GH Star Maurice Benard Welcomes Mia St. John To State of Mind

A big boxing fan, General Hospital’s Maurice Benard was excited to welcome five-time world boxing champion, Mia St. John, to his State of Mind podcast this week.

Maurice Benard and Mia St. John Get Personal

The former wife of the late Kristoff St. John (Neil, The Young and the Restless), St. John is also a mental health advocate and has overcome a lot of tragedy in her life, including losing her son, Julian. St. John’s new book, Fighting for My Life: A Memoir about a Mother’s Loss and Grief, will be released this December.

On his Instagram account, Benard posted a short clip from their talk and detailed the conversation a bit on his post. “I like to think that with every episode of State Of Mind I learn something,” he wrote. “In talking with Mia I learned that it’s not how tough you are… it’s how tough it is to go through so much – the loss of her son, Julian, former husband Kristoff, her own relapse – and then get back up and thrive. She’s always the fighter. That’s what really matters.”

Her son Julian St. John committed suicide in 2014 after a lifelong struggle with mental health issues. Both parents united to get the word out about the importance of treatment, compassion, and care. Kristoff St. John struggled after the loss of his son, leading to his own battle against depression. He passed away due to heart failure in February of 2019.

Benard shared an emotional story about a time he wanted to give up, and his son was there to tell him he was going to take care of him. The two also talked about her dealing with both tragic deaths, as well as her long-term sobriety. Known as “The Knockout” in the ring, the conversation also included St. John’s memories of her early days in San Francisco, how she became a SoCal girl, and her entry into boxing.

Benard and St. John also share a love for the study of Taekwondo, where St. John is a double black belt. Benard asked his guest how she became involved, and she explained how her dad was obsessed with Bruce Lee and put both his daughters in the martial arts. Although she hated it at first, as the years went by, she fell in love with it.

Another iconic figure drove her passion for boxing. “It was the era of Rocky and I wanted to be Rocky,” St. John revealed. “I dreamt about it every night that I would be a world championship boxer.”

The problem was there weren’t a lot of professional women boxers at the time, and it wasn’t until St. John was in her 20s that she saw her first opportunity to be in her first match. The rest is history!