Steve Burton, Former ‘General Hospital’ Star Who Got Canned Over Vaccine Policy, Joining ‘Beyond Salem’

Steve Burton has found a new home in Salem, at least temporarily: the former General Hospital star who left the ABC soap in 2021 after failing to adhere to its vaccine policy is joining the second installment of Beyond Salem, Peacock’s Days of Our Lives spinoff.

DOOL head writer Ron Carlivati confirmed the news on Twitter Friday, saying “We’re BEYOND excited about this news!”

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It’s unclear, for now, what role Burton will play in the spinoff that will feature the much-anticipated return of super-couple Bo and Hope (Kristian Alfonso and Peter Reckell), as well as Deidre Hall as Dr. Marlena Evans and Drake Hogestyn as John Black. But Burton is definitely familiar to DOOL fans; at the start of his career, he played Harris Michaels on the NBC soap in 1988.

Burton left GH for failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. He had returned to the sudser in 2017 after playing Jason on and off on GH from 1991 to 2012. His departure in 2021 came three weeks after the soap drop-kicked Ingo Rademacher, who had been a vocal critic of COVID-19 mandates. He subsequently sued ABC for religious discrimination.

New episodes of Beyond Salem will drop daily from July 11-15 on Peacock, which is also the exclusive streaming home of DOOL. The series also airs weekdays on NBC.

Beyond Salem first debuted last September. Lisa Rinna reprised her role as Billie Reed, with Hall as Marlena and Hogestyn as John. The spinoff is from Corday Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television. Corday is the executive producer with co-executive producer Albert Alarr, and Ron Carlivati serves as head writer.

Deadline reached out to a DOOL spokesperson for more information. Stay tuned.

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