Five Things That Happened On February 16 In Soap History

In 1988, Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) wed Travis Montgmery (Larkin Malloy) on All My Children. After the couple, who were already parents to a bouncing baby girl, Bianca, tied the knot, Erica gushed to her former lover, Jeremy Hunter, "I finally learned what you tried so hard to teach me. My happiness is in my own hands. Now that I know it, I plan to make this marriage last." That proved to be easier said than done; their union ended in divorce. Travis and Erica remarried in 1990, but that, too, resulted in divorce.

In 1999, General Hospital's Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) committed themselves to one another in an abandoned church. As part of their "vows," Elizabeth told Lucky, "This is so amazing that you and I would be standing here and you'd be saying these things to me. I am so honored to be who you love. This time last year I never thought that I'd smile or laugh again. I couldn't find a way out of the pain and the shame..but then I looked up and you were there. And you took my hand and made me walk right back into the rest of my life.... You have my heart. That's a permanent lock. Everything I am is in love with you. My soul, my mind, my body, my spirit. That will never change. I pledge myself to you Lucky. Today. Forever.”

In 2009, Bianca Montgomery (Eden Riegel, r.) and Reese Williams (Tamara Braun) said, “I do” on All My Children, in daytime’s first same-sex wedding. Braun told Soap Opera Digest in 2018, "Being part of the first same-sex couple on TV who got married was an honor and meant a great deal to me. I believe that all people should have the right to love and be married if it is what they desire. Love is love."

In 2017, Steve and Kayla Johnson (Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans) remarried on Days of Our Lives, which took place on Valentine's Day within the world of Salem. Previewing the ceremony to Soap Opera Digest, Evans reflected on her long acting partnership with Nichols and marveled, "I said the other day, 'Oh, we’re getting married again on Valentine’s Day, and isn’t it interesting that it’s the same guy 30 years later?' I mean, what are the chances of that? So, it’s pretty cool. It’s hard to achieve that in real life, and I think it’s probably close to impossible to achieve it in a TV situation.... We trust each other, and we just roll with it, and with [Steve and Kayla’s] wedding vows, too, we interjected certain parts that we felt were important, because we really do love each other and we care about these characters, so we just tried to put in a few things that we thought had meaning to the characters. We’ve been playing them a long time, and if something doesn’t feel right, we want to stand up for that."

In 2023, at the reception that took place after Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr, r.) and Curtis Ashford tied the knot on General Hospital, Portia's daughter, Trina Robinson, angrily confronted her mother, who she believed had lied to her about her paternity (Trina was raised as Marcus Taggert's daughter, but was actually the product of Portia's long-ago affair with Curtis). "Mom, please, be honest with me," Trina pleaded. "Answer me. Is Curtis my father?" Portia was forced to admit that she did not actually know, but that it was a possibility. Trina's true paternity was later confirmed by a DNA test.