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Rebecca Budig Clarifies Status With General Hospital

Photo: JPI

The name Hayden Barnes has been brought back up over the last several months on General Hospital, leading many to believe that the character may be on her way back on to the canvas, and in turn, that would bring back fan favorite, Rebecca Budig to the role.

Rebecca spoke to Soap Opera Digest for their upcoming issue out this Friday, about a possible return in the near future.  However, she intimated that it does not look, for now, that she will be back.

In addition, she clarified that she did not turn down an offer to come back to ABC daytime drama series, either.

Budig expressed: “Listen, I love (executive producer) Frank (Valentini), and Frank and I are friends, but I haven’t been asked back since I left the show (in 2019).”

So, would you like to see Rebecca back on GH, sooner than later? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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Please bring her back!

Why bring Hayden back when it might interfere with the Corinthos Crime Hour? Seriously, it’s time to bring her back, even in a different role. She could have Peter’s screen time…and salary. Or Esme. Or Drew. Or Michael. Or Sam and Dante. Or half of Carly’s time. I can dream, can’t I?

Soaphound,
It’s more like a nightmare. I think I’d tell Rebecca, if they don’t intend on asking her back, then quit using her name.

@Violet – While I’d like her back, she has zero say in what TPTB do with the Hayden name/character…

I don’t want to see her and Elizabeth conflicted over Finn… and further.. it sort of make me uncomfortable with these two pairing up anyway, with Elizabeth becoming an “aunt-mom” being with Finn. Finn will aleays br better paired with Anna…but i likw Anna and Valentine, and Elizabeth with Drew

Their bringing back a different actress in her place so what your thinking is irrelevant.

How so ? Elizabeth and Hayden are half sisters regardless whomever plays the role of Hayden. So Eliazbeth raising Voliet would make her an “Aunt-mom” to Voliet if paired with Finn.

Kitty… do watch General Hospital?

Kitty, it’s they’re, not their, and you’re, not your. And how is what Brian said irrelevant? It’s his opinion. Geez. Moving on—Brian, I really love Anna with Valentin and I think Finn has the most chemistry with Hayden. I just think Anna and Finn are delightful together as dear friends, not lovers.

Cheers to Anna & Finn, and to you Harry.

Brian, cheers to you and Harry, you both Crack me up!

Probably just as well that they don’t bring her back, because you know the first thing they would do is force her into a pairing with NuDrew. AMC never aired a single episode in Hell, but even I know those two were a “thing” on that show.

Not that it’s a guaranteed fit when you revisit pairings on a different show. Remember when Maxie had the very short lived relationship with Patrick’s little brother (can’t even remember what they called him)?? Didn’t work out so well, despite their history as the “iconic” legacy teen supercouple from Days (and they remain the definitive version of those characters)

On the other horn you had Stefan Cassadine & Katherine Bell…. who were just Steve & Kayla without the eye patch. That was the rare case where it actually worked… and they didn’t even really change the names by much.

Of course this DOES leave the hanging question of who the screaming woman was in one of the cells in the Cassadine basement prison. If it wasn’t Hayden, then it must have been Holly…. but there’s nothing indicating she’s about to return either.

Who else could it be? Psycho Nelle? What would Victor Cassadine want with her??

Haven’t you heard their bringing back an actress to replace her who used to be in a different role.

No I haven’t heard anything about that. Who are you talking about, and what’s your source for the info?

Not that I would be entirely surprised, given all the insane casting moves in the last few weeks. Firing Jason, aging all the kids with new kids that look nothing like them, and replacing one kid who could act with…. well, I’ll just leave it there…..

The RUMOR is that Marie Wilson (ex-Karen Wexler #2) is coming in to play Hayden, but that’s NOT from a reputable source.

I certainly hope that’s not the case. I only liked the original Karen Wexler. And as for Marie Wilson’s last role on Days…. don’t even get a Devil started on that abortion of a storyline.

What would anyone want with her? Nelle that is.

Well, I’d hire her to be a succubus here in Hell. The fact that she’s NOT doing that at the moment is proof that she’s not actually dead.

Bring her back. The writers and producers don’t have a clue with what they are doing and couldn’t care less what the fans want.

