Connect with us

Interviews

THE ILENE KRISTEN INTERVIEW – ONE LIFE TO LIVE

By Michael Fairman

Published

18 years ago

on

kristen-Main.jpgMICHAEL:

You have just finished performing in our benefit, “Soaps In The City”, and I know you have been involved so much in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

ILENE:

I probably have been involved for the last three years, at least. Last time, we had the east coast event at the club ”Prohibition” in New York. It’s for a great cause.

MICHAEL:

Have you personally been affected, or touched by people in your life, or in show business that have died of HIV/AIDS?

ILENE:

I lost many, many people… and there was a friend mine that was the stage manager from “Grease”, and then we lost another stage manager. Then, my wonderful Christopher Adler died, and this was early on. Then I lost more than 20 people that I knew, some which were really close to me. I lost my manager, and that was a tough one, because I don’t think he knew he had AIDS. Then he got pneumonia and he died. This was in 1994, and that was extremely difficult. It was a real shock because there was no time to prepare for that.

MICHAEL:

Do you feel that here in the US, AIDS awareness has been sidestepped as an issue, where globally it’s a pandemic?

ILENE:

Honestly, I don’t think we can ever do enough. But, I think it’s changed considerably from the 80s, for sure. I have a lot of friends living with AIDS, but not dying of AIDS. One of my very closest friends is HIV-positive and he is doing well. Of course, he is on the cocktail, and if people can’t afford the cocktail and the medications, that’s a problem. It’s changed a lot over the last 20 years, so people aren’t dying immediately. In fact, I haven’t heard of anybody dying that I have been friendly with. So, that’s a great thing!

kristen-mazur.jpgMICHAEL:

We all know you from your portrayal of Roxy Balsom on “One Life to Live”, and
the amazing, Delia, on “Ryan’s Hope”. But now, you seem to be taking the musical aspect of you talents to new heights?

ILENE:

I have always sung with one rock band or the other. I have always kept it on the down- low to some degree. If people had bands, they would want me to sing with them; so I would. Then, I started songwriting a lot in the 90’s. I had written
a lot in the 70’s and then I was doing a lot of other people’s songs. Then in the 90’s I started doing my own stuff. I started writing with a great writer out in LA…
Kenny Mazur. One day he said, “You know, you really ought to start writing, because you have so many adventures and you need to get them out, and start getting your life out.” There was a song I wrote called, “No Matter What”, which was about my life, and he said, “You are on a soap, Ilene, and you need to spice this up a bit!”

MICHAEL:

Why were you so low on the radar with your great singing ability?

ILENE:

It’s a very big problem, and it’s kept me from doing a lot because I grew up listening to the best music you could listen to. My criteria have always been very high. I listen to Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald, just the great people. The way I sing, is like a Julie London- type singer, kind of smoky. I feel if I am not as good as those people, I don’t count. And then after seeing KD Lang last night, I never want to open up my mouth again. But because I am a very good actress, I am going to pretend that I am full on KD Lang. I am the feminine KD Lang. She is all boy. ilene-soaps.jpgIt’s fantastic! I think
she is so comfortable in her skin, and she came out with no shoes on and looking like a man, but she was beautiful… and the voice was the best instrument that I ever heard! You want to be up there with the really good people to call yourself a singer, and I don’t call myself a singer. I call myself, a “Thinger”. I have a “thing” and I think it’s good.

MICHAEL:

The songs you performed for us at “Soaps In The City”, please tell us about them?


ILENE:

This one jazz song I wrote is a combination of “Fever” and “Moondance”. Then I wrote a song called, “Rise to the Occasion”, and my first job was with the great, Johnny Pacheco. I was a dancer at nine, dancing with two Cuban guys, and that is how I started in show business. So, this song is a kind of Latin boogaloo, which was popular in the 60’s. It was written as an assignment, between Lenny Kravitz’s, “Lady” and Cyndi Lauper’s, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”. Then when that did not happen, I changed into a different groove. I performed a song called “Flesh and Blood”, that was written for a friend of mine who was dying; the wonderful and beautiful, Nancy Addison (Ex- Jillian Coleridge, “Ryan’s Hope”). I remained close with her, and was with her every day until she died. Nancy was a wonderful friend and she died from a form of cancer. The doctors did not know the origin of it, and it was very difficult, and it took about two and half years. I started writing the song about the thought of losing someone, but knowing they will always be there with you…. and then 9/11 happened! This song came out of that, and then it really wrote itself. I knew Nancy would be dying, and I knew I would sing this song at her funeral, which was what happened. It’s a song I did not sing at my father’s memorial, but I recited the words. I have done it at other friend’s funerals. The list just goes on. I am proud of it.

