Michael Rosenthal/Bravo

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Alexis Bellino tweeted earlier this evening that she had been brought in for a cameo appearance on ABC’s “General Hospital.”

The sometime’s actress first alluded to her appearance on a daytime soap opera when she said, “I’ve been keeping a secret but SO excited cuz I’m in LA for an acting role on a popular soap & I get to share it w/ all of you today!” She would later follow up the tweet by saying, “Guess what?! I just arrived on set of General Hospital for my 1st cameo appearance! EXCITING! I can’t tell details yet but I will soon!” Her tweet was re-tweeted by “GH” executive producer Frank Valentini.

Bellino revealed that she had been welcomed back by “General Hospital” after reportedly doing a good job today:

Yeeheee! Leaving General Hospital set now and they said they’ll be having me back! Are you kidding?! OMGosh! SO much fun! TYJ!!!

— Alexis Bellino (@AlexisBellino) April 11, 2012

Per her Twitter posting, Bellino will first air on Wednesday, May 9, 2012.

A “GH” representative was unavailable for comment.

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Although Soap Opera Digest has since “confirmed” their story on the ouster of several “Days of our Lives” stars with a show representative, according to its website, one actress appears to not have been told as the magazine stated. In fact, it looks like if the firings do hold, actress Sarah Brown (Madison James) has not been told by her bossess of any change to her status with the NBC daytime soap.

“Don’t know if it’s true, but, who ever leaked that story should consider that no one wants to find out they have lost their job via Twitter,” said the actress in a Twitter posting of her own. She followed the tweet with the following, which puts some confusion and mystery to the story:

Ken Corday & Greg Meng are class, they would not do that to us. Wasn’t them who leaked it, & I didn’t hear it first on Twitter. Who leaked?

— Sarah Brown (@sarahjoybrown) April 10, 2012

A “Days of our Lives” representative has not responded to repeated requests for comment by Soap Opera Network.

Brown joined the cast in October 2011 in the contract role of Madison James, “ a powerful and seductive CEO who looks to take on, one way or another, Sami [Brady, Alison Sweeney], Kate [Roberts, Lauren Koslow], Brady [Black, Eric Martsolf], and Victor [Kiriakis, John Aniston].” Her character was paired with Martsolf’s Brady Black and the duo shared some steamy scenes over the time they were on screen together, and that didn’t necessarily include shedding any clothing.

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) – In an interview posted earlier today by TV Guide‘s Michael Logan, it looked like “Days of our Lives” Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng was alluding to the possible ouster of actress Sarah Brown when he stated “we also brought in the wonderful Sarah Brown [Madison James] and threw her into a lot of material very quickly. Maybe too much too quickly.” Sadly, it looks like he was indeed commenting on Brown’s character on the show in past tense.

Soap Opera Digest is reporting that Christie Clarke (Carrie Brady), Patrick Muldoon (Austin Reed), Matthew Ashford (Jack Devereaux) and Brown are all being let go in what is being now being called phase one of the mass firings expected at NBC’s “Days of our Lives.”

In the case of Clarke, Muldoon and Ashford, the trio returned to “DAYS” in September as part of the soaps big reboot. Brown joined the cast in early October as the first new character introduced by recently ousted head writers Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr.

Last airdates are unknown at this time as a representative was unavailable for comment at press time, however, considering “Days of our Lives” currently films three months ahead of airdate and the new writing teams material is scheduled to hit the air in mid-August, per Meng, look for the quad to last air in August.

Stay tuned to Soap Opera Network as this breaking story continues to develop.

Thomas A. Montalto/MontaltoPhotos.com

TV Guide‘s Michael Logan got the first real interview with “Days of our Lives” Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng, just days after the soap fired its head writing team and replaced them with the team of Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell. In the interview, Meng promises some epic firings in the coming months!

Although many speculated the reasoning behind Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr.‘s ouster from the NBC daytime drama series, only Meng was able to shed light on how things went down. “We spoke with the network and collectively felt we needed to take a pause, make a change with the writing and the style of the show for a while and see if that will redirect things. The ratings situation is very complex and difficult, and we have a tremendous challenge with that right now,” Meng said to Logan. “Everybody on the ‘DAYS’ team, and that includes NBC and Sony, our distributor, wants this show to succeed and we’re doing everything we can to make it work. We all have different visions as to how to achieve that success but the good news is that we’re all in synch on the future. No one wants cancellation. Even though we brought in Darrell and Marlene to reset ’DAYS’ last September, it was always our feeling that the show needed to constantly be nurtured with smaller resets. This isn’t the end of the world. We’re just resetting it again in an effort to get it right.”

Read More >>

Matt Jones/Redbook

Alison Sweeney:

Hi everyone!

I’m so excited to be on the cover of Redbook again, this time for their May (Mother’s Day!) issue. This was a really fun one to shoot because my kids are in it with me. That makes it a little more chaotic than a typical photo shoot, but we had a ball.

Do your kids like having their photo taken? How do you get them to stand still (for a second or two, anyway) and smile?!?

XO

Ali

PS – don’t forget to tune in to Biggest Loser tonight on NBC at 8/7c. First Lady Michelle Obama is working out with the trainers and contestants in tonight’s episode!

The issue with Sweeney on the cover hit newsstands today.

For more information, head on over to the Redbook Magazine website.

