Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 2:12 PM ET by Scotty Gore

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(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “One Life to Live” comings and goings for the month of January and beyond.

With Cristian’s relationship with Layla (Tika Sumpter) already on shaky ground since he saw her picture in a magazine on the arm of her boss Steffan, don’t expect the couple to have a happy reunion when Sumpter makes her second appearance since going on recurring status nearly six months ago. On Friday, January 21 and Monday, January 24, the two meet up in Paris, where Layla makes a confession to Cristian. Could it be the final nail in the coffin for the long-distance lovebirds? On a related note, be sure to catch Sumpter in her recurring role on the BET series “The Game” beginning Tuesday, January 11, and look for her to make her a guest appearance on the CW’s “Gossip Girl,” on January 24.

Also on January 21, daytime veteran Ted King makes his “One Life” debut as Tomas, when Blair pays him a visit while in Paris seeking information about the portrait she found in the box Eli left for her.

Shenaz Treasurywala first airs as Vimal Patal’s (Nick Choksi) wife Rama on Thursday, January 20 when Clint’s lackey, suffering from a guilty conscience, confides in her.

Andrew Trischitta‘s first airdate as the new Jack Manning will be on Tuesday, February 22. Meanwhile, fans of the Carmen LoPorto (the previous Jack) will be able to see him on TV again soon. He recently taped a Public Service Announcement for First Lady Michelle Obama‘s “Let’s Move!” campaign, which promotes a healthy, physically active lifestyle for the youth of America. No word on exactly when the PSA is expected to begin airing.

Author Peter Straub will turn up in Llanview again on Monday, February 7, when John McBain needs some advice from his late father’s old partner Pete Braust. Straub tweeted last month that “At last, I believe I’m beginning to make sense of my lines. This is pretty interesting. Pete Braust carries the scenes!”

Sean Ringgold appears again as the eldest Evans’ sibling Shaun on Monday, January 24, when Darren (J.J. Singleton) needs his help to keep back in Destiny’s good graces.

Roxy Balsom (Ilene Kristen) messes with the wrong person when she confronts a mentally unstable Marty on Friday, January 14. Look for Roxy to bite off more than she can chew, which causes her a lot of trouble.

Austin Williams is back as Shane Morasco later this month, when it is revealed that he has been hiding something school related from his parents — and with good reason.

Max Tapper will be popping up again soon as Det. Theo Price. The actor commented on his Facebook page just before Christmas that he was “Shooting scenes with big Sean and Natalie today. Should be fun!” In the meantime, fans can catch him on Wednesday, January 12, when Starr and Dani ask a favor of him, and again the following day when he follows up on Todd’s claim that someone framed him for the murder of Eddie Ford.

Speaking of Fords, upcoming January airdates for Robert Ford (David A. Gregory) include the 13th, 18th, 20th, 26th, and 27th.

If you thought Michelle, the girl who talked to James at the end of Thursday’s episode, looked familiar, than you were right. The actress behind the recurring character is none other than 17-year-old Vivien Cardone, who played the daughter of Treat Williams‘ character, Dr. Andy Brown, on the 2002-2006 WB primetime drama series “Everwood.” In the weeks to come, look for Starr to grow increasingly jealous of James’ new lady friend, especially when she invites him to an upcoming school function. For more information on the role of Michelle, click here to read a summary of the audition script, which was released back in November. 

Alex Tavis‘ Moroccan guard character’s full name is Amir-Rashad. Tavis made his “OLTL” debut on Tuesday, January 4. His character is the one who searched David Vickers’ cell for his spoon (not the one who gave David his cell phone), and is expected to appear again soon. As for the other guard, who is named Kahid, he is played by Donnie Keshawaz.  He has appeared as Yusuf Auda on “24” and Essam Tasir on “Lost,” among others.

Donna Bullock-Sherman portrays an AA Group Leader on Friday, January 7 and Monday, January 10. The actress has appeared in a number of programs, including “Fraiser,” “Monk,” “Dallas,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Smallville.”

And, according to reports, Stephanie Mirabella, an 18-year-old senior at East Brunswick (New Jersey) High School, recently was offered a one-year contract to be an extra on the soap opera ‘One Life to Live.'”

More dayplayer characters will be appearing in upcoming episodes. 

Around the web…

Kristen Alderson (Starr) tweeted on January 4th that she “had an amazing day back to work today! ; D lots of exciting things coming up, can’t wait for you to see!”

John Wesley Shipp reveals that “I was sick the day we filmed the Cramer Thanksgiving….only the scenes at the Mayor’s…which pushed the Nora/Eddie Motel room scenes back, thank God. lol We got to do almost all of them in one day and in sequence…a rare advantage.” To read his Facebook comments about his “One Life” co-star Hillary B. Smith (Nora) and crew members Jill Mitwell (director) and Vince Cupone (stunt coordinator), click here.

“One Life” Script Writer Scott Sickles says that he “can’t take credit for the pillow person. Though he wishes he could!!! ‘If you’re watching One Life to Live, this will make sense to you.'” The dialogue in question was from a scene from Wednesday’s episode and involved Dorian (Robin Strasser) talking to Blair (Kassie DePaiva) while Cristian (David Fumero) hid under the sheets…which was indeed rather amusing.

And “OLTL” Music Director Paul Glass comments that, with regards to the Christmas song in the closing credits of the December 22 episode, “it is an ABC orig. we did this year–singer is Anna Johnson. Had a glitch so not up on iTunes yet but will be soon. Sorry, that original underscore music is not available. ” He also states that on December 29 “That ‘Auld Lang Syne’ was by Michael Nappi…it’s available on iTunes.”

“One Life to Live” airs Weekdays on ABC. Weeknights on SOAPnet. Anytime on ABC.com and SOAPnet.com. Check local listings.