I really like her as an actress. I think she needs to come back, that’s the only thing that makes sense

I truly look forward to seeing her back as I have followed her for years since I saw her as Greenlee. I love her acting but wh at is so frustrating with her is that she doesn’t stay very long on any soap. Her coming and going each time raises how dedicated is she in her career? .

Sandy
I think she must have been pretty dedicated on GL. She played Michelle quite a while.

I liked Hayden’s character. She was interesting with Nicholas, but I wasn’t fond of her with Finn. (I liked him with Anna). Maybe she’d have chemistry with the new Nicholas? I don’t see her with the new Drew. Of course she doesn’t have to be with a guy to be interesting, as long as they conger up a compelling story for her. She’s good at demonstrating strength & tenacity, with a convincing softer side. Sure, bring her back if there’s a good storyline

Bring her back and the spin could be all victor’s doing.

I would like to see her back, but I equally feel like they need to wrap up the stories they have going before thy tie up the Hayden story and set her onto another story. Hayden is Violet’s mom, but now Liz is heading toward Finn. Liz being Hayden’s half-sister, how will that play out? Plus, weren’t they also hinting at Jeff Weber returning? There’s a lot out there right now: Marshall just arrived, Phyllis has yet to find her estranged relative in PC, we’re waiting for someone to (please) kill Peter, Victor has it in for Laura for some reason, Cain just came back, Jason hasn’t been found, the whole canvas has so many stories playing out. I’d rather wait for some of these stories to conclude before another one is introduced or expanded.

Rebecca is the greatest asset to GH. Her portrayal of Hayden has been endearing and at times mysterious. She’s a great soap actress and doesn’t need to be replaced with Marie! Give us a break. Why does Frank keep replacing our favorite actors? It doesn’t make sense!!

why is the show prolonging her return? nudrew is back, everyone knows the actors have a history, i’m not saying pair them together but gees at least have them interact and give the old AMC fans a bone to chew on, actress Rebecca Budig just like Rebecca Herbts have chemistry w/ anyone they interact with, I would love to see them have a storyline together so much going on here, theres their father story to play out, hayden coming back as liz and finn get closer, hayden mother just got killed, by who? Victor Cassadine? Nikolas ? Shawn is in the mix. So much going on here, come on GH bring her back.

I don’t think GH knows what they’re doing half the time anymore. Between propping Whiny Heiny (and propping the equally useless Frodd for several years before that)… throwing Jason under the bus for the second time in less than a decade, recasting every child in the cast at the same time, and the programming this week…. Xmas on the 22nd, after Xmas on the 23rd and a completely irrelevant rerun on the 24th, and also the dropped storylines with Jeff Webber (is he coming back or not??) and the identity of the screaming woman in the cell next to Drew on Cassadine Island…. things seem to be a bit chaotic at the moment. Hell only knows when they’ll get back on track.

Yeah, Satan, that was really weird, even for GH. Who reruns a tepid Valentine’s Day episode, from 2021 at that, as a Christmas show? There must be so many vintage episodes to run instead –just pick one out of a hat. And my 87 year-old mom can’t tell the new Rocco from the new Danny (who I thought had to be Jake). Not a good move on the recasts, either.

I think they painted themselves into a corner with a Jake recast. Their first error there was when they super SORASed Josslyn from the “corn girl” to the teenager. Of course at that time everybody believed Jake was dead, so it wasn’t an issue. But when they brought him back, initially as the same kid who allegedly got ran over by his own grandpa (Luke) in front of Liz’s house, we were reminded that 4 year old Jake supposedly gave a kidney to Joss who was about 18 months old at the time.

But if you SORASed Jake to be 4 years older than Joss now, he would also be 4 years older than his brother Cameron, and obviously that won’t work. But now they have aged Danny & Rocco, and Jake would obviously be several years older than them.

They’ll probably aim for the middle and put him at somewhere around 15 or 16, but that’s not really accurate in comparison to the age difference between Jake and either of his half-brothers, especially Danny who should be just short of 10 years old.

O,K you are making me nuts!I thought Olivia and Robert heard a screaming woman, supposedly Holly in that casino they went to a while back ?

