General Hospital Exclusive: Is Ethan Lovett Phoebe’s Father? Nathan Dean Teases What’s Ahead

The mystery surrounding Ethan Lovett’s return to Port Charles on General Hospital deepened when the show revealed that he’s connected to the deceased Delilah (Lily Cardone) — and her baby girl, Phoebe (Luna and Lucia Creighton). Ethan’s portrayer, Nathan Dean, spoke to Soap Opera Digest about Ethan and Delilah’s connection, Phoebe’s possible paternity and what’s ahead for the character as the mystery deepens.

Ethan’s Return and His Connection to Delilah and Phoebe

When it came to Ethan’s storyline, Dean “had no idea what the plan was” when he first signed on to return to the role he originally played from 2009-13. “I wasn’t given many clues at all as to what I’d be doing. I saw the first script of him coming back and the reunion with Lulu [Alexa Havins] and then talking about Luke a bit, but that was basically all I knew.”

Soon, though, “There were some rumblings [backstage] about this other thing going on, something with a baby,” he recounts. “I was like, ‘Hmm, what’s going on with that?’ And then, suddenly, it was like, ‘Oh, wait! I am involved with that!’ That was sort of a fun surprise.”

GH introduced Delilah back in March, a month before Ethan touched back down in town. Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) came to the pregnant woman’s aid when they found her collapsed in the street, and after giving birth, she passed away. Brook Lynn and Chase soon became the baby’s foster parents and are hoping to adopt her. Ethan, meanwhile, had been seen leaving messages for an unknown someone and growing increasingly concerned when the person he was calling was a persistent no-show at the daily rendezvous he arranged for them. He then had a big reaction to Delilah’s name when Brook Lynn innocently told him about little Phoebe’s origins. Upon finding out she had died, he tearfully — and secretly — burned a photo of them together and vowed to keep their secret safe.

Dean shares that from the first one-way phone call he filmed Ethan making, he knew there was something more going on between Ethan and the mystery woman than, say, a simple love connection. “The way I thought about it was, ‘I’m flying halfway around the world to meet up with this girl, so there’s obviously more to it.’ Because Ethan is never the guy that’s like, ‘Let me bring [my significant other] home to meet the family.’ He’s never going to be that guy!”

Whatever the full Ethan/Delilah story turns out to be, the actor notes, “This is a stronger relationship than we’ve seen Ethan have or he wouldn’t be burning her photo and doing all of these things. Obviously, there is a lot more to this relationship than we know about or that Ethan is willing to talk about.”

The Mystery of Phoebe’s Paternity

The question dangling over Ethan’s storyline since his link to Delilah was revealed is, of course: Is he Phoebe’s father? Dean winks that just like the fans, he “can’t wait to find out,” and says that as the plot continues to unfold, Ethan’s pull to the baby — which was already on full display on the May 13 episode when he could hardly keep his eyes off Phoebe while at the Metro Court Gardens with Kristina (Kate Mansi) — will only grow stronger. “Ethan is going to be making a lot of excuses to go to the Quartermaine mansion,” Dean chuckles.

The role of Phoebe is shared by twins Luna and Lucia Creighton and, to hear Dean tell it, it requires very little acting to appear smitten by them. “Oh, my God, they’re both adorable,” Dean smiles. “When I’m with them in scenes, they steal all the focus. The cameras love them and they love the camera. They’re always in a good mood. I don’t know what the trick is, I don’t know how they do it, but those are two of the happiest, most alert, excited babies I’ve ever seen in my life. They’re wonderful.”

If Phoebe is Ethan’s daughter, there is a compelling reason that he isn’t claiming her, which relates back to whatever danger Ethan hoped to protect Delilah from by sending her to Port Charles in the first place. “This is a very complicated situation,” Dean muses, “and Ethan doesn’t necessarily need people digging into the circumstances of how we got here, what the relationship with Delilah was and why we had to come to Port Charles. But Ethan definitely wants to make sure that this kid is taken care of. He feels like he’s the reason that Delilah got killed and he doesn’t want to screw things up more than he already has.”

The Sonny Corinthos Factor in Ethan’s Story

Dean hints that Ethan is already making moves to ensure that if the danger he’s running from does show up on his doorstep, he’ll be ready for it — hence his decision to go to work for Sonny (Maurice Benard). “He came into Port Charles with the mentality of, ‘I’m going to keep you safe, Delilah,’ and then he immediately goes to work for the mob boss in town? I think that was very deliberate,” he says. “That’s about needing protection from someone. He’s establishing a built-in army because he knows Sonny will go to war if someone comes at him. Ethan’s thinking, ‘Let me put myself behind that fence, because that’s the safest place I can be.'”