MICHAEL:

Your stupendous and stunning portrayal of Roxy on “OLTL”, is so completely different than any character or actress on daytime. The scene that aired last week where Roxy pushed Adriana up against the hospital glass letting her know that she was causing her son, Rex, to basically die. That was because Adriana would not allow Gigi in Rex’s hospital room, and that was heart wrenching. Did you know those scenes were dynamite?

ILENE:

I knew things were real for me. The thing that is so difficult about that is, once they put up the hospital set, they will do three shows a day at the hospital set. You are so overwhelmed. You are so scared that you are going to be sacrificed, and you have to get to another scene. I felt like there was a little scene I had with the troll days, and I was not sure I was totally on my game. But then, the stuff where I put Adriana against the glass, I felt that I was on my game. With age, you are able to pull so much stuff out of your life and access it for your character. Before, when I was playing Delia on “Ryan’s Hope”, I had to do crying scenes all the time. I would have to go in back of this set, and do all this sense memory stuff. Now, I don’t have to go to that place or substitute much anymore, because of my life experience as Ilene.

JP1.jpgMICHAEL:

How is working with John Paul Lavoisier (Rex)? We need more mother/son scenes between them.

ILENE:

Oh, it’s great! The audience wants more, and its short changing both Rex and Roxy, but they may get it. We got extraordinary reaction as to who is Rex’s father? That is yet untold, and they better tell it!

MICHAEL:

Will it be Mitch Laurence?

ILENE:

It would be great if it was Mitch, if they
tell a real story. They were about to do something when the writers’ strike happened, and then they felt it was not an important enough story to do, so they bypassed it. We waited till head writer, Ron Carlivati came back to the show. Once Ron came back, it didn’t go anywhere, but we are hoping that it does. You know, stories have to be approved by ABC Daytime and SOAPnet President, Brian Frons. So hopefully, he will see fit to give us a story. I know he likes me, but he has to like me enough to let me tell a story. The one thing I know I am capable of, is telling a good story…. even the stuff I had with Miles…. where did it go?

MICHAEL:

What about working with Erika Slezak (Viki)?

ILENE:

She is wonderful to work with. With Erika, this is nothing that she enforced, but she has her scenes early in the morning. So, if you have scenes with Erika, you better be on your game. First of all, she is so professional and wonderful to work with, and so generous. But, she knows all of your lines as well, and that’s a spectacular thing to do. Every once in awhile, I am on my game like that, but she is always on her game. Erika has been very, very, good to me.

MICHAEL:

I love that Roxy stumbles around drunk all the time. Do you think that will ever change?

ILENE:
Until she resolves certainly some of her issues, I think she should have a bit of a substance problem. I think when she goes to work, she really tries to do that hairdo. I know a lot of people like Roxy, who have more than slight substance problems, whether they are on Quaaludes or something else. I think Roxy was pretty coherent with the recent hospital stuff with Rex, though.

MICHAEL:

In your performances, do you like towing the fine line between comedy and drama?

ILENE:

Oh, yes! I like towing the line, because I feel that people need the humor, and it’s hard to play comedy on a soap. I think I have managed to do that extremely well, and better than most, and it’s my background. When I came on the show I came on right after 9/11. I felt that people needed a break, and also needed to be highly entertained. I felt people needed cushioning, especially in New York; it was like a scorched landscape. What happened was I got the job on September 10 and I only called a couple people to let them know, and then 9/11 happened. At first I thought, what is acting? What does that mean to people, after we have gone through something like this? Does anyone even care anymore? Is watching television, except for watching the news, important? And then a couple of days before I had to go to work, I got very inspired. I felt that somebody had to entertain the troops, and I really felt it was my job to do that.

Melissa-Ilene.jpgMICHAEL:

Now tell me about working with the fabulous Melissa Archer (Natalie)?

ILENE:

I really like working with Melissa. She has had a lot of responsibility at “OLTL”. You know, once they see that you can do three shows in a row that is probably 18 scenes, they will do that and work you a lot. They will get away with doing that, and it is very difficult. One day Andrea Evans (Tina) had 100 or so pages. The Game Show episode with Rex, of “Whose Shane’s Daddy?”, we had a lot to do that day. Then the director said to us, “Not to put any stress on you, but this is going to be my Emmy submission!” Then it was like, you got to
be on!