Yeah that was definitely Holly. That’s when we saw the brief 10 second scene of Holly being held prisoner somewhere. The scene was filmed on a cell phone, obviously due to Emma Samms COVID status at the time, but it was enough to establish that she was, in fact, being held prisoner, and not dead, although they had just attended her “funeral”.

By the time Maxi gets her kid back, she’ll be in nursery school.

General Hospital

Nancy Lee Grahn’s Star-Studded ALS Fundraiser Reveals “I’ll Be There” Video Featuring Soap Opera Notables

Talk about your impressive line-up! It’s a soap fans dream and for a great cause. General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) is prepping her one-night only ALS fundraiser which will feature many of her friends and co-stars.

The benefit is set for May 4th in Glendale, California. Slated to participate are Genie Francis, Jane Elliot, Peter Bergman, Maurice Benard, Eileen Davidson, Thorsten Kaye, Michelle Stafford, Stephen Nichols, Rena Sofer, Jason Thompson, Kelly Monaco, Melissa Claire Egan, Maura West, Kristina Wagner, Gregory Harrison, Trevor St. John, Kate Mansi, Kirsten Storms, Cynthia Watros, and many others.

On Wednesday, Grahn took to her social media and released an “I’ll be there” video shout-out featuring, Monaco, Elliot, Bergman, Bernard, West, Harrison, St. John and more. In a touching and important moment in the new video, Michelle Strogny, who is battling ALS, is featured.

Photo: ABC

Previously, in speaking with Soap Opera Digest on the impetus of the event, Grahn recalled, “I was actually doing Zoom events during Covid and I met this woman that I just fell in love with, Michelle Strojny. At the time, Michelle had been living with ALS for four years. Now, it’s five years. She is a mom of a teenage son, she has the most wonderful husband, and she has been dealing with this [disease] for quite a while. And obviously, there isn’t a cure yet. It’s not survivable yet. But as she says, it’s not incurable. Nothing is; it’s underfunded. But anyway, I just really dug this woman. She is so grounded and filled with grace, and she spends all of her time working to raise money for the cause. We did a fundraiser for her last year and then I thought, ‘You know what? The soaps don’t ever get together to do something for charity.’ Collectively, we have this amazing community and we don’t collectively use it for a good cause, and I think it’s such an easy thing for us to do and we could potentially really make a difference.”

As GH viewers know, Gregory Harrison is playing the character of Gregory Chase, who is also battling ALS in a touching storyline that is currently playing out shedding a light on this disease.

For information on Nancy’s event, including the stars who are s scheduled to participate click here. To purchase tickets to the event click here.

Check out the video featuring Nancy’s friends and co-stars below.  Now let us know, your thought son the line-up for the benefit and helping raise awareness and funds for ALS research via the comment section.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Writer Shannon Peace Let Go, and Shares on Sprina: “One of My Only Regrets is to Not Have the Opportunity to Develop That ‘Ship’ Further”

As General Hospital’s new head writing team of Elizabeth Korte and Patrick Mulcahy gets off the ground and running, there are still changes a foot on the writing team.

Now comes word via breakdown writer Shannon Peace that she is no longer on contract with the long-running ABC soap heading into its 61st season. Peace shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram, thanking the fans, and the show for the opportunity and the importance of diversity in the writers room.

Peace began, “After almost 3 years on staff and 106 episodes penned, I am no longer on contract with General Hospital. Writing for this country’s longest running television serial drama has been an education of epic proportions; I will forever be grateful that I earned my WGA card on a daytime fixture that holds memories for so many.” (Peace pictured below with GH EP Frank Valentini and script writer, Charlotte Gibson from about ten months ago).

Photo: SPeaceIG

Shannon added “Even more importantly, as the sole Black breakdown writer (and only POC in the writers room) during my tenure, I pushed for vital interactions and discussions that prioritized inclusion, visibility, and representation”

The writer pointed to the example of vital interaction when in story, “Stella and Portia’s frank July 2022 conversation about the role race played in Esme’s framing of Trina is just one example of the impact I’m gratified to have had.”

