General Hospital
Robert Palmer Watkins Makes His GH Debut In Scenes With Tony Geary & Jane Elliot! What Were Your First Impressions?
Courtesy/ABC
Talk about an entrance and quite the initiation! Robert Palmer Watkins made his highly anticipated debut as the recast Dillon Quartermaine in the final moments of Monday’s episode of General Hospital, just as Luke (Tony Geary) was trying to put a ring on Tracy’s (Jane Elliot) finger! However on Tuesday’s episode of the ABC daytime drama, Watkins shared dialog and scenes with GH icons: Tony Geary and his new on-screen mom, Jane Elliot!
As soap fans know, Robert Palmer Watkins steps into the role of Dillon last played by The Bold and the Beautiful’s Scott Clifton several years ago. Today after getting a warm welcome on Twitter from his new executive producer, Frank Valentini, Watkins tweeted back to the head honcho: “Thank you for the support GH “@valentinifrank”
During Robert’s first on-screen scenes today, GH reminded us of the back-story of Luke and Dillon’s relationship, and how Dillon got Luke’s daughter Lulu (originally Julie Marie Berman, now Emme Rylan) pregnant, but also how Dillon was most often in Luke’s corner. Additionally, Dillon shared his concern and watched out for his mother making sure she knew what she was doing if she accepted Luke’s proposal to be engaged in a trial run for 30 days.
In the end, it seems that Watkins has a very bright future on the soap scene with his charm, good looks, and ease of delivery even going toe-to-toe with two GH giants in Geary and Elliot.
So, what were your first impressions of Robert Palmer Watkins as Dillon Quartermaine? Share your thoughts below!
Robert/Dillon Quartermaine is a treasure,,
He is handsome, and a very good actor and a Quartermaine!!
It doesn’t get any better than that..
A very confident man,, he walked right into the Q den and didn’t hesitate to mix it up with the great icon Tony/Luke and Tracy/Jane they fit like a fine pair of gloves..
( If the glove fits you can’t acquit!)
He is natural and great addition to GH !
(I’m in love 😉
You might as well face it you’re addicted to love but yes, Robert Palmer is simply irresistible.
I cannot get Robert Palmer the singer/musician out of my head when I hear of Robert Palmer the actor.
That said, I think he’s a terrific choice.
Hey Harry,
you’re “Addicted to Love” and I’m “Simply Irresistible” 🙂 heh
I’m ready for Dillon to cause some big trouble and take ELQ outta Michael’s hands!
He didnt miss a beat acting with Tony and Jane! Great choice!
Excuse me Timmm while I pick my jaw up off the floor!! You LIKE the recast??? I’m so used to you picking on my Nathan for his stiffness. I’m teasing of course.
As I said previously, I admire how he strolled right in & didn’t stumble over 1 line. It seems the actor has very little experience from what I see on IMDB. Very hard to find previous work of his or anything, like his age, but he’s very natural & very good-looking-looks like he was made to be on soaps. I saw on youtube a cover he did of Billionaire by Bruno Mars & he’s very good. Hope he sings on the show!!
Well, I already like him far better than Scott Clifton! Good start!
I agree, Shay.
Word has it that they are going to pair him up with Sparkle Pony.
(just kidding)
I have to ask, who is Sparkle Pony? Lulu? haha
I find (nu)Lulu extremely annoying-especially when she enters Wyndemere and announces to Nikolas, “your favorite little sister is here.” Ugh.
Oh DMR, you will be sorry you asked. Sparkle Pony is a nickname which rose from the ashes of the Patrick and Sabrina’s Disney on Ice Spectacle at the Nurse’s Ball. I did not coin the name and Shay claims she did not either. I ran across the nick name on Twitter. Shay calls Sabrina “Sappy” and she (Shay) suffers from a horrible case of Sappyphobia.
That said, yeah….Lulu is really annoying and she puts the P back in the word perky. I miss Julia.
Hey Harry…
I’m not caught up so I haven’t even seen the new Dillon yet, but I was thinking they’d either pair him with Valerie (unless they’re really going for a Dante/Lulu split) or SABRINA. Might make an interesting conflict between Dillion and Michael.
I do not want Dillon paired with anyone..
there are very happy single man, all ages and types of single dating men.
I get so sick and tired of the need of stifling a character with a partner, let be free!!
A free man would be interesting and very cool ..!!