MICHAEL:

I think you have a few good shows to submit for Supporting Actress Emmy competition for next year. Would you go for it?

ILENE:

I think I would. I did have scenes last year had I gotten nominated. My second year on the show I got nominated and it was a bit tricky. First of all, you have to have shows, which not only are you good in,… but the person you are working with is good, too. There is nothing worse than your doing a good performance, and the other person not delivering. I tend not to like to submit hospital scenes. I said to ’JP’, when it was the scene when I was in the hospital with Charlie and he comes in and says, “I don’t want to know you! Both of you!” I said to ‘JP’, “I don’t care what other people say, but these are the scenes you are going to submit!” In the past he has not submitted the right scenes. He has not done the right choices. I helped Renee Goldsberry (Ex- Evangeline) with her choices, and I was very proud that I could help her with that, and she had good stuff.

MICHAEL:

Now to “Ryan’s Hope”, and your iconic role of Delia Reid Ryan Coleridge. Ah, the list of married names goes on and on. Why do you think that worked so well?

ILENE:

The answer is, because of the show’s creators and head writers, Claire Labine and Paul Mayer. They wrote something from their heart. They had the bible on that show written extraordinarily well from day one, and what they had written for these characters always stayed in my mind. I knew what they wrote in those three paragraphs for Delia… I could get it. At the time, what was hard for me was that I was a very happy person playing a very unhappy person and that was difficult. I had just come from doing “Grease” and making people laugh, and once you have made 1200 people in a room laugh, you want to do that all the time.

MICHAEL:

So, after “Grease” you went to “Ryan’s Hope”?

kristen-Main2.jpgILENE:

I had done “Grease” for two years. I quit “Grease” in 1974 and got “Ryan’s Hope” in 1975. All of a sudden, I am playing this semi-tragic character who is crying all the time, going, “Love me. Please love me!” That was not second nature to me… being that screwed up. So, it was hard for me and difficult. Also, what was difficult, was you got these long scenes, which made it extremely potent for the audience, and addictive for the audience. You’ve got to travel with these characters when they made certain transitions. What disturbed me about the recent scenes with Adriana on “OLTL” in the hospital, was that the initial scenes with her were so short. I said to her, “Listen pipsqueak…” and the scene was over.

MICHAEL:

The soap climate now is faster, quicker scenes, than in the classic soaps presentations of yesteryear. It seems to fans that they think perhaps the perception is the actors can’t handle that much dialog.

ILENE:

I don’t think that’s what they are doing. When MTV came in, and I do not know what they are doing now, people got faddy or trendy. Now in daytime, they are trying to tell as many stories as possible, where Claire Labine just tried to tell two really good ones. I actually think the half-hour soap format is better. It gets you to concentrate and to be mesmerized by these people’s lives. People were addicted to the emotion of it, and not so much to flashy story. You know, I don’t know why we try to do car crashes or train crashes on soaps. Why do we do that, when “Lost” does it so much better? Why are we trying to compete in an area that we shouldn’t compete in, when people just want to be touched by a story? I think there was real value to the way “Ryan’s Hope” was done and was shot.

MICHAEL:

Can you tell me, off the top of your head, some Delia moments that you just loved?

ILENE:

The hysterically blind scenes when I am on a cruise with Pat. He realizes I am lying and throws the hairbrush at me and I catch it. The stuff with Roger and Sheila in the cooking lessons were fabulous, and every time Maeve would say, “Where you going Delia?” And she would go, “Oh, I’ve got cooking classes”, and the audience would go nuts.

MICHAEL:

Speaking of Maeve Ryan, tell me how was working with the incredible Helen Gallagher?

kristen-ron.jpgILENE:

Oh my God, fantastic! She is a pure gift. Both of us were hoofers! The wonderful thing about the cast was it really didn’t matter what you paid us, we would show up, because we did not make a lot of money on “Ryan’s Hope”. It was like
hoofer pay. Helen did have in her contract, that nobody could get more than her. Malcolm Groome (Ex-Pat) Kate Mulgrew (Ex-Mary), and Ron Hale (Ex- Roger) these were great, great people.

MICHAEL:

Now to “OLTL” favorite Roxy moments?

ILENE:

First of all, working with Jim DePaiva (Ex- Max) was a pleasure. Our wedding scenes in Las Vegas, where he wakes up the next morning, and does not realize he married me, was during the live week. Everything shot during the live week was priceless, but it scared me.