Soap Life

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Last summer I was lucky enough to be included as an interviewee in the new soap opera themed documentary appropriately titled “Soap Life,” which follows the life, and possible death, of daytime soap operas. I can’t believe I forgot all about it and didn’t realize it until this morning!

Several past and present actors, producers, journalists and writers were interviewed for the documentary including Lisa LoCicero, Rick Hearst, Kristen Renton, Jill Larson, Bradford Anderson, Carolyn Hennesy, Mimi Torchin, Shenell Edmonds, Ronnie Marmo, Cady McClain, Derk Cheetwood, Jordi Vilasuso, Max Tapper, Lexi Ainsworth, Crystal Hunt, Bobbie Eakes, Gary Tomlin, Sean Ringgold, Francesca James, Julia Barr, Eileen Fulton, and many more.

The crew behind the documentary recently surpassed their goal of raising $12,000 in funding for the project, but if you’d like to help out you are more than welcome to do so.

“Soap Life” is a new documentary about the changes taking place in the world of daytime drama. As more and more classic soap operas are cancelled or forced to move to exclusively new media distribution, the landscape of American television is going through unprecedented changes. We’ve spoken with executives, fans and a number of current and former daytime stars to get their perspective on what it all means and what lies ahead.

We are trying to raise the last amount of funds needed to finish our documentary. We still have a few weeks left to film in NYC and then post production where we need to edit, color correct, and clean up the audio.

We hope to finish the film within the next few months and the money we raise will help this become a reality.

Our gifts include a pre-order of the DVD, a collectible poster, an invite to the film’s premier, a special thanks in the credits, and the chance to make an appearance in the documentary.

For more on “Soap Life” visit their official website or head on over to their Facebook page, Twitter page or YouTube page.

Matt Bomer debuts in tonight’s Spring premiere episode of “Glee,” the FOX sensation whose cast recently learned they are one of the Top-10 selling digital artists of all-time according to Nielsen SoundScan. The list included such artists as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas. The “Glee” cast ranks eighth with 32 million songs digitally downloaded.

Best known to mainstream viewers for his portrayal of Neal Caffrey on the USA Network hit series “White Collar,” Bomer actually caught his big break in 2001 when he joined the cast of “Guiding Light” as Ben Reade. Although he left the CBS soap in 2003, the actor went on to become one of the actors to be in the running for the role of Superman, although he didn’t get the part. He also appeared in episodes of “Tru Calling” and “Chuck.” In October 2011, in the role of Henry Hamilton, Bomer helped kickstart the storyline of the film “In Time” starring Justin Timberlake.

Read More >>

Warner Bros.

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — As previously reported, soap star and recent dancing fiend Jack Wagner was a scheduled guest on the daily syndicated talk show “Anderson Cooper.”  The actor filmed his appearance earlier today at the New York studio of the talk show, which is scheduled to air on Tuesday, April 10 in national syndication, and was joined by his newly discovered 23-year-old daughter, Kerry.

via Anderson Cooper

When asked what meeting his daughter was like, Jack took a deep breath and fought back tears, saying, “Um, we hugged again, and I just knew this was her.”

Jack explained that Kerry had come to his concert in Florida hoping to meet him and brought an old photo of her birth mother and Wagner. Kerry managed to get backstage to her dad before the concert started. Jack said, “So I go to the backstage door and in rushes this crying girl, hugging me… I stepped away and she says, ‘You don’t know who I am?’ I said, ‘No,’ and she said, ‘I’m your daughter.’”

For the full interview, watch “Anderson Cooper” on Tuesday, April 10. Check local listings for time and station.

Thomas Montalto/MontaltoPhotos.com

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) – Editor’s Note: The information is clearly outdated at this point, but “Days of our Lives” issued the following statement to Soap Opera Network just a short time ago announcing (what we’ve already previously reported) that Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell are now heading up the shows writing team effective immediately with Lorraine Broderick in as a breakdown writer.

via press release

‘Days of our Lives’ announces new head writers Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell, both of whom are Daytime Emmy award winners!

The two writers join forces immediately, working together as a team to continue to pay tribute to the show’s roots both in storytelling and character development. Tomlin and Whitesell will be joined by Daytime Emmy award winning Lorraine Broderick as a member of the breakdown writing team.

Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng comments, “ We are excited and look forward to the stories of romance, suspense and intrigue this new dream team plans to tell.”

Related Story: ‘Days of our Lives’ Put on Notice by NBC?

Donna Svennevik/ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Former “One Life to Live” stars Brian Kerwin (ex-Charlie Banks) and Trevor St. John (ex-Victor Lord, Jr./faux Todd Manning) are scheduled to appear in upcoming episodes of Lifetime‘s newest hit drama series “The Client List” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Soap Opera Network has learned.

Beginning with episode #102 entitled “Turning the Page,” Kerwin begins a multi-episode storyline arc as Garrett, the churchgoing love interest of Cybill Shepherd‘s Linette. The episode airs Sunday, April 15, 2012.

In episode #106 entitled “The Cold Hard Truth,” airing Sunday, May 13, 2012, Trevor St. John appears alongside “Heroes” and “Felicity” star Greg Grunberg.

The two actors will not appear on screen together, however.

“The Client List” airs Sundays at 10/9c on Lifetime. The series also stars Loretta Devine and Colin Egglesfield.