Home & Family host Mark Steines talks GH, Dynasty, Gina Tognoni's upcoming appearance and more

Hot on the heels of Rebecca Budig's (Hayden Barnes, General Hospital) appearance on Hallmark's Home & Family comes news that The Young and the Restless' Gina Tognoni (Phyllis Summers) will be visiting the daytime talk show, as well. And to celebrate yet another soap star appearance, soapcentral.com caught up with host Mark Steines to get all the soapy details.

With only four soap operas left on the air, opportunities for fans of the genre to see their favorite daytime stars are pretty limited. Luckily, Hallmark's Home & Family has stepped up as the secondary place for soap opera stars to shine, with a slew of fan favorites -- including Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, The Young and the Restless), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer, General Hospital), Rebecca Budig (Hayden Barnes, GH), and the cast of Dynasty -- having already dropped by the talk show. Next on the list is Outstanding Lead Actress nominee Gina Tognoni (Phyllis Summers, Y&R), who will appear on the Tuesday, April 14, episode. In celebration of yet another soap opera star hitting the Home & Family stage, Soap Central caught up with co-host Mark Steines to get the scoop on all things soap -- including the embarrassing thing he used to do to catch every episode of GH.

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soapcentral.com: Home & Family has hosted so many soap stars, the next being Emmy-nominated Gina Tognoni. What's your general impression of daytime stars -- are they usually pretty nice or can they sometimes be divas?

Mark Steines: My thought is that they are the hardest-working people in town. When you hear about the breakneck schedule they have to keep and the amount of pages that they have to put out, and getting one take here and then moving on, and not even having rehearsal, it blows my mind. People think about [my costar, Cristina Ferrare, and I] doing two hours a day, and how that is difficult... but wow. I have a tremendous amount of respect for soap stars coming in and having to turn out the work they do. And it's quality. Sometimes the writing isn't there, sometimes the production quality isn't where it should be, so they really have to make it as believable as they can in sometimes not very believable circumstances. So I have a tremendous amount of respect. And I