t be the last. Majority of actors go thru this. Heck majority of talented actors don’t even get hired! Countless actors are waiting in the wings to be on a soap or be a recast. ATWT freaking recasted Lily, so no one has job security! Every employed actor should be freaking grateful they even have jobs, especially in soaps, where it’s looks over talent.
Evans should have been grateful he got hired bec IMO the reasons OLTL hired him are bec of his looks, famous last name and out status. OLTL thought he’d probably bring in the ratings since many would be curious of Evans on their soap since he’s openly gay and related to a film actor. They obviously pimped him to garner press for OLTL but kish couldn’t sustain any public curiosity or new viewership bec the writing was crappy and Evans’s acting left much to be desired.
Evans blabs on again abt how he was informed and how he’s happy abt the rallysists, w/c means OLTL would be getting flak from rallyists. He thinks so highly of himself that OLTL must treat him in a special way bec he’s an openly gay “actor” portraying a gay character. And the whole “I put my heart and soul into this” crap is something all actors say. What’re they gonna say, I’m happy I look great and I just wing it during the scenes? LOL.
For every unconventional casting w/ a Patrika Darbo (ex Nancy, Days) or a Paul Williams, I think that’s the name of the actor/composer of “The Rainbow Connection” who portrayed Bailey on B&B, there are a 1000 other Scott Evanses that are hired on soaps. Darbo and Williams do not fit the mold of soap actors but their talent actually landed them their parts. Nancy was Days’s first minx that was the reverse of a rail thin model. While Williams’s small stature actually brought more depth to the sinister Bailey, who had to be written out since the crystal hypnosis (yes that is not a typo, LOL) arc on B&B bombed.
These actors, despite their untraditional looks for soaps, were great in their parts since they could act very well. Did Darbo and Williams freaking scream to the media that they were axed bec of lookism? Did Williams say he was made as a scapegoat for the crystal hynopsis storyline not working on B&B? Did Williams say that Paul Satterfield (ex Pierce B&B) should have been axed instead since Pierce used the crystal to make Tay think she was a teen again? Did Williams make his axing a step back for people of small stature being hired on soaps? Did Darbo scream weightism when she was axed? NO!
The crux of this is why are gay people making this a homophobia issue when it clearly isn’t? Why are gay people taking their axings so freaking personally? Do gay guys think the axing of kish is a rejection of homosexuality? It freaking isn’t! Evans needs to shut it, grow a pair and take intensive acting classes since he can’t act his way out of a paper bag.
And on a lighter note, what the hell is Evans wearing? It’s like cheap, knockoff Kanye West outfit.
And of course Jacobs holds the interview in front of the word Stonewall. That is extremely manipulative.
Evans’s axing is not in any way a parallel to events leading up to the Stonewall riots. For Jacobs to subtlely parallel the 2 is sheer lunacy!
The next interview w/ the other actor in the same clip is not in front of the word Stonewall, so that’s very telling.
“Gay people” aren’t the only ones being affected by this axing. Kish is a rather popular couple on this soap, if you haven’t realized, loved by gays and straights alike.
Brett Claywell & Scott Evans are not “screaming to the media” that this was about homophobia, they are simply defending themselves after their names were erroneously dragged through the mud. Someone at OLTL/ABC put them in a position where they had to defend themselves & their professionalism (of which they did, very well actually – they dispelled the rumors against them, which no one really believed anyway, because anyone who’s actually watched their scenes as Kyle & Fish know that they’re both very professional & give 110% of themselves, their hearts & their souls, to these roles, the message of this storyline, and the show as a whole).
They know the business, but the way this whole thing was so mishandled I think has to even strike them. They weren’t told of their last day shooting together, which means they, as well as the fans who have followed this storyline & these characters, have no closure & told that “focus groups” – who have WAY too much power IMO – didn’t like a story they’d put so much into for the past year. How would that make YOU feel? You even have to admit it was pretty awful of OLTL to allow Scott to find out via Twitter (TWITTER!) that he wasn’t going to be playing this role anymore. They could’ve atleast had the decency to place a 2 minute phone call to the man!
