Soap vet Martha Byrne (ex-Lily, ATWT) joins the cast of GH in the recurring role of First Lady of Port Charles, Andrea Floyd, wife of embattled Mayor Garrett Floyd, played by John Bolger (ex-John, OLTL et al). "She's going to be getting involved in a political scandal that involves the hospital," teases Byrne. "There's always something going on in politics and medicine [laughs]. I just got off the phone with Bob Guza [head writer] and he gave me the lowdown of what's going to happen. I must admit, I was smiling a lot when I heard it. It's going to be fun."

Byrne left her ATWT home last year after playing the role of heroine Lily on and off since she was a teenager in 1985. Since then, she has worn several hats, that of film producer and most recently, a script writer for B&B. Why return now? "I missed the interaction with the actors and I missed the process," she explains. "This is a new character and it's always exciting to create something new. Andrea is something very different from Lily."

Byrne admits the gig came as a bit of a surprise. "I just started working with [talent manager] Michael Bruno two weeks ago and we were just talking about maybe seeing if there was any interest out there in the world. And it just so happened that I was on Facebook and telling that to my friend Lisa, who works at GH, and she said, 'Bob Guza just walked by. Should I talk to him?' And I said, `Sure,' and that's how it happened. Within three days of that conversation, it was done. I can't even imagine the serendipity of
that moment."

Since the role is recurring and open-ended, the married mother of three plans to commute from the East Coast for the time being. "I have a very understanding family," she chuckles. "It's not going to be heavy duty, so it works really well with my life. We'll work it out. I can't wait to dig in!"

Byrne will tape her first episode on May 14.