Credit: Image: Aaron Montgomery, Sean Smith, Howard Wise/JPI
On the anniversary of Ned Ashton’s bigamy revealed on General Hospital, we’re remembering other scandalous moments in soap opera history and the shocking ways they played out.
Out of the Mouths of Babes on Young and Restless
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After taking a cruise to get over a failed love, Young and Restless‘ Ashley returned to Genoa City pregnant but she didn’t name the father. She married Brad and let him adopt her daughter, Abby. It was later revealed the baby was fathered by Victor whose sperm Ashley stole. Though the truth started to spread, Victor only found out when little Abby blurted out, “Mama says you’re my daddy” — which she heard from a video Ashley made when she thought she was dying of cancer.
Sonny shoots his own son on General Hospital
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“You just shot your own son!” It’s an exclamation that still rings in the ears of many a General Hospital fan. Olivia’s cries to Sonny while kneeling over her lifeless son, who was working undercover to take down the mob boss, made for a shocking climax to the gripping storyline. It was also one heck of a way for Sonny and Dante to find out they were father and son.
Marlena’s twin came in handy on Days of our Lives
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Jake Kositchek (Jack Coleman), a.k.a. The Salem Strangler, had been terrorizing Salem for months in 1982. Then, one Friday episode he killed Days of Our Lives‘ beloved Dr. Marlena Evans who he had been stalking. Quite the cliffhanger! But then, Don came home to find his love, Marlena, very much alive despite him just identifying her dead body. How could that be? Well, that’s where the handy twin thing comes in as Marlena’s lookalike sister Samantha (played by actress Deidre Hall’s real-life twin Andrea Hall) was the woman Jake killed, not Marlena.
Mistaken identity on Bold and Beautiful
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The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Brooke has never met a relative’s lover she didn’t like. Her daughter’s beaus were no exception. However, in the case of her daughter Hope’s boyfriend Oliver, it was a genuine case of mistaken identity when the two had sex at Hope’s graduation party where everyone wore the same masks and costumes. They kept their illicit tryst secret for a while until a video of their hookup leaked — and then all hell broke loose.
Livvie’s wish on Port Charles
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Throwing it back to General Hospital’s defunct spinoff, Port Charles, after Livvie made a wish on Vampire Caleb’s ring for him to have one night of intense, unforgettable love, he did just that. Just not with her. It was with her rival Alison, who turned up pregnant. Caleb told Livvie the truth but he waited until just after they said ‘I do’. Quite the wedding present, Caleb. To make the reveal even more shocking, Port Charles had been canceled so fans were left with the mother of all cliffhangers.
