Pine Valley is meeting Port Charles on this week’s episodes of General Hospital as Walt Willey is reprising his All My Children role as Jackson Montgomery on the long-running ABC soap opera.
Willey — who starred as the beloved attorney from 1987 until the show was canceled in 2011 — made his debut appearance on General Hospital last Wednesday (July 12), marking the first time he’s stepped back into Jackson’s shoes in more than a decade.
Naturally, fans couldn’t contain their excitement over the veteran soap opera actor’s return to the small screen, leaving him speechless over the support.
“I am at a loss for words (a very rare condition in my case) over the outpouring of generous, kind and supportive posts — here, in chatrooms, on GH‘s social media — regarding my General Hospital debut,” he tweeted on Thursday (July 13). “In a word: WOW!”
Willey continued, “I cannot thank you all enough for loving and caring for me and ‘Jackson’ for almost 25 years on (and off!) AMC to the point where, 12 years after AMC went ‘dark,’ ‘Jackson’ — and his portrayer — still ‘have legs,'” before later adding, “I’ve said it more than once but it bears saying again — SOAP FANS ARE THE GREATEST FANS OF ALL!”
However, his shock didn’t wear off with his first set of tweets. Willey took to social media yet again on Friday (July 14) to show appreciation for the fans — as well as writers and other actors amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“Once again I must begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to ALL of you,” he wrote. “Over the past couple days I have found myself touched and a bit teary-eyed reading through your posts and comments — literally thousands of them! — regarding my visit to #GeneralHospital.”
He added, “To quote Sally Fields’ Oscar acceptance speech: ‘You love me! You really love me!’ And I love you right back! COUPLE THINGS: Pray, light a candle, cross your fingers — whatever you do — that the writers’ (WGA) and actors’ (SAG-AFTRA) strikes are short-lived.”
Willey will make his final appearance as Jackson on the Tuesday, July 18 episode of General Hospital, which airs at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Hulu.