General Hospital
Rena Sofer Returning to General Hospital as Lois Cerullo
It’s been over 26 years since Daytime Emmy winner, Rena Sofer, portrayed her defining soap opera as Lois Cerullo on ABC’s General Hospital. Now in 2023, who says you can’t go home again? Not, Sofer!
In exciting news for longtime GH fans, Rena Sofer is coming back to Port Charles in the role of Lois Cerullo, thick Brooklyn accent and all!
According to PEOPLE, who broke the casting news, Sofer began taping all new-episodes of General Hospital this week, and she will debut on-air sometime in October.
Photo: ABC
Back in the 90’s, Sofer along with Wally Kurth played GH fan-favorite supercouple of Ned and Lois. As many fans had expected, if there was anytime for Lois to come back to the canvas it would be now, being that Ned is suffering from amnesia and believes he rock star, Eddie Maine. In story, it was 1993, when Lois set eyes on Ned as Eddie when she saw him perform with his band, The Idle Rich. Eventually she became his manager, unaware that he was really the very wealthy Ned Quartermaine.
When GH viewers last saw Sofer as Lois, she left Port Charles in 1997, headed back to Bensonhurst, New York and gave birth to her daughter Brook Lynn, now played in the adult version by Amanda Setton. During her run, Rena took home the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1995.
Many fans were clued into a potential arrival of Sofer to GH, when she exited The Bold and the Beautiful after nine years as Quinn Fuller. The show at that time was bumping her to recurring status, and Rena decided it was time to move.
Photo: RSoferIG
In real life, Sofer and Wally Kurth were married for two years and share a daughter Rosabel Rosalind.
No word on how long Sofer will be sticking around GH, but her arrival opens up several story possibilities, and definitely will either help or harm Olivia’s (Lisa LoCicero) relationship with Ned/Eddie.
Finally! Kudos to Frank for making this happen. Now, let’s play the beats right. Have Lois interact with those she knew back in the day and explore the never before seen Lois-Olivia connection.
Seeing Rena onscreen with Wally and Jane again will be a treat for longtime viewers.
If she’s sticking around, who do they pair her with romantically?
This is what GH needs. Kurth and Sofer are so much fun to watch in whatever shows they do. I never cared for the Quinn character on B&B as she never seemed grounded. And that exit? All the story to have her be with Carter and soon after… bye bye?
Please, GH, do this right. Having Lois back could really be fun. Hope this is not short term. I’d love for GH to shore up, close out some stories and characters (it’s crowded!) and go old school, and really focus on a core.
I wish she’d come back to bold and beautiful!
Not me! I don’t each B&B. Delighted Lois is coming back. Hope she brings her nails!
Good for her she’s a phenomenal actress She’s was a standout on bold and beautiful unfortunately they only soap I don’t watch is gh but good for her and the audience
This is fantastic news. I know she’s going to be excellent once again!! Bradley Bell wasted her for nine years.
The Devil called this one back when Ned lost his mind. Glad to see it’s finally happening. And while she’s in town, I hope she also gives Granny Tracy a piece of her mind for dragging BrookLynn into whatever this dragonshit is that she’s pulling with Deception.
Going to go out on a limb and make a prediction that Sasha is Lois’ long lost daughter. Ned isn’t her father, but some other non-Q from the 90s.
I couldn’t remember Lois being with anyone other than Ned. And after looking it up, that’s definitely true…at least as far as the real Lois goes.
But apparently the Lois recast had a one night stand in 2004… with Lorenzo Alcazar, of all people.
Obviously Sasha should be older than 19 and it seems unlikely that BrookLynn would not know she had a sister. But Sasha being an Alcazar might be interesting.. since I still am betting a large number of souls that he’s the guy behind Pikeman
Another rumor I read is that she is Nina’s daughter. How many daughters does that woman need?
Hope I like her on GH, I did not on B&B in any way shape or form. I second your idea of giving old Granny a hard time, cant stand even looking at that witch these days. I also am looking forward to seeing she and Olivia, the two gals from Brooklyn go head to head over Ned/ Eddie. Should be lots of fun.
That’s wonderful news. This has been 26 years coming. I loved Rena Sofer as Lois. She was a big character back when I first started watching in 1993-94. When Ned had the double life and was married to Katherine Bell, and Lois found out, and popped out of the cake at Katherine’s birthday party, that was one of the classic moments in GH history. Another favorite moment was Ned and Lois getting married in New York and going to Coney Island, back when they actually still did location shoots.
I’ve been hoping for a long time that Rena would return. She’s always been Lois. I wasn’t a fan when they recast Lesli Kay as Lois in 2004. That was almost as bad as Jill Phelps demoting John Ingle and replacing him with Jed Allan as Edward Quartermaine during that same time period.
Very interested to see how they work Lois into the story with Ned as Eddie Maine, and when she shes how much has changed, but also how much is still the same with The Quartermaines since she’s been gone.
Such wonderful news!
Loved the characters of Eddie and Lois so I hope Rena sticks around for awhile.
Fantastic!
As excited as I am about Rena coming back to GH, I think it is time to cut the size of the cast. There are too many actors not getting enough screen time and storylines that seem extremely long or slow. If Nicholas and Lulu are coming back, I am not sure how we are supposed to b excited about seeing our favorites once a week. Please put us out of our misery with Finn/Elizabeth and the Molly/TJ/surrogate storyline.
Agreed on Finn and Molly. Although they’ve mentioned her, not feeling that Lulu’s return will be soon.
As for Nikolas, Huss is not on contract so we’re not sure how long he’ll be sticking around.
This is excellent news! She is a vibrant actress with ties to many people on the canvas. I hope they have long-term plans for Ms. Sofer.
She is a powerhouse actress and in my view was the only reason to watch the Bold and the Beautiful but are all these daytime vets being hired at GH while the scabs are writing the show?
We’re they all in the striking writers future storylines? It seems like GH has hired some old time daytime writers as scabs and they are reintroducing characters they are familiar with when ABC ruled Daytime. I predict real friction when the striking writers return. The only other explanation is GH may soon be looking at a Days situation and is leaving broadcast tv and getting primed to go to streaming
Im so happy she’s coming back to GH. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
This is wonderful. GH is so incredibly boring now. the writing is so awful. I’ve been waiting for decades for her to come back, permenently and playced by Sofer.
Please don’t make this a Lois/Ned/Olivia triangle.
Make Lois a sophisticated woman that’s willing to make her own moves.
We can explore Olivia’s & Lois past together but give her storyline outside the Quartermaine’s.
Hell Ava vs Lois or Nina vs Lois SOUNDS GREAT
Also, THANK YOU FRANK
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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