MICHAEL:

But you perform sketch comedy, as you did here in Los Angeles this weekend at the ACME Theatre and other venues. Why are you scared, if you can do such impromptu performances on the spot? I know why, but probably most people looking in from the outside, would not figure it to be the case.

ILENE:

I am scared of everything. I did “Grease’ for two years and the adrenaline would be out of control. It’s all scary to me, but I guess it’s good to be scared, because you can come up with interesting work, but your stomach is upset all the time. I have been in this business so long, and I am still scared. It keeps you coming up with new creative things for yourself.

ilene-nightclub.jpgMICHAEL:

Do you ad-lib a lot as Roxy? Some of those jabs she gives to the other citizens of Llanview seem like it.

ILENE:

I am a great ad-libber, especially in the role of Roxy. If it’s a group scene and they need a Roxie line, they go, “Please come up with one!”

MICHAEL:

You are in a new film called “The Manhattanites”?

ILENE:

Yes. We had a screening for it in New York and Aidan Turner (Aidan, “AMC”) is terrific in it. David Fumero (Christian, “OLTL”) is also in it, and Forbes March (Ex-Nash, “OLTL”) plays my competition and steals my boyfriend away from me. Jill Larson (Opal, “AMC”) was going to do my part, but it worked out better because she ended up playing a homeless woman in the movie, because she wanted to try something different.

MICHAEL:

What is the premise of the movie?

ILENE:

It’s all these people’s different stories and how they intersect. They are in somewhat of a community, and that gets the ball rolling. I play a real professional type. I play a lawyer. It was not a comedic character, and not a villain. I am kind of one of the leads in it.

couch-ilene.jpgMICHAEL:

In closing what would you
say is at the core of Roxy Balsom, if you were going to explain her to someone who does not know her very well?

ILENE:

Party! Party! I think she has fun, even in times of tragedy, and she will always find a way to rock.

Related Topics:
Click to comment

0 Comments
oldest
newest

Interviews

‘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)

Published

2 days ago

on

September 11, 2026

By

Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom (Katie Logan) is heading into the 53rd annual Daytime Emmys next month with a chance to win not one, but two gold statuettes to add to her collection of six!

Heather is once again a nominee for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, and for the first time a nominee as part of B&B’s writing team in the Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series category.

Currently, Heather is tied with One Life to Live icon, Erika Slezak (Ex-Viki) as the actresses with the most wins in Daytime Emmy history. An acting victory by Tom would break the tie, although Slezak’s wins have all been for Lead Actress, while Tom literally grew up before our eyes over 35 years in daytime, and has won in all three actress categories: Younger, Supporting and Lead.

Photo: JPI

Whether Tom wins the gold this year, next year is looking even like stronger lock with Heather delivering some of the best work of her career, over the last several months. Who can forget Katie’s showdown with her sister Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) over the creation of her own fashion house named Logan, that slap from Brooke, and eventually being disowned from the Logan family by Brooke and their sister, Donna (Jennifer Gareis). 

This fall, Katie is in full momma bear-mode and being overprotective of her son Will Spencer’s (Crew Morrow) heart and pocketbook. In story, Katie has a massive distrust of Melissa Dylan, who has made her move on her son, while Will is still trying to deal with the break-up with the love of his life Electra Forrester.

During a live chat this week on the Michael Fairman Channel, Heather opened up on a myriad of subjects, including why Dylan gets under Katie’s skin in such a major way, and what scenes earned her a shot at Lead Actress gold at the October 30th Daytime Emmy ceremony.

Photo: JPI

HEATHER TOM’S DAYTIME EMMY SUBMISSION

In daytime, Heather Tom does it all, she acts, directs and writes for The Bold and the Beautiful. When deciding what material to submit for Emmy competition with its eligibility rules of episodes from 2025, it relayed heavily on scenes with her longtime B&B scene partner, Don Diamont (Bill Spencer).

“I submitted material having to do with the Luna (Lisa Yamada) storyline and having to do with Katie and Bill. I love that Katie and Bill have been really trying to find their way back to each other for, honestly, five years. He’s been trying to woo her back. Katie’s been like, ‘No.’ However, they come together, especially over their son, Will (Crew Morrow) and they have a very real relationship-type of discussion. It wasn’t an argument. It was more about, ‘I know you. Don’t do this.’ That’s always kind of been Katie’s relationship with Bill. The scenes with Don Diamont were about Katie and Bill’s history, the pain, and the drama, and especially about their son, seemed very familiar to me.”

