"The 'shoes' had been stalking Lily and Simon, and I've stepped into them," laughs daytime vet Fiona Hutchison (ex-Jenna, GL, ex-Gabrielle-OLTL), who takes on the role of Simon's naughty sister, Celia on As The World Turns starting on June 5th [now June 6th because of pre-emptions].  "It exposes everything, so that you know who the players are now.  This character is going to be a proper bad girl.  She's going to be doing some dastardly deeds."

     Since Jenna was killed off GL in 1998, Hutchison has been busy hosting Tea With Fi on the Romance Classics network, writing an online syndicated weekly column of the same name and working on her children's books series.  Still, she didn't hesitate when asked to return to soaps. "I have absolutely no qualms.  Daytime has been very very good to me, and I couldn't have asked for a more fun place to go," says the actress, who's been tapped for three months.  "We'll see whether we take it further or not.  You never know where these things are going to go, but it's got good beginnings.  It's a character in development, like Jenna was when she started -- I think she was only meant to be eight weeks!  And I cannot imagine that it won't continue to be an enjoyable situation.  Anytime a show delivers flowers to your dressing room saying, ' Welcome to the As The World Turns family,' I think you've got a winner there.

     Fiona Hutchison (ex-Jenna Cooper, Guiding Light) returns to daytime as Celia, Simon's bitchy, manipulative sister on As The World Turns.  She'll begin airing early June [June 6th].

     "When they called with an offer I said, 'Before you tell me anything, I just want to know one thing; is she good or is she bad?' They said, 'Bad,' and I said, "'I'll take it!'  I'm waiting for the script and character breakdown as we speak, " Hutchison tells Soap Opera Weekly.  "I've had a couple of offers since Guiding Light, but the character was too similar to Jenna, and I wanted a character who was a lean, mean, fighting machine.  I'm very excited about this."

      Hutchison was to begin taping May 15.  "The role is three months, but we'll see where it goes.  That's how Jenna began, and that turned into four years".

---Kevin Ullman