Acknowledging former GH co-head writers was also part of Peace’s farewell expressing, “Appreciation to my former bosses, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor – not only taking a chance on me, but for valuing my opinion and championing my voice.”

Courtesy/ABC

Many GH fans know that Peace was key to the development of the love story between Trina Robinson and Spencer Cassadine as played by Tabyana Ali and Nicholas Chavez. Shannon gave a special shout-out to ‘Sprina’ fans, “I also want to thank fans who were supportive of my work, especially the recognition of my love for ‘Sprina’. One of my only regrets is not having to develop that ‘ship’ further.”

She concludes her statement with,”In the aftermath of a historic writer’s strike that shed new light on the troubling ways writers are regarded in daytime, my sincere hope is that General Hospital recommits to valuing staff writer efforts and input, with a more intentional focus on diverse viewpoints — and thrives for another 60 years.”

Accompanying her post, Shannon added, “Thank you all for the love and support these last few years. I hope GH fans get all they hope for and more!”

So, what do you think about GH not renewing Shannon’s contract? Will there be more continued changes afoot? What do you think is the future of ‘Sprina’ anyway at this point as viewers wait to see if Nicholas Chavez officially returns to the show?  Comment below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason Learns Britt Died and Tells Anna He Has Been Working For Cates Since November 2021

On the Tuesday, March 26th of General Hospital, Anna (Finola Hughes) and the viewers learn about where Jason (Steve Burton) has been for over two and half years. However, Jason gets some news of his own.

Anna is visiting Jason at the PCPD interrogation room. She asks him if he shot Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), which he flatly denies. Anna believes him, but she tells Jason it doesn’t matter, because video footage shows him on the roof at the time of the shooting

When talk turns to Jason not willing to speak without his lawyer present, Anna can’t grasp why Jason would instead spend an hour alone talking with John Cates (Adam J. Harrington).

Photo: ABC

It is then that Anna brings up that John went by “Jagger” and that the two of them knew each other in high school. Jason doesn’t recall much of his time in high school following his brain injury, but then he gets furious realizing John knew about “Jason’s” past. That is when Jason slams the table and tells Anna, “I’ve been working for John Cates since November 2021.”

Next, Jason explains further that he has been working as an informant for the FBI. Anna wants to know how this came about and he tells her that after the tunnel collapsed, and he couldn’t make it to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud)… all of a sudden he sees Anna’s face drop.  Anna is the first person to tell him that Britt died and was murdered. She tells Jason the killer is in custody, but he continues to be shocked, overwhelmed with tears welling up in his eyes. Realizing he has to pivot to save his life, Jason continues telling Anna how he wound up working with John.

Jason explains that after the tunnel collapse in Greece, FBI agents grabbed him and placed him under arrest and took him to Quantico where he met John. At Quantico, John played a recording of RICO violations and offered Jason a deal if he agreed to be an informant against Pikeman, the illegal arms dealer.

Anna hears from Jason that he thinks Pikeman is selling illegal arms to anyone flagged by the NSA but has ties to the WSB which they needed a civilian to infiltrate their organization as a military soldier, a mercenary.

Jason tells Anna he was a part of the team brought into eliminate Sonny (Maurice Benard). Every time an attempt was made on Sonny’s life over the last two years, a different team was sent to do the job. Anna gets furious when she learns that John told Jason his job was to kill Sonny and she was with John at the warehouse that night. Jason ensured the sniper missed Sonny and left the rifle behind. However, they were supposed to meet an extraction team. Before he was shot, Dante saw it was Jason on the roof and when he turned around with his hands over his head, Dante was shot by the other guy. Jason says if Dante dies, he’ll be charged with capital murder and then will be useless to the FBI.

Photo: ABC

Meanwhile, John visits Bobbie’s and runs into Carly (Laura Wright). She learns Jason is in custody and is going to head to the PCPD. Before she does, Carly has some words with Cates when she learns not only does John have a vendetta against Sonny, but Jason too.  Carly tells John he should recuse himself from the case.

So, what did you think about the moment when Jason learned Britt died? What do you think of Jason’s return storyline thus far and what we learned about Jagger/Jason and more? Comment below. But first, check out a moment from today’s GH with Jason and Anna.

 

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