‘General Hospital’ Brings Back Ethan Lovett as Nathan Dean (formerly Parsons) Reprises His Role as Luke and Holly’s Son

General Hospital has just announced than none other than Nathan Dean (who formerly went under the name Nathan Parsons) is returning to the ABC daytime drama series in his signature soap role of Ethan Lovett, the biological son of the Luke Spencer (the late Anthony Geary) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms).

According to a statement from General Hospital’s executive producer, Frank Valentini released by TV Insider, he shared, “We are so excited that Nathan Dean is returning to General Hospital as Ethan this April. We have a great story planned — with, of course, a few twists along the way.”

The actor was first seen on the soap opera from 2009-12 and returned for short stints in 2013, 2015 and 2020. And as GH fans may recall, Ethan originally read for the role of Dante Falconeri, that went to Dominic Zamprogna. However, the GH brass created a whole new role for him instead, and he debuted back in 2009 as a con-artist who eventually was revealed to be the son of Luke Spencer and Holly Sutton.

ETHAN’S ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

Nathan decided to exit the soap opera for the first time at the end of 2011. However, he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his performances in 2012. Dean went on to work in primetime on the hit series, True Blood and later CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, and Once Upon A Time on ABC, among other projects.

The character of Ethan popped back on GH in 2013 for the show’s 50th anniversary and then most importantly in 2015, for Tony Geary’s last major storyline before he exited as Luke, when Ethan and his half-brother Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) were kidnapped by Frank Smith, which meant Holly, Luke and Laura (Genie Francis) went in search of them for one last adventure for Luke.

Photo: JPI

The last time Nathan Dean played Ethan were in episodes that aired in September of 2020, when Ethan ran into Olivia Falconeri (Lisa LoCicero) while she and Robert (the late Tristan Rogers) were going undercover in Monte Carlo to get the intel on a presumed-dead, Holly.

In 2022, the character returned in a storyline, but was played by actor James Ryan.  In that story, Victor Cassadine (Thaao Penghlis) had imprisoned Ethan. It was later revealed in story that Ethan returned to Australia and has remained off-screen for over three years.

So, excited to hear Nathan Dean is returning as Ethan Lovett and how he figures into the story? What are your predictions on how Ethan will shake things up in Port Charles? Weigh-in via the comment section below.