As Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva is about to hit the bookstores, and on to soapers bookshelves beginning May 4th, Victoria Rowell (Ex- Dru, Y&R) discusses her novel and if it mirrors life on the number one CBS soap, and statements made by her peers and co-stars in part one of a revealing interview with TV Guide Canada’s, Nelson Branco. Here is an excerpt below when the actress was asked about being labeled “difficult”
Rowell on some of her peers sentiments: “Let’s examine the word difficult, shall we? The word difficult is often misconstrued — along with all the other “isms.” Apparently being desirous, fly, fearless, classy, intriguing, and having direction is synonymous with being difficult. When you personify these character traits and strengths, as I do, you are deemed difficult because I reflect what a lot of people lack. I’m a businessperson, and let’s remember that this is show business. When you reflect that you care about the whole production — not just your scenes, but that you care about an actor looking like yesterday’s news because there is no one to do their hair and their wig is on sideways, that you care enough to bring these issues to production, that you care enough to discuss equality even before your scenes begin, that other people are looking to you for leadership because of your tenure — apparently, that amounts to being difficult instead of being a team player. When those things are on my plate before the director yells, “5-4-3-2-1-action,” the easy answer, the easy aspersion is to label someone difficult because what else can you say to try to discredit the person who is doing things far beyond that person’s myopic imagination? If someone wants to deem me as difficult, I deem him or her as dizzy.”
What’s most interesting is her reveal that Bill Bell wrote loved to write for her and Drucilla, w/c obviously led to jealousy and petty rumor mongering from her “professional” cast members. How rude, crude and uncivilized for her colleague to refuse to do a line reading with her. I’m guessing it was Don Diamont. LOL! Also, she is very articulate as usual. She’s savvy. How biased of Barbara Bloom to take the sides of these cast members of hers on Y&R who did not want her to write for Y&R. Yet she was a WGA member and writing for Diagnosis… Read more »
Guest
Jakestar
yes bottomchef, lets make it about race
Guest
bottomchef
If the kish firing, Otalia not showing affection and the Nuke’s lack of kissing are made into a homophobia issue for some people, then why can’t race be one of the factors in Rowell’s situation?
Guest
Jakestar
Says the person who bashed both of them.
Guest
bottomchef
Says the person who can’t take criticism of nuke or kish.
I feel so sad for their fans. Nothing pleases them and they have meltdowns when the actors or characters get criticized.
Yet nuke or kish are not even the definitive queer characters of daytime. That distiniction will always be for AMC’s Bianca bec the writing of her coming out was great and Eden Reigel is fantastic. The kish and nuke actors are overshadowed by Reigel.
Guest
Jakestar
So it’s racism if Victoria Rowell is criticized, but it’s not homophobia if Kish or Nuke are treated poorly? Gotcha.
Guest
bottomchef
For Rowell’s situation, race could be a factor. I think race is a factor.
For kish and nuke, I don’t think it’s homophobia. Kish got to have SEX on air and raised a baby. Nuke is still there and there’s now a triangle.
If you think it’s not racism for Rowell and it’s homophobia for the fired kish actors, then that’s your opinion.
People can disagree. It’s just that the kish fans are soooooooooo sensitive and never think logically. Why would homophobes target OLTL when higher rated primetime shows DH and Modern Family have same sex couples?
MOVE ON Jakestar.
Kish has been axed.
Guest
Rob
I think its reverse racism. I find Victoria Rowell to be very racist in her comments and demeanor.
GH’s Gavin Houston Teases How Zeke’s Love Life Is About to Take an Unexpected Turn
June 3, 2023
Next week on General Hospital, Gavin Houston returns as Portia’s (Brooke Kerr) brother, Zeke. When viewers last saw Zeke, he was in Port Charles for Portia’a wedding to Curtis (Donnell Turner) back in February.
Photo: ABC
Fast-forward to June and Zeke is back. However, from the looks of it, Zeke might find love this time around, or is it something more casual?
