Guess Who Is Not Dead Afterall? Why Téa, Of Course!

Friday, September 10, 2010 at 10:10 PM ET by Scotty Gore

Photo: Donna Svennevik/ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — It appears that reports of Téa Delgado's untimely passing have been greatly exaggerated. In what has possibly been one of ABC Daytime's worst kept secrets, Florencia Lozano returns to "One Life to Live" despite the fact that she never really left.

While going all out for the shock factor with the "death" of one of the soap's "major" characters, "One Life" would have been wise to have done a better job of covering their tracks. Not only was Ms. Lozano spotted by fans and photographers frequently entering and exiting the soap's studios around the time that her character succumbed to her deadly brain tumor (which would make for an awful lot of ghost scenes, were that to be the case), but the actress herself was rather coy regarding her future with the show in a Wednesday, September 8 interview posted on The New York Times website about her new off-Broadway play "underneathmybed." 

Giving only a "sly smile" when asked if she was finished with "One Life," Lozano didn't refute rumors that there is more to Téa's death which, in true soap opera fashion occurred off-screen, than meets the eye.  However, New York Times reporter Patrick Healy (who interviewed the soap star) was somewhat more candid, reminding us that "Téa who married the show’s rakish antihero four times, is now officially dead, but her body has mysteriously disappeared, and the first rule of a soap death is that anything can happen." 

And, if that wasn't enough to cast doubt on the reports that the beloved "OLTL" heroine was dead, consider the fact that none of her fellow cast members seemed surprised or suspicious when the actress recently returned to the set.  In fact, according to Healy, "Dozens of stylish dresses and pantsuits marked 'Téa' remained in the wardrobe department."  Which would seem odd for a character that is supposed to be dead.

Furthermore it should be noted that, while other media outlets were proclaiming that Téa was dead and Lozano was no longer a part of the cast, Soap Opera Network remained largely silent on the issue, which we regarded as irrelevant.

So, if Téa really isn't dead, then when can fans expect to see the character again? That remains to be seen, but we here at Soap Opera Network  suspect that Téa's "return from the dead" will tie in with Roger Howarth's reappearance on the "One Life" canvas later this fall.  All we can say is stay tuned. 

"One Life to Live" airs Weekdays on ABC. Anytime on ABC.com.