@Harry…..Thank you for the laugh. Although I wouldn’t exactly term my extreme aversion to all things “Sappycentric” as a “phobia,” it is definitely something which reliably surfaces whenever I’m subjected to that insufferable creature you so fondly refer to as “Sparkle Pony.” Just the sight and sound of her makes me want to lose my lunch. And speaking of, how is it that Avery’s poor excuse for a babysitter gets to simply dump her responsibility into Dillon’s lap when it suits her to take a break for her noontime meal? One would think the child’s needs—not to mention the wishes of the employer’s family—would come first, but then again, this clueless chick obviously has no concept of the upstairs/downstairs dynamic with the way she’s always walking around like she owns the place. As for pairing her with Dillon, oh God, NO! That would turn him into “Dullen” very quickly, and this character has promise…don’t let the “Sapster” ruin yet another Port Charles’ male with her banal, lackluster presence!!! (And ditto for the voracious-looking “Val-Chops!” She’s already set to sink her teeth into Dante, anyway.)
Rebecca, when you see him notice how he made strong eye contact with Sabrina when they met-If you watch that scene. LOL. He also had strong chemistry with Lulu, even though some don’t like the Lulu recast. I like her just fine. I like her fire, especially when she was going after Luke & the truth. I hate, hate, hate that her character aborted Dillon’s baby-always disliked JMB after that, knowing it’s not the actress’s fault that Guza wrote that crap!! But it’s going to be very interesting to see how that affects him now. He was holding baby Avery when Lulu walked in & saw him for the 1st time!! Then she mentioned her son, Rocco. You can bet they’re going to discuss the “what if’s”-or they better RC.
Su0000, bless your heart-never wanting the guys paired with anyone! I understand what you’re saying-he just walked in the door. But you can put $$ on it that he was brought back to cause angst in some current relationships- Lante for sure and maybe Michael & Sabrina’s, too-let it begin!!
Hi Laurie…
It’s days since this post but I’m been off the site for a while…but yes, I noticed. Agree with your other points as well…
Not impressed, so far.
I feel his potential to be a wonderful addition to the show is strong. I fear that Dillon is back to potentially breakup LuLu’s marriage to Dante. It’s funny I never cared for Dante’s philosophy of everything is black and white when it comes to the law but I see now with certain family members he is willing to bend the laws or even break them but in his eyes Sonny is a bad guy, I am confused.
I thought he was dull and flat. Not the Dillon personality that Scott Clifton created. Why didnt they get John Paul Lavossier…he can give that character the dimension and wit that Dillon had. They’ve again killed off the great actors that played Duke and Carlos and given us dull and boring like Kiki and Nathan. I love GH but they’re messing up on so many levels lately.
There was talk that John Paul was slated to play Dillon but Frank Valentini and he do not get along.
He would have been a natural as Dillon.
You know who else would have been great? Billy Miller. He would have made a perfect Dillon. Love Miller and think he’s talented but think he was woefully miscast as Jason Quartmaine.
Harry…that’s too bad about John Paul and Frank…and you’re right Billy Miller would have been a spectacular Dillon….but I’ll take him as Jason, hes just sucha a great actor. Hopefully they’ll give him some dialogue that will allow him to use his chops.
Yes Harry, when ABC announced Billy Miller was coming to GH I had hoped it was as Dillion. He has charm and a good sense of humor which is all Dillion and his movie career personality. Jason is stone cold or should be portrayed that way.
Too bad for the fans if that is true about FV & JPL. I agree that Billy Miller would have been much better suited as Dillon than Jakeson. His charisma is really too good for the “stone cold” (or dead wood) of Jakeson. Billy Miller even had charm galore when he was the reprehensible Richie on AMC. What a waste.
I loved him! I didn’t watch General Hospital before other soaps got cancelled, so I don’t know anything about the character, but his acting and persona were strong.
Excellent job! Welcome
Dilu(Dillion&Lulu) + Vante(Dante&Valerie)=AFFAIRS…lol
I like him a lot. He is very natural. According to his IMDB resume he seems to be quite new to acting so I’m sure he’ll get better. I liked his chemistry w/Lulu. He looks like Thad Luckinbill who played JT on Y&R IMO. He’s in that age group where he could be paired w/several characters:
Sabrina
Lulu (of course)
Valerie
Rosalie
Maxie (though he was married to her sis)
Kiki
Kristina if she ever returns
Serena maybe is they ever bring that character back
In the meantime, looks like it’s Dante’s turn to be jealous. I have a feeling Lulu will do what Lulu does: her own thing. She hangs with whoever she feels like & the tables are about to be turned I predict.