According to preview in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest, when Zeke settles in at the Metro Court he grabs a drink at the pool, and while there sees a very attractive woman.
Photo: ABC
Houston shared on the encounter, “He sees this attractive woman and tries to pick her up by being his fun-loving, charming self. He buys her a drink and there is definitely some chemistry there.”
However, apparently this woman is someone who his sister, Portia, knows well. The smart money is that he is hitting on Jordan, who has just walked out on a conversation with her ex-husband, Curtis. This, following the two kissing and Curtis going back to his marriage with Zeke’s sister. But could the woman Zeke is impressed by be someone else?
Share your thoughts on Zeke’s return, and who you think will be the woman he is interested in via the comment section below.
Eva Longoria on Reprising Her Role of ‘Desperate Housewives’ Gabby : “I Would Be The First to Sign Up for a Reboot”
June 2, 2023
Just where would Gabrielle Solis be today? That was the question posed to Eva Longoria, who is on a publicity campaign for her directorial film debut with Flamin’ Hot.
The former Desperate Housewives star spoke with Access Hollywood’s Mario Lopez, where she revealed where she thinks Wisteria Lane’s Gabby would be today. Longoria chimed in, “She’d be an influencer for sure … she’d be a social media mogul.”
When asked if she would be down for a revival of Desperate Housewives, Longoria enthusiastically said, “I would be the first to sign up for a reboot. I miss Gabby so much. I miss being Gabby Ruiz.”
Photo: ABC
Even though, Desperate Housewives ran from 2004-2013, since its premiere 20 years ago times have changed. The series creator, Marc Cherry, doesn’t seem so ready to bring back Wisteria Lane.
Longoria shared, “He feels like there’s no Why now?” She added that Cherry also expressed, “What do I have to say with these characters that we haven’t already fully mined?”
Photo: Hulu
Soap fans also recall Eva played Isabella on The Young and the Restless from 2001-2003, before joining Desperate Housewives a year later. Flamin Hot, which tells the biographical story of the invention of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” is set for release on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9th.
Would you want to see a reboot of Desperate Housewives? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Pride Month Celebrating LGBTQ+ Soap Supercouples: Nuke, Kish, Otalia & WilSon … Which Stands the Test of Time?
June 2, 2023
June is Pride Month, the time when across the U.S and the world there are celebrations and commemorations to recognize all who identify as LGBTQ and their allies.
Daytime soap operas have had a rocky road when it comes to the representation of same-sex couples. The soaps have been at one time leaders in portraying key social issues of our time, as well as treading lightly on other subjects, as to its concerns to ‘turn-off’ its core audiences.
When you look back at the groundbreaking first same-sex weddings, and the first gay kiss, the soaps have come far in some ways in their representations of gay characters, but there is always work to be done to serve and to shed light on the under-represented.
As we reflect back to the then and the now, which LGBTQ soap supercouple remains your favorite and had made a lasting impact? Let’s take a look at four duos who captivated many viewers.
Nuke – Luke Snyder and Noah Mayer – As the World Turns
Van Hansis (Luke) and Jake Silbermann (Noah) were a key part of the evolution of, and representation of LGBTQ character on the soaps. ‘Nuke’, as they were known as, became the first gay male soap couple to share an on-screen kiss back in 2007. ATWT also became known as the first soap to depict a fully realized romantic male couple as an integral part of the show. There was plenty of backlash along the way for the long-awaited kiss to happen, but when it did, the show moved forward to tell their love story.
When Crystal Chappell (Olivia) and Jessica Leccia (Natalia) began to play the love story of Otalia, they had to show their affection by a kiss on the head, or holding hands. It took quite some time for GL to move forward to have two women, two moms, no less, share a lip lock. The complicated love story featured Natalia being conflicted to face her true romantic feelings for Olivia, because of her value system and religions upbringing, and that made this all the more riveting and frustrating at the same time. In the end, the rabid fan base for this duo was so great that Chappell wound up creating her own series, Venice, to honor and serve them, remaining one of the LGBTQ communities greatest allies.