Heather added, “There’s also a couple scenes with Will and Luna, when Katie finds out that Luna is pregnant. Katie was like, ‘Nope! Our son is having a baby with somebody, and we’re going to figure this out. We’ve got means and the ability to do this. I don’t care if we have to take this baby away from Luna because she’s crazy, we’ll figure it out.’ They were some really good scenes that I felt very proud of. I thought to myself, “OK, this is Katie really taking a stand for her son, and having these conversations with Bill where I just felt they were real and honest.”

In conclusion to standing by her choices of scenes, Heather explained, “It was nice to see Bill and Katie operating as a parental unit and have her be like, “Yep, we’re not doing this. You know, you can’t force Luna to do anything, so let’s just figure out how we’re dealing with this.” Katie was kind of the adult in the room. Then, the scenes where Bill says to Katie, “You have to come back to me and I need you,” while Katie shed a few tears, she still didn’t take him back, not yet.”

Photo: JPI

DYLAN BROKE THE ‘GIRLFRIEND CODE’

There are specific reasons why Katie has it out for Melissa Dylan. In fact, Dylan went so far as to get her mother Darcy Dylan to town to shut down Katie’s suspicions of her, but it still isn’t swaying Katie away from her stance on the matter. Heather revealed how she is playing the scenes.

“So, here’s the deal. It’s multifaceted,” began Tom. “This girl pushes Katie’s buttons. She reminds her of her sister, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), and what Katie’s going through with her sister right now is very unpleasant. I think she looks at this girl and says, “This girl is going to crawl over anyone to get what she wants. And right now, she wants my son, and she’s willing to throw her best friend (Electra) under the bus.”

Heather also said, “Honestly, there’s something known as the ‘girlfriend code.’ Would you like to know what the girlfriend code is? ‘The girlfriend code’ is if your girlfriend, who is also your best friend, dates a guy and is especially in love with him, it doesn’t matter if you break up, that guy is off limits. You need to find yourself another guy.”

KATIE’S TROUBLES WITH BROOKE AND DYLAN MAKE HER TAKE A STAND

Katie clearly draws a similarity to her sister Brooke and Melissa Dylan which is also driving her attitude, which Heather confirmed. “So to Katie, it’s like Dylan broke that code. She is someone who follows her heart just like Brooke and leaves carnage in her wake,” said Tom.

She continued, “I think Katie looks at her and goes ‘Okay, one, you were living in your car. You didn’t call your mother who clearly loves you and ask her for help, but you were more than willing to take help from this, lovely rich guy.’ I think Katie feels like the fact that Dylan has been so expressive of how in love she is with Will, I think she finds that a little weird.  She’s telling him that she’s e in love with him, and he doesn’t say it back to you. So, clearly he’s in not in love with you.”

In story, Katie can’t trust a young woman, who knows her son doesn’t feel the same way about her and yet is still hanging around. Heather shared Katie’s viewpoint to Dylan: “He’s clearly in love with your best friend. So, isn’t it a little unsettling that she kind of keeps saying she’s in love with him? So that’s my multifaceted reason why Katie doesn’t like her. It really has nothing to do with the fact that she came from humble beginnings because Katie did too. That being said, the Spencers are billionaires, so she would have to also look out for that. However, I don’t think that’s the main reason why she doesn’t like this girl or doesn’t trust her. I really don’t.”

You can check out the full conversation from our livestream conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel below.

Now let us know, are you rooting for Heather Tom to win the Lead Actress Daytime Emmy? What did you think of the scenes she submitted? Will Katie be proven right about Melissa Dylan, or will her distrust blow up in her face and she will wind up respecting Dylan when all is said and done? Weigh-in via the comment section.

Continue Reading

Interviews

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Kelly Sullivan Talks Becoming Darcy Dylan, Who’s Melissa’s Dad, and Future Love Interest (Exclusive)

Published

6 days ago

on

September 7, 2026

By

Kelly Sullivan

Kelly Sullivan made her triumphant return to daytime on recent episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful in her new role as Darcy Dylan, the mother of Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock).

In story, Melissa, better known as just “Dylan,” phoned home to her mother to come to Los Angeles, in an effort to calm the waters with Will Spencer’s (Crew Morrow) nosy mother, Katie Logan (Heather Tom), who doesn’t trust Dylan one iota.

