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Rebecca Budig Clarifies Status With General Hospital

By Michael Fairman

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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.

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‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

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?”

Dom and Liz

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.

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GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

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.

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‘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)

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Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.

Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Chad Duell

Photo: ABC

WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON

Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”

Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC

Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”

When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC

MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES

One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”

“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good.  I was working with Dominic  Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.

A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?

As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”

Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.

You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.

Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.

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