OLTL/ABC has come up with so many stories/excuses over this it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin and these people in the PR department should really be ashamed of the PR disaster they’ve created here, as it really doesn’t reflect well on the show or the network. 1). Kish solely responsible for their already-poor ratings (scapegoating the gay storyline), 2). From FV, they ” we’re concluding the story we set out to tell with Kyle & Oliver” 3). they “didn’t resonate with mainstream audiences” 4). they *did*, in fact, resonate with “audiences”, and they’ll still remain in Llanview & the door will always be open to them; 5). blaming Brett & Scott themselves for possible unprofessional behavior.
OLTL/ABC did, in fact, blame this storyline for their already-poor ratings, so actually it is an issue of homophobia. Why didn’t they blame Mitch’s return, in which he tried to rape/impregnate his own daughter & dig up the corpse of said daughter’s dead husband in order to torment her with? Or how about this Jessica as a teenager storyline, which is just pretty ridiculous as a whole? Or perhaps Todd/Tea/Blair’s never-ending triangle, mixed in with Matthew’s surgery/court case & the introduction of yet another of Todd’s children, Dani (the guy’s like the Sonny of Llanview at this point for goodness sakes!)? So yes, it is an issue of these “focus groups” or this “mainstream audience” they speak so highly of apparently having a problem with a LOVE story that just happens to be between 2 guys, so OLTL/ABC has decided, rather short-sightedly, that it’s going to pretty much backtrack on the message of acceptance that it’s been sending out through the very existence of this storyline, and say that the protestors at the BGW that Fish stood up to are essentially right, which again doesn’t look good for the network/OLTL.
And, if you’ve noticed, OLTL has not capitalized on the fact that Scott is Chris Evans’s brother. Not at all. He is a very talented young man all on his own & he proves that in every scene he’s in, whether it be as Oliver Fish on OLTL or in his countless other roles as well. He brings it in every single scene he’s in, as does Brett Claywell. They are ALWAYS on top of their game, and it clearly comes across just how talented these 2 are, and reinforces what an idiotic decision TPTB have made here by axing this storyline & getting rid of their 2 best actors! And Scott and Brett both are very humble people. You’d notice that if you watched 2 seconds of their interviews, so him thinking highly of himself because he’s an openly gay actor playing a gay character is really just ludicrous & insulting.
And I didn’t get any parallels to Scott/Kish from Damon holding the interview in front of the Stonewall, nor do I think he was trying to infer anything by doing so.
There’s no pt in debating w/ kish fans who only blame it on these shadowy agents who weild so much power bec of their homophobia that they can axe any gay couple they like. OLTL is last in the ratings and these so called homophobes are trying to get rid of them, yet not going after the more far reaching ABC gay characters on Modern Family, excellently portrayed by Eric Stonestreet, who always steals the show from Jesse Tyler Ferguson. As for the Stonewall reference, of course a psychotherapist would choose to have the interview there for its psychological impact.
Some people closely involved with all this don’t believe the firings had anything to do with “the gayness,” although they do acknowledge that the kish s/l was dropped b/c of focus groups, and ABCD has gone on the record stating kish was “killed” as a result of failing to resonate with “mainstream” audiences, and ABCD said they don’t want to waste their time on non-mainstream viewers, or basically any open-minded people. But there are plenty of mainstream fans who did enjoy these characters and s/l. And, since Evans andClaywell were fired b/c their s/l was dropped for these reasons, it does come across as bigoted. It’s so unjust for these actors to be fired and their s/l dropped for these reasons, especially since the actors did nothing but garner praise and hype for OLTL. People shouldn’t just accept the demise of this wonderful, groundbreaking s/l. To see how you can support Kish, Evans, and Claywell, please visit: http://www.dontputkishinthecloset.blogspot.com.
Oh, and in regards to your outrage that the WLS interview took place in front of the Stonewall, you should really relax-it wasn’t some huge conspiracy. Evans, and a host of other actors were all attending a charity event that took place there. WLS covered the event, and conducted every interview in front of the venue there, as inside the tiny bar it was loud, crowded, and too poorly-lit for filming. Hope this clarification can put you at ease.