Soap fans remember Sullivan from her previous Daytime Emmy-nominated role sas Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri on General Hospital and as Sage Warner on The Young and the Restless. During a livestream conversation exclusively on the Michael Fairman Channel, Kelly spoke about her time on GH and Y&R, and the wonderful co-stars she shared the screen with, and her excitement on her brand new role on B&B.

Photo: JPI

As to her thoughts on if Darcy will ultimately prove to be a gold-digger, opportunist, but still has a heart of gold (as we saw in recent scenes with her daughter, seemingly), Sullivan explained, “Characters like Darcy can be dangerous. I think Darcy is a survivor and she can charm. She’s a flirt. She knows what she wants. Darcy is self-made, according to her, and she made it.”

THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN DARCY AND HER DAUGHTER, MELISSA DYLAN

However, Melissa plays a big role in what’s next for Darcy! Kelly explained, “She’s got this beautiful daughter and that was her entire life who is now making her way. Let me tell you, I don’t know what Darcy’s retirement plan is, but one would assume she doesn’t have much savings. This is a great opportunity for her to connect with her daughter and get the lay of the land.”

Finding out that Melissa has been dating Will Spencer from the rich and powerful Spencer family in Los Angeles, while initially a shock, could prove interesting if the mother/daughter were to work together for a common cause, their survival.

Sullivan explained, “Darcy’s all about the tabloids and all about this life of illusion and the haves and have-nots, essentially. She would never shy away from an opportunity to see what’s around the corner. I think the interesting thing for me, that I’m excited about is to explore the dynamic between Darcy and Melissa and what is that going to become?”

From all accounts, Darcy is here to stay in Los Angeles, and fans will see much more of Sullivan on their-screens. “Darcy’s not going anywhere”, confirmed Kelly. “I always said to Sydney Bullock, Darcy didn’t buy a round trip ticket. If you think about it, Melissa could be her ticket. She might be Darcy’s only hope. There are serious stakes here if Darcy has been waiting for this moment.”

Photo: JPI

SHARING SCENES WITH HEATHER TOM

Last week, Sullivan had her first on-screen confrontation with Heather Tom. In the scenes, Katie was disapproving of Dylan and let Darcy know it. Eventually, Darcy takes Dylan with her to leave Will’s beach house apartment, but Will stops Dylan.

Recalling the taping of the scenes, Kelly said, “Heather Tom is a real special artist. In the story between Katie and Darcy, you’ve got momma bear and you’ve got momma bear. You can’t fault either of these women for how they feel, and how protective they are of their children.”

There are many things viewers and perhaps the writers have not totally fleshed out about the Dylans. Are their Dylan sisters coming, or to be revealed to rival the Logan sisters? Who is Melissa’s biological father? Plus, some more nuggets as Kelly revealed.

“I think there is a juicy, juicy story there of the Dylans,” previewed Sullivan. “It would also be interesting if they decide who Melissa’s dad is. Who is that? I mean, that’s interesting. You know, when I auditioned for this role, it said on the page that the character was charming, from the Midwest, and dance skills a plus. and I was a Broadway dancer. So, I hope this means there might be an opportunity to dance on the show at some point.”

Photo: JPI

DARCY DYLAN AND WYATT SPENCER PAIRING?

As for the men on the canvas, Kelly was asked what she thought of a potential Darcy and Wyatt Spencer (Darin Brooks) pairing? To which she responded, “That would be so much fun. I’m such a fan of Darin’s work. Oh, I would have a ball working with him. One of the things that really excited me about Darcy when I was coming into audition for her was that they said that they wanted her to have a  comedic sensibility, comedic chops as they said it.”

Sullivan concluded, “To work with Darin, I would be so lucky. He’s such a great actor and he’s got great comedic timing and he’s just really present and phenomenally talented. He’s a great actor, so I would love that. I mean, anyone on the show would be really fun.  You throw it at the wall (in daytime) and say, ‘Is there a thing? Is there something here?’ Chemistry is chemistry.”

Now below, and in case you missed it, you can check out our full video livestream chat with Kelly Sullivan below.

So, what have you thought of Kelly’s performances thus far as Darcy? Do you think Darcy will turn out to be an opportunistic woman, but who deeply cares and loves her daughter, or will it turn out to be a ruse? Would you like to see Kelly paired with Darin Brooks on-screen as a love interest, and who do you think truly is Melissa Dylan’s biological father? Weigh-in via the comment section.

Continue Reading

General Hospital

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

Published

3 weeks ago

on

August 21, 2026

By

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.

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Heather

Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful

Airdate: 7-24-2026

Popular

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x