A familiar face is returning to General Hospital as star Michael E. Knight reprises his role as Maritn Grey in upcoming episodes of ABC‘s long-running soap.
As viewers will recall, Knight’s Grey left Port Charles in February 2024 after he broke up with love Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) after catching her with ex Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner). Now, Knight is making his way back and revealing what led to his extended absence from the soap.
In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Knight explained why it’s taken months for Martin Grey to return as he noted that changes in the writers’ room led to his delayed comeback. According to Knight, he was only meant to be out for three months, but when Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten were positioned as the new head writing team, it changed plans.
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“By the time it got to August, I was thinking, ‘Okay, well, you know, no harm, no foul,’” Knight shared with the outlet, as he revealed that he was uncertain about whether he’d be back or not after it took longer than anticipated.
“Frank [Valentini] brought me on initially to work with Roger [Howarth] when I was trying to make my health insurance. And I will love Frank for the rest of my life for doing what he did, because four days turned into four years,” Knight said, as he referred to his initial hiring in 2019. “So, to me, I already had the brass ring in my pocket. I wasn’t going to complain about four days turning into four years! I’m one grateful monkey, you know what I mean?”
“My first loyalty is to Frank, always,” Knight added. “And when Frank called me and told me about bringing me back and gave me the lowdown… I was a very happy guy.”
While Knight wouldn’t give any specifics regarding his character’s return to Port Charles, he did tease, “People used to ask me, ‘Well, what’s your role on General Hospital?’ And I would say, ‘It’s kind of like paprika. You don’t use it a lot but you use it to sort of spice things up.’”
While Knight has only been a part of General Hospital since 2019, he’s best known for his role as Tad Martin on All My Children, in which he starred from 1983 to 2011.
Stay tuned to see Knight’s return, and let us know what you hope to see from Martin Grey’s storyline in the comments section.
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