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GROUNDBREAKING SOAP MOMENT: ‘One Life to Live’s’ Billy Douglas Comes Out (June 26, 1992), Remains a Touchstone for Ryan Phillippe

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: ABC

Pride month on the soaps also featured the unforgettable and heartbreaking angst of a young teenaged Billy Douglas (Ryan Phillippe) who finally came out to his pastor, Andrew Carpenter (Wortham Krimmer), back on this date on One Life to Live, 33 years ago.

The episode aired back on June 26, 1992 with now motion picture and television star, Ryan Phillippe, getting his first big break playing the first gay teenager on a daytime soap opera. In the story, Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell) seeking revenge against Andrew, saw him comforting Billy with his arm around him. She went and told Billy’s parents, William and Virginia, that Andrew was making sexual advances toward their son.

Next, William called for Andrew’s resignation from the St. James Church. When Andrew would not come forth to clarify his sexual orientation it only fueled the plot, until eventually, Billy told his parents he was gay. This was also tied-in with One Life’s emotional storyline of the AIDS quilt and the death of Sloan Carpenter’s (Roy Thinnes) other son, William, who he would not acknowledge as gay, and who died of the disease.

Photo: ABC

As far as LGBTQ+ storylines through the years, this one made a tremendous impact as Ryan Phillippe remembered in his recent interview with PEOPLE. After revealing his initial apprehension in the role, then 17-year-old Ryan remembered that the feedback he got after Billy admitted he was gay was, “instantaneous.” Phillippe played the role of Billy Douglas from 1992-1993.

“I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard,” Phillippe said. “But I know that any fears that anyone had about me doing it immediately went away once I saw the reaction that it got from the people who viewed it.”

Photo: AP

Phillippe received fan mail that said, “I’ve never seen someone represent me in any entertainment before in my life,” and from parents who said, “Watching this show on my lunch break gave me a way to connect with my LGBTQ child. As that job progressed, I realized how important it was to some people. And I was only 17 years old, so you don’t really have a sense of that. It was such a different time, but I very much matured through having had that experience and seeing the impact that it had for others.”

Ryan’s portrayal and the importance of the coming out story continues to hold a very special place in television and soap opera history. You can watch some of the moments from the story below. Now let us know, did you watch One Life to Live when the story initially aired? What do you think of the moment and Ryan’s performances? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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I remember that story so very well. Young Ryan Phillippe was so moving as Billy Douglas. Everyone at One Life to Live did an outstanding job telling this ground breaking story. It’s another example of the many reasons why One Life to Live should be on the air today.

The entire Billy Douglas storyline was so well done. It meant a lot to me to see it played out. The way they wove in the Carpenter family was brilliant. Then the display of the AIDS quilt outside of Andrew’s church was such a monumental event for Daytime TV at the time.

It is part of the legacy that Agnes Nixon created with socially relevant stories. I got hooked on OLTL in 1970 when Cathy Craig (then played by Amy Levitt) was battling addiction and they filmed group scenes at Odessey House in NYC with real people interacting with Cathy. Then when Cathy (as portrayed by Jane Alice Brandon) went to work writing for The Banner and did a series of articles on STD’s that the producers made available to viewers.

Those are just a few early memories of a show that is in the top 5 of my favorite TV shows ever.

During Ryan’s story I was having a very difficult time dealing with wanting to come out. The storyline really affected me deeply.

I was so touched with his portrayal that I wrote him a letter telling him what I was going through. I wasn’t sure if he ever did see it.

Because of his work I was able to come out a few months later. It was tough but it went much better than I could have hoped. I owe him the courage he gave me to do it and the life I have had since. Had it not been for his work on the show I truly don’t know if I ever would have had the courage to do it.

Fast forward to earlier this year. I decided to go on Youtube to see if Ryan has spoken much about his time on OLTL. I checked out the first video that popped up about him speaking about the show..

He mentioned that the letters he received really made him realize he was doing something that had an impact. The camera then pans to a picture of a letter he received. Then he began reading it. As they showed a closeup of the letter I realized it was MY handwriting! he is shown reading my letter!! What a mindblower! I have showed the video to everyone I know and they are so amazed.What were the chances out of all the letters he received that he not only has saved my letter but I can see him reading it. A once in a lifetime experience for me which I will always treasure!

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’

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In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.

The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.

Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”

Photo: CDuellIG

SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL

Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.

The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.

In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”

So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Reflects on Dante’s Guilt for the ‘Atrocity’ That Happened to Michael Which Kept Everyone From Telling Him the Truth About Rocco (Exclusive)

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On recent episodes of General Hospital, acting PCPD commissioner, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) was the last to know when his ex-wife Lulu (Alexa Havins), his cop/friend “Nathan,” (Ryan Paevey) and his son, Rocco (Finn Carr) kept him in the dark from learning that Rocco actually shot WSB director, Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes). That, set off a chain of events leading to Rocco joining Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) and going on the run from Port Charles.

However, what led to everyone being so secretive and keeping the truth from Dante stems, in part, to what happened back in 2010. In story, Michael Corinthos (then played by Chad Duell) was brutally assaulted and rape by his prison inmate, Carter (Josh Wingate). Michael went to prison when his brother, Dante, then a PCPD detective, forced Michael to testify in court about killing his stepmother, Claudia Zacchara (Sarah Brown). That testimony resulted in Michael being sentenced to prison for manslaughter.