I saw a cover of Billionaire he did on youtube w/a few friends-he sings well, too. Hope he gets to on the show. I’m sure RC will have him answering a door in a towel any day now, too.
I don’t like the new Dillion at all
I thought he was great. He held his own with the veterans and looked good doing it.
I liked him in his first scenes. I thought he held his own against two super stars of daytime. That speaks volumes to me. Hopefully, he will stick around GH for a long time.
I think he’s a keeper. He walked in w confidence. Toe to toe w Miss Tracy and Luke. Looking forward to seeing what they have in store for him. Dillon has been gone so long that a recast was not a big deal to me and his presence on screen came natural. Good to see them re opening the canvas with some new blood for old parts.
Agreed Vicki!! You sure can’t tell he’s new to acting-or so it seems from his IMDB resume. I also admire GH for going with a new name.
I understand what some are saying about Billy Miller playing Dillon, but I understand why he was cast as Jason. There was a huge, huge demand for his return. Steve Burton cannot & was not interested in returning. Billy Miller was & still is the hottest thing going & was amazingly available. Jason is connected to almost everyone on canvas. Even though he was a hitman, he still was that white night guy who came to so many’s rescue-I was sick of Jason but I get why they signed Billy to play him. Billy has played many layered characters & is very, very animated in interviews. It is quite a feat for him to take it down as much as he does to play Jakeson. I expect him to take it up several notches when he transitions into Jason but time will tell!
I had a tear in my eye! Scott Clifton was good but this kid is better. He could pass for Scott’s older brother BUT more handsome! And I will tell you this, he delivered ONE line from his script and he did a better job acting than a certain detective NOT named East, North or South! Welcome aboard Robert!
More handsome, less twitchy than Clifton. I like SC but he was exhausting to watch on OLTL at times. I am mixed on his B&B persona but mostly due to the writing not his performance per se.
He looks Iike a young Frank Valentini. That’s trippy! I have no opinion yet other than that it oops like yet another legacy character is going to suffer from a drastic personality switch. No doubt Dillon killed someone during his time in L.A. Or Wil kill someone very soon. Everyone on this show has to be a murderer, it’s like Coming of Age, Cartini style.
Meh…I would’ve liked JPL in this role. I’ll give this newbie a chance because I love all things Quartermaine!
I agree with the above posters that he seemed confident and held his own in his first scene with two heavily-seasoned professionals. That is impressive in itself. Fingers crossed that he’s a keeper.
I had very low expectations. I was ready for him to suck but was pleasantly surprised. He had to do a lot in his first scenes and held his own pretty well.
I’m sort of already tired of nuDillon and nuLulu’s scenes together (yes, I know nuLulu isn’t really new…) The actress-I think portrays Lulu as an annoying little sister rather than a mature, young woman. In my opinion, she doesn’t seem to have much chemistry with anyone on the show. I also think the writers are gearing up for a (somewhat) Dillon, Sabrina, Michael triangle down the road-which I could not think of anything more boring. I can’t think of anything that I am excited about for this summer’s storylines. I am a fan of Jonathan Jackson’s-but I hate what the writer’s did with his character-having Lucky abandon his family. I’m almost two weeks behind on the show and I have no desire to even try to catch-up. Sam-worst investigator ever. *Sigh*
Wow I love the new Dillon Quartermaine, He really surprised me. A wonderful actor and handsome too. Very hot man .
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.
Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
It was just over 13 years ago on General Hospital when Ava Jerome (Maura West) shot and killed Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) in an effort to keep her quiet from revealing that Derek Wells was actually Ava’s back-from-the-dead brother, Julian Jerome (William deVry). It’s a crime that somehow Ava never has quite paid for either.
The episode back aired on August 13, 2013 and viewers had to say goodbye to Kelly Sullivan who played Kate and her alter, Connie. In the story, just before she died, Kate/Connie scrawled the letters AJ in her own blood, initially making the PCPD and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) think that it was AJ Quatermaine (Sean Kanan) who did the deed.
Now, Sullivan recalled sharing scenes with the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning West, during a live conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel. Kelly was the special guest talking about her recent return to the soaps in her new role as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Darcy Dylan.
