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Toronto's Crack-Smoking Mayor Rob Ford Gets A Mention On General Hospital Via A Dig To Liz From Britt!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/TorontoStarGetty

Courtesy/TorontoStarGetty

Leave it to General Hospital to once again make some headlines in pop culture and this time it’s by using the name of current pop culture mess  … Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s  own mayor, Rob Ford!  The crack-smoking Ford is running for re-election despite his public admissions of drug and alcohol use and has become quite the butt of many jokes for his off-camera and on-camera antics!

However, on Wednesday’s episode of GH, as picked up by The Hollywood Reporter first,  Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) told Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) that two more guests were expected at their big engagement bash, because Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) has agreed to come and she’s bringing a date.  To which Britt, who is not too happy with Liz, replies, “Hmm … you don’t say …. Rob Ford?”   To which, Nikolas retorts back, “Someone almost as notorious!”

Rob Ford’s name became a media sensation when the story broke of a smartphone video that allegedly showed the mayor inhaling from a glass pipe.

So what do you think of the dig at Liz by Britt using Rob Ford?  Do you like the way the writing team at GH often has some very clever one-liners?  And the fact that GH gets some additional media attention from it?   Let us know!

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As a Torontonian I wish the media would stop giving this buffoon attention ~ he loves it. Next thing
you know he will be a guest star. I hope he doesn’t show up at the party 🙂

Whats scarier, is he will probably take the offer, after all, he gives his contact info to everyone, all they would have to do is ‘we want you to guest role on GH’.. he would likely say yes.. get another ball of upset rolling..

Whats even more odd, is I recently watched the Jimmy Kimmel episode which had Ford as the guest… Im gonna get lambasted, but the way Rob Ford handled it, he seemed almost in control.

Where can I get odds on Rob Ford getting re-elected in October? I wanna put $50 down…

.. and before I forget.. I loved the fact his name showed up.. it goes to show that we dont get forgotten north of the border.

That said.. I love that GH gets some attention out of it.. I had to have my wife listen, to make sure I wasn’t hearing things… (She said, but there’s like hundreds of Rob Fords right? LOL)

I do not live in Toronto, thank god but Rob Ford is known all over Canada and he is s joke, the joke mentioned in the episode on GH was so dam funny, thanks to whomever thought it up.

How was that particular “joke” so damn funny. You could have inserted a dozen different names in there and had the same result. And the result is merely a reference, not even a joke.

And leave it to General Hospital? Everyone in the world has made a Rob Ford reference in the last few months, Jimmy Kimmel had him on his show.

This is just the ABC PR department trying desperately to get some attention for the show leading up to the Donna Mills stunt. Wouldn’t it be great if they concentrated more on writing a good show instead of having to resort to gimmicks and stunts to hide all the deficiencies.

Its funny to most, your obviously not up on comedic laughter or jokes, every time he is mentioned in some form its FUNNY, if you do not understand it then thats on you, quit blaming everyone else for you not liking the show, if your not happy let them know or just do not watch, its so simple.

I guess I have soaps on the brain because that reference flew over my head. I thought first and foremost about Ford from One Life to Live! And when I realized that made little to no sense, I forgot all about it. Until now.

I thought they met Bobby Ford from OLTL too…then i told myself Bobby died and went to Hell if i recall correctly and began to wonder if Britt knew him from there somehow…lol

Bobby did not go to hell. Mitch was carried to hell by Bobby’s Dad & Stacy. Bobby died a hero!

Thanks Sandra…i shouldve remembered that, especially since i have the episode on tape and watched them 3 times!!!

LOL LOL THAT WAS HILARIOUS, I’M FROM TORONTO ONTARIO, CANADA, THAT WAS A FUNNY MOMENT ON GENERAL HOSPITAL. BRING IT ON GH, INVITE THE MAYOR ON GENERAL HOSPITAL AS A GUEST STAR.

I must of have missed it because I don’t recall that line at all– but being from Canada my mind could have blocked it out along with what’s his name Justin something? LOL.

well.
I like to be entertained..
So– I would get a real kick outta having Rob Ford as a guest on GH..
I do not take soaps as creed/seriously, so let Rob Ford entertain me Haaaa that would be fun..
But– iIdoubt he will ever be a guest on GH 🙁

Being from Canada (Manitoba) I laughed… but thought the scene called for a bit more camp to really made the joke fly… Nicholas could have pulled more of a “look” in response…

but loved the shout out for Canada.

I’m USA, but
Rob Ford is a real one!! He is not a pretender He is what he is and he doesn’t hide it.. Gotta respect him for that/not being a politician player..
I also, read/heard he has done some good things for the people..

Can’t disagree with anything you have stated….and he is running for re-election, but he did deny the “glass pipe” incident right up to the public showing of it…..

I’d love to have Rob Ford do a month on GH as himself..
And mix it up with Dr. O … !!!
ohhhh gawd!! that would be unforgettable!!
and– the ratings would burst the charts!!

Oh he’s real okay. And hard to respect, or be entertained by, if he’s your mayor, or the people who have been associated with him and his brother’s “extracurricular” activities since highschool…some of whom aren’t around anymore. And as for what you’ve read/heard about what he has done for the people, he is after all a “political player” fighting for re-election and in this regard believe “none of what you hear” as the saying goes. And no, he doesn’t hide it…anymore…that’s because he got caught and his “rehab” isn’t working.
Sorry to be so serious but you hit a sore spot.

Many seem to luv the guy and I’d bet he will be re-elected ..
none, no politician can be believed but Rob is real, as real as any politician can be/ a rare one ….
I would love to see him on GH.. that would be great! LOL 🙂

God bless him, he really is one of life’s characters!!!! I immediately caught the mention and just roared…Mr. Ford has now truly arrived with his mention on GH! Hope he appreciates the shout out…..of course, if he did turn up in Port Charles it would make perfect sense since the city is supposed to be located close to the Canadian border! (Hey, he could have gotten lost and wandered….LOL.) However, to all our friends north of the USA, I sincerely express that we only are laughing with you, not at you….as we certainly have no place to judge with the buffoons that are currently running this country!!!!! That being said, I pray for Rob’s continued safety and sanity(?)….his recent run-in with the fire hydrant had me a bit concerned! Gotta love him…… ; ) P.S. Hello to my buddy “Jules”….hope you jumped onto this thread since you don’t normally post for GH anymore…I’ve missed you!!!!!

Good to see GH acknowledge pop culture BECAUSE thats what the real world does EVERYDAY!

I thought it was great that GH can use real life events to their advantage.Plus it gets people talking about GH and maybe more attention to other sort of events that GH might do in the future.

General Hospital

‘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, Zamprongna 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 down 100% to play. “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 and 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? 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 of them for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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General Hospital

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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