Five Things That Happened On February 5 In Soap History

In 1990, Days of Our Lives's Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla Brady (Mary Beth Evans) attempted to wed legally, but she was arrested for his first wife, Marina’s, murder. It was Marina's resurfacing that rendered Steve and Kayla's 1988 marriage ceremony invalid. Further complicating matters, Kayla was quite pregnant at the time of the failed wedding with her and Steve's first child, daughter Stephanie. Eventually, Kayla was exonerated of killing Marina, and the duo was able to make it down the aisle successfully.

In 1996, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Lily Rivera (Lilly Melgar) tied the knot on General Hospital. The marriage ended tragically later that same year, when Lily, who was pregnant with Sonny's child, was killed along with their unborn baby by a car bomb that had been intended for Sonny.

In 2003, Bree Williamson (pictured with Kamar de los Reyes as Antonio Vega) debuted as One Life to Live’s Jessica Buchanan. Erin Torpey had previously played the role from 1990-2003, and Williamson played Jessica through to the show's finale in 2012. Reflecting on her years on the show to Soap Opera Digest in 2015, Williamson said, "It was an amazing time. Getting to go to work with people I loved every day and having a community of people that I liked to be with and hang out with was really amazing. And getting to work on awesome material every day was great."

In 2016, Matt Cohen made his General Hospital debut as priest/doctor Griffin Munro, who was revealed to be the surprise son of the late Duke Lavery. In his first interview with Soap Opera Digest, Cohen praised the actors with whom he did his screen test. “Emme [Rylan, then-Lulu] came in so strong, really emotional, and Finola [Hughes, Anna] came in doing what she does, with that quiet intensity,” he recalled. “I thought I had chemistry with both of them.” He also reported feeling an immediate rapport with his first real scene partner, Maurice Benard (Sonny), saying, “He and I hit it off right away. I feel a connection to him, both as Matt Cohen and as Griffin."

In 2020, Jeff Kober (r.) made his General Hospital debut in the role of Cyrus Renault, a drug-running criminal and an old enemy of Jordan Ashford and Marcus Taggert. Though Cyrus was behind bars at the time of his introduction, he had still been making moves to take down Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), earning him a visit from the mob don. In time, Cyrus was revealed to be the half brother of Laura Collins (and the full sibling of Martin Grey). In 2022, Kober took home the Outstanding Supporting Actor trophy at the Daytime Emmys for his portrayal of Cyrus.