Photo: JPI
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MAURA WEST
Speaking of her final GH scenes and working with Maura West, Sullivan gave her then GH co-star major props. “If you’re going to be shot by somebody (on the soaps), you want to be shot by Maura West, c’mon!”
Maura West debuted back in May 2013 as Ava, and Sullivan remembered when the As the World Turns favorite began on GH. “I remember when Maura West first arrived at GH. She walked in with this cute little bob (hairdo) and she’s just delicious,” shared Sullivan.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Kelly revealed more about Maura, adding “I think she’s amazing! I remember right before I left the show, someone suggested, and I would still love to do this with her, if she ever want to, but someone suggested that they wanted to direct the stage play A Streetcar Named Desire with Maura and I, where I would play Stella and she would play Blanche! Wouldn’t that be great?”
Speaking of the Ava/Connie showdown scenes, Sullivan expressed, “On television and on General Hospital specifically, Maura West is able to play a character who does the most horrendous things and you still care about her and that’s the mark of a really great actor. In other words, you’re able to be liked in the midst of the most horrendous things, and as a performer not shying away from that, and to just have the courage to do what’s on the page (in the script).”
Photo: JPI
KELLY SULLIVAN PARTING THOUGHTS AS SHE LEFT GENERAL HOSPITAL
Kelly also shared her sentiments when she walked off the set of General Hospital after her run back in August of 2013. “I really was honored. Every day I would go to work and I would say a little prayer, which is I want to do justice for my character, explained Kelly. “It’s between me and my character. I get to walk this path with her and to leave the show on that note, which is, I left every out there. I just gave it my all and again what an honor it was to play Kate/Connie.”
You can catch the full conversation with Kelly where she talks about her time on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless where she played Sage Warner and now The Bold and the Beautiful below.
So, do you remember the Ava and Connie scenes where Ava shot and killed her? What did you think of Kelly Sullivan’s sentiments about Maura West? Share your thoughts via the comment section. But first, watch the reveal where Ava recalls murdering Connie below!
The question of will Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) stay awhile at General Hospital after his recent extended hiatus from the show earlier this year, has reportedly been answered.
TMZ via court documents obtained in Burton’s ongoing legal battle with his ex-wife Sheree Gustin, shared that Steve actually inked a new three year deal with the ABC soap opera back in June.
That is significant because it was June when Burton returned back to work as Jason. In addition, the court filing confirmed that Burton had already moved back to California from Tennessee.
Photo: ABC
STEVE’S HIATUS AND HIS RETURN TO PORT CHARLES
GH fans will recall, it was back in February of 2026, that Burton announced via his Instagram that he was stepping away from his role of Jason Morgan for short break and pointed to wanting to spend quality time with his new wife, Michelle Lundstrom Burton with whom he tied the knot back on May 17, 2025.
Steve expressed at that time, “I’m newly married and looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.” It was back on March 25 that viewers saw Jason carted away by the WSB after taking the fall for Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr) who shot then WSB Director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes).
Burton returned to work on June 1, and due to General Hospital taping roughly six weeks ahead of air, made his on-screen comeback on the July 13 episode.
GOING FOR GOLD AT THE UPCOMING DAYTIME EMMYS
Then, Steve and his enduring fans got an extra special treat on the same day, when it was revealed on Extra that he was nominated for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series category.
Steve previously won in the Supporting Actor category for his work as General Hospital’s Jason in 1998 and as The Young and the Restless’ Dylan McAvoy in 2018.
Now with Jason and Britt’s (Kelly Thiebaud) relationship seemingly hitting the skids, plus Jason’s commitment to staying out of mob life to focus on being present for his son Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn), what does the future hold for the fan favorite character? Stay tuned.
So, happy to hear that Steve Burton signed a new three year deal with General Hospital? Knowing that, what storyline would you like to see Jason get involved and with who? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
Steve Burton Reportedly Signs Three-Year Contract with ‘General Hospital’
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason and Britt Reach an Impasse; Is This the End of Their Relationship?
‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
‘General Hospital’s’ Bluesy Burke Marks 1 Year as Charlotte Cassadine: ‘It’s The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received’
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
‘Beyond the Gates’ vs. ‘The Young and the Restless’ in a Soap Opera Showdown on ‘Flip Side’ Season 3 Premiere
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Talks Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and What’s Behind Katie’s Deep-Seated Issues with Dylan (Exclusive)
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Did Brook Lynn Deserve Chase Walking Out on Her?
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