Five Things That Happened On January 19 In Soap History

In 1996, Mary Mae’s loved ones gathered for her memorial service on GH. Mary Mae's death was scripted following the real-life passing of her portrayer, Rosalind Cash, who had been a cast member since 1994. Rena Sofer (Lois), whose daughter, Rosabel, has the middle name of Rosalind in honor of the late actress, recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "When Rosalind was dying, I went to go visit her in the hospital, and she and her partner kept telling me that she was fine, everything was fine, and I believed them. I was pregnant when they told me she had passed away; they kept most of that from me because they didn’t want to hurt the pregnancy, but it broke my heart. I loved that woman with everything I had inside of me. I just adored her."

In 1995, Days of Our Lives's Vivian (Louise Sorel) tricked Victor (John Aniston) into marrying her when she stood in for his intended bride, Kate, during his wedding rehearsal, which Kate was unable to make. Vivian had an unwitting Victor sign a marriage license, which made the "rehearsal" an actual, binding union! When Kate uncovered her scheme, Vivian drugged her coffee to keep her quiet, but Kate wound up presumed dead when she gave the drink to the pilot of her flight!

In 2015, Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson) and Samantha McCall (Kelly Monaco) consummated their relationship. The duo had begun dating in the fall of 2014, and on the night they first made love, Sam arranged for Patrick to join her for a romantic dinner at the penthouse she had once shared with Jason, who at the time was presumed dead. Patrick arrived with a bottle of wine, and Sam's mom, Alexis, made herself scarce. After Patrick assured Sam that he wanted to spend the night, she led him upstairs to her bedroom.

In 2018, Young and Restless's Mariah confronted Tessa on The Hilary Hour. Singer Tessa was signed to Devon's recording label and was under the gun to compose a new original song, but she was experiencing writer's block. So, when she discovered Mariah's diary entry (in which Mariah eloquently confessed to her feelings for Tessa), Tessa repackaged Mariah's writing as lyrics in her new song. When she sang it live on Hilary's show, Mariah recognized her own words, called a halt to the performance and blasted Tessa as a thief! Devon wound up dropping Tessa from his label, but Mariah and Tessa's relationship ultimately recovered and they got married.

On Guiding Light in 2009, roommates Natalia (Jessica Leccia, l.) and Olivia (Crystal Chappell) shared their first kiss. Known as "Otalia" to their fans, the pairing was GL's first foray into telling a same-sex love story. Noted Olivia's portrayer, Chappell, to Soap Opera Digest in 2014, "I was educated by the fans writing to me and telling me how important that story was for them, not only for what it represented, a love story between two women, but there wasn't much out there for them to connect to in terms of content."