General Hospital Star Genie Francis Dishes On Her Return To Port Charles

Genie Francis is back where she belongs, and that’s at home in Port Charles. The legendary actress, who is best known for her role as Laura Spencer on the hit ABC soap, has recently dished on her return to the show. Genie has made it no secret that she’s excited to be back on set as she absolutely loves working with both the General Hospital cast and crew.

Speaking to Closer Weekly in an interview, the stunning actress says that things haven’t always been easy for her, both on and off screen. But thankfully she’s managed to overcome plenty of personal issues, most of which included her drug and alcohol addictions and her yo-yo dieting.

“I’m in a business that wants me to be that toothpick-figure girl, and I’m not,” the 56-year-old told the publication. “All girls start to freak out about their bodies when they’re 12 to 14, but what intensified the experience for me was my character [Laura] being put on a diet, and then me taking predigested liquid protein, which people died from. That was my entrance into the dieting world!”

Genie also says that it felt really good to be asked to return to General Hospital. She initially thought that her acting career was over when her contract wasn’t renewed last year but was surprised at how much her fans wanted to see her return to daytime television.

She added, “I got such a nice, big response on social media. It was a surprise that made me feel great, and it had never happened before. [The producers] met with me two months later — they realized that the fans were upset and this wasn’t going to work for the show. ABC basically said it was a mistake and asked what they could do to fix it. I said, ‘I want a story.’ We talked about ideas and then it was like, “You’re coming back to work!” I was very excited.”

General Hospital airs weekdays on the ABC network. Check your local listings for times. In the meantime, drop us a line with your thoughts in our comments section below. And as always, don’t forget to check back with Celebrating the Soaps for all the latest news, updates and spoilers on General Hospital and all of your favorite daytime television shows right here!