Kish – Kyle Lewis and Oliver Fish – One Life to Live
In 2009, One Life to Live’s Kyle Lewis (Brett Claywell) was an out lab tech in Llanview, who back in college had a relationship with Officer Oliver Fish (Scott Evans). It imploded when Oliver denied he was gay. For years, Oliver remained in the closet, before finally coming out to himself and Kyle.
Kish had been a big success with the media and One Life’s gay audience. LGBTQ-advocacy groups honored the couple and the story. However, Kish was cut short when the network felt that the data showed that the storyline was not resonating with the show’s core audience.
WilSon – Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis – Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives delivered daytime’s first-ever gay male wedding in 2014, between Will (then played by Guy Wilson) and Sonny (then played by Freddie Smith).
In an interview with EW, Days of our Lives executive producer, Ken Corday shared on the union, “Will and Sonny have been together for a while and it was the natural progression of their love story. We didn’t feel like there was anything we could or couldn’t do, we treated them like any other couple on the canvas and continued to grow their romance as such.”
In addition, the coming out story of Will Horton was critically praised and noteworthy for the performances of Chandler Massey, who won three Daytime Emmys for his work in the Outstanding Younger Actor category 2012, 2013 and 2014. Freddie Smith also won in the same category in 2015. Will has been played over the years by Chandler Massey and Guy Wilson, while Sonny has been portrayed by Freddie Smith and Zach Tinker.
There have been several other key LGBTQ couples throughout the course of daytime history including All My Children’s Bianca (Eden Riegel) and Reese (Tamara Braun). These two characters were involved in the first same-sex lesbian wedding on daytime. Problem was … Reese kissed Zach (Thorsten Kaye) before the wedding, making this infuriating for viewers at home.
Other notable LGBTQ couples through the years have included: Bianca and Maggie on All My Children, Mariah and Tessa of The Young and the Restless played bv Camryn Grimes and Cait Fairbanks, Maya and Rick on The Bold and the Beautiful, Lucas and Brad on General Hospital and others.
Which couple do you think has had the most lasting impact on the history of LGBTQ representation on daytime soap operas? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
What’s most interesting is her reveal that Bill Bell wrote loved to write for her and Drucilla, w/c obviously led to jealousy and petty rumor mongering from her “professional” cast members. How rude, crude and uncivilized for her colleague to refuse to do a line reading with her. I’m guessing it was Don Diamont. LOL! Also, she is very articulate as usual. She’s savvy. How biased of Barbara Bloom to take the sides of these cast members of hers on Y&R who did not want her to write for Y&R. Yet she was a WGA member and writing for Diagnosis… Read more »
yes bottomchef, lets make it about race
If the kish firing, Otalia not showing affection and the Nuke’s lack of kissing are made into a homophobia issue for some people, then why can’t race be one of the factors in Rowell’s situation?
Says the person who bashed both of them.
Says the person who can’t take criticism of nuke or kish.
I feel so sad for their fans. Nothing pleases them and they have meltdowns when the actors or characters get criticized.
Yet nuke or kish are not even the definitive queer characters of daytime. That distiniction will always be for AMC’s Bianca bec the writing of her coming out was great and Eden Reigel is fantastic. The kish and nuke actors are overshadowed by Reigel.
So it’s racism if Victoria Rowell is criticized, but it’s not homophobia if Kish or Nuke are treated poorly? Gotcha.
For Rowell’s situation, race could be a factor. I think race is a factor.
For kish and nuke, I don’t think it’s homophobia. Kish got to have SEX on air and raised a baby. Nuke is still there and there’s now a triangle.
If you think it’s not racism for Rowell and it’s homophobia for the fired kish actors, then that’s your opinion.
People can disagree. It’s just that the kish fans are soooooooooo sensitive and never think logically. Why would homophobes target OLTL when higher rated primetime shows DH and Modern Family have same sex couples?
MOVE ON Jakestar.
Kish has been axed.
I think its reverse racism. I find Victoria Rowell to be very racist in her comments and demeanor.