General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling did more than pay tribute to six decades of great performances and tales in Port Charles. The show also revealed that Steve Burton, beloved as Jason Morgan, is coming back to GH.
Steve Burton: Home Again
Burton’s fans have needed a scorecard to keep up with the actor’s comings and goings over the last decade. He’s been on The Young and the Restless (as Dylan) and Days of our Lives (as Harris) but now, Burton is returning to the show he’s been on and off of the longest — GH.
On last night’s GH primetime special, Burton appeared in the final moments, wearing Jason’s trademark leather jacket, promising that “big things are coming to Port Charles.” Sure, Jason’s “dead” following a cave-in but as no body was ever found, it shouldn’t be that difficult to write him back onto the show.
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Burton’s on and off-screen pal, conducted a thorough interview with TV’s Jason Morgan at Daily Drama about how his return came about, what went down with his last exit in 2021, and what viewers might be able to expect now that he’s officially on his way back to Port Charles.
“I’m officially back, so crazy I know,” Burton told Anderson in his first interview since the news of his return was announced. “Some people are crying, some people are celebrating. It’s amazing. We tried to keep it super low profile.”
Rumors were swirling that the timing of Burton announcing his exit from DAYS on the day before the GH primetime special was set to air meant that the news of his return to GH would be announced. “Once you start telling makeup, hair, wardrobe, it’s hard [to keep secret],” he says. “You can’t just drop me in my dressing room [at ABC] and take me up to set without people noticing.”
Once Burton’s return became a reality, he says he experienced “mixed emotions…it was an incredible welcoming. It started with people at the gate. I didn’t see a lot of actors. I think it was more hush-hush with [them].”
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Burton understands that people were commenting he’d never come back to GH given the circumstances he left the show in 2021. “Disney had their mandate,” the actor acknowledges. “They wanted people to get vaccinated [against COVID-19]. I chose not to. We parted ways. I didn’t have any hard feelings or ill will. GH was my family.”
Burton had said if ABC/Disney ever lifted its mandate (which it since has), he’d love to return to the show and slip back into Jason’s trademark leather jacket. He had already made other commitments when the mandate was lifted but now, the stars have aligned for him to come back home.
“We know there’s going to be ups and downs in life, twists and turns,” he offers, pointing out that the key to life is expressing gratitude even in tough times. “I’m just so grateful,” says Burton, who believes that life happens for people and not to them. “I live a great life. It’s just incredible, man.”
While Burton considers GH his home, he also has great fondness for DAYS as that was his first soap opera. He says he has “nothing but love for them.” While we know the “what” — Steve Burton is coming back to GH — we don’t the “when” or the “how.”
“I have no idea [when I’m starting back],” he says. “I really don’t know my start date. I haven’t had a lot of communication [with the show], so I don’t know my exact start date. It could be the end of this month, or [it] could be the beginning of next month. I’ll be ready.”
Burton, who says he plans on talking to the show’s writers, actually has had some communications with GH personnel, including Evan Hofer (Dex). “He sent me a really nice text,” Burton says. The returning fan-favorite chatted with costumer Shawn Reeves to go over the actor’s wardrobe. He has only one request.
“Just give me the jacket,” Burton chuckled. “That’s all I want!”
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