In early 2011, Michael admitted out loud to Jason (Steve Burton) for the first time that he was raped. The guilt of that situation has plagued Dante for years, and fast-forward 16 years later, it’s still very much alive in Dante’s character life as explained by Dominic Zamprogna in his recent interview on the Michael Fairman Channel.

Courtesy/ABC

RORY GIBSON RECAST WAS PERFECT TIME TO BRING BACK THE STORY POINT

Zamprogna spoke of Dante’s son current plight, and how it dovetails into the past for the acting police commissioner. “The situation with Rocco is just this awful scenario that this kid is in and wanting to try and do the best for him. The other thing I liked too was from the other people’s perspectives of Dante in the past, he kind of did right by the law, not by the people, or put too much faith in the law, and expected it to work out for the people he loved, and it didn’t. So, it gave them a reason for keeping things from him as well.”

The five-time Daytime Emmy nominee shared it’s important to remember things in the history of the character you play. When GH decided to recast the role of Michael Corinthos with Rory Gibson on-screen in May of 2025, it was the perfect time to remind viewers of what happened all those years ago.

“The idea that when you’re on a show this long, I do think about those elements because there’s so much story. The scenes that I think of immediately with the Michael situation was with Chad gone, and then Rory came in. They (the writers) chose that moment to kind of literally say in the dialogue when we were at the Quartermaines, ‘You’ve changed since you came back from Europe, and you’re a different guy and you’re darker.’ I think I said all these things. Frank Valentini (executive producer, GH) calls (Rory’s version) ‘Dark Michael.’ It’s true.”

Courtesy/ABC

DANTE’S GUILT OVER MICHAEL’S BRUTAL PRISON ASSAULT LINGERS

“That was the first time my character brought that up in what had happened to Michael so long ago. I’d love to play those beats more often. You can’t beat that to death, because it was 16 years ago, but you also can’t act like it never happened. Sometimes in the world that we live in, the soap world, you do act like things don’t happen because how could people carry on with that kind of guilt, you know? Every time I looked at Michael, Dante would feel responsible for the atrocity that happened to him. So, there’s a balance. You can’t think about it every time, but you definitely have to acknowledge it. This was the perfect time to acknowledge it with the character of Michael because of the recast.”

Now over the last several months, Dante was kept from the truth all stemming back to that moment. Zamprogna recalled, “It was the first kind of domino that fell in bringing back that history. Then, you had Britt coming back and that brought back that history of the embryo with Dante and Lulu. It was fun to be able to play pissed-off with these people who I love. So, you got to play the love underneath and the anger on top, and it was all because of his past. So, it all kind of brought things back and it completed something.”

CAN LULU AND DANTE FIND ROCCO AND BRITT IN TIME?

At the end of Friday’s June 19 cliffhanger, Dante and Lulu learned from “Nathan” where Rocco and Britt are hiding out and take off to find their son. How will that go? Can the execs get along for the sake of their son? Stay tuned.

In case you missed our conversation with Dominic Zamprogna  you can check it out in full below.

Do you believe, given what happened with Michael Corinthos in the past, everyone had the right to hide what happened to Rocco from Dante? What do you remember from the harrowing story of Michael’s rape in prison by Carter? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Scores Third Most-Watched Week Since Its Premiere With ‘The Young and the Restless’ Crossover Event

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The tornado that ripped through Fairmont Crest and put the lives of the characters of Beyond the Gates and several from The Young and the Restless in jeopardy had viewers tuning-in for the week of June 8-12.

The highly-publicized crossover event kicked off on the Tuesday, June 9 episode of Beyond the Gates where six residents of Genoa City came to to visit the D.C./Maryland country club for a fundraiser for Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon), only no one expected a twister to tear into the proceedings, leading to several storylines intersecting as people were trapped with one another with Eva Thomas (Ambyr Michelle) being the most severely injured and now requiring a liver transplant to survive.

According to the ratings report from CBS and Nielsen ratings and as supplied to Variety, Beyond the Gates brought in on average 1.8 million viewers throughout the wee. That is up 11% from its season-to-date numbers and it makes the crossover/tornado episodes its third most-watched week for the soap since Beyond the Gates premiered back on February 24, 2025.

Photo: CBS

A GENOA CITY TOUCHDOWN

With the strength of the story, its special effects and bringing over cast of the top-rated, The Young and the Restless which included: Eric Braeden (Victor Newman), Michael Mealor (Kyle Abbott), Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott), Susan Walters (Diane Jenkins), Melissa Ordway (Abby Newman) and Bryton James (Devon Hamilton), the Thursday, June 11 episode was the week’s most-watched.

According to the numbers, the Wednesday June 10 episode brought in the most total viewers for the week with 1.87 million (up 17% week-to-week), followed closely by the Friday, June 12 episodes which had 1.84 million watching.

Photo: JPI

Over on The Young and the Restless, the week of June 8-12, also saw an increase based on the early return that week of Shemar Moore as Malcolm Winters wrapping up his leg of the story where viewers learned he had a son Holden Novak (Nathan Owens) with Stephanie Simmons (Vivica A. Fox), and survived his bone marrow transplant surgery thanks to Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn).

Y&R scored 3.11 million viewers for the week up 2% from its season average with the June 8 and June 9 episodes featuring Moore averaging 3.2 million viewers and up 9% year-over-year.

So, did you enjoy the tornado episodes of Beyond the Gates and seeing the residents of Genoa City crossover to Fairmont Crest? Share your thoughts via the comment section on the latest ratings for the two CBS daytime soaps.

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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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Finn Carr & Dominic Zamprogna as Rocco & Dante

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