For four years, Fiona Hutchison took OLTL fans on an emotional roller coaster - they hated her and loved her, laughed with her and cried with her, and tried to guess what she'd be up to next. 

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     When Fiona left the show, producers sent her character GABRIELLE MEDINA HOLDEN off to jail.  Now Fiona is coming back to daytime, but it's to a new role on a new show, GL.  In an exclusive interview with SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE, Fiona talked about her return to soapland.

     "It's all been very exciting," she confided.  "I start work on March 12, which is funny because I believe March 12 last year was my last day at OLTL.  I don't even know my character's name yet They're creating a whole new character and they're changing the name to make her more ... I don’t know what... bitchier, perhaps.  All I know is that she's an international jewel thief and she has very expensive taste in men, clothes and jewelry." 

     Fiona added with a laugh: "Here we go again but, oh, we're going to have fun time!"

     Since leaving OLTL, Fiona hasn’t been idle.  She formed her own production company with the man in her life, John Viscardi (ex TONY), whom she met while working on OLTL.  They now have several projects in the works.

     What made her decide to come back to daytime?  "Oh gosh, it's been brewing for a while," Fiona answered.  "I've kept a low pro file because that's the way you should do it until you actually have something." She said she considered offers from other shows, including SB, AW and DAYS, but it was no contest - she chose GL.

     "I have to be quite honest with you, I'm returning because of Jill Farren Phelps (Gus executive producer), and my conversations with her It's also because of Betty Rae, the casting director, whom I absolutely adore.  I've know her since the day she gave me my first job in a soap.

     "I was at GL before I was at OLTL.  I did MOLLY on that show and got to run around with men and play around with RICK (Michael O'Leary) and get into his shirt," she laughed.  "I guess it was a little preview to Gabrielle's machinations.

     "Quite frankly, GL has made it very nice for me, sort of too good to be true," she said.  "Out of all the people I've spoken to over the last couple of months in daytime, there was no comparison with the warmth shown by GL.  They were wonderful.  They just said, 'terrific, let's go for it,' and we are.  When an actor feels wanted and appreciated, there's no telling what wonderful combinations you can get The karma of the place can make a big difference as to what comes on the screen."

     How long Fiona will be on GL is something that hasn’t been decided yet "When I first met with them they wanted me for three months and I said, 'great!' because that's my speed at the moment," Fiona said.  "I've been locked into a role for years.  Now I'd like to do the short-term roles.

     "And then they called back and said, ‘Well, we really want you for a year, maybe, two.' So now we have a situation where we get to talk it over every three months, which is very nice."

     When she created the role of Gabrielle on OLTL, it took time for the character everyone remembers so vividly to grow and to develop.  Fiona's not quite sure if this new character will undergo the same kind of transformation.

     "It might be an all-or-nothing situation.  We might decide this has been fun while it lasted, or we might have a hell of a good time and want to do as much as we can to really get the character going."

     Whatever the outcome, Fiona is looking forward to this new challenge as eagerly as her fans are anticipating seeing her on daytime once again. *