Emma Samms Previews Her General Hospital Return As Holly

Courtesy of Emma Samms

In a new interview with Variety , General Hospital fave Emma Samms is opening up about her return to the show as Holly Sutton. Her first episode is slated to air on Wednesday, September 4.

The actress, who arrived on the Port Charles scene in 1982, played the role of Holly until 1985. After appearing on Dynasty and The Colbys as Fallon, she returned to GH from 1992-93, then came back for short-term stints in 2006, 2009, 2012-13, 2015, 2020, and from 2022-23. This time around, Holly will first be seen in conjunction with the storyline the show has mounted to usher Jonathan Jackson back to the canvas as Lucky Spencer, the son Holly's former love interest, the late Luke Spencer, shares with Laura Collins. In addition, she hinted to the publication that Holly will be intertwined with "a brilliant, strong, powerful, interesting villain." She also promised that fans could expect "some interesting twists with Holly coming back to town."

Samms, who has been vocal about her real-life struggles with Long COVID, also opened up to Variety about the health challenges she has faced in recent years. "I’ve been like this now for four and a half years nearly, and it’s baffling to not just the people who have it, but it’s baffling to the doctors,” she lamented. Samms revealed that after undergoing body scans, doctors discovered that she had myocarditis, which resulted in scarring on her heart, and that she also suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which affects how long she is able to stand.

The actress voiced her gratitude for how compassionate and helpful the powers-that-be at GH have been in making it possible for her to work as she navigates the various ways Long COVID has affected her. "If it wasn’t for the fact that people at General Hospital are so understanding of it and accommodating, I would not be able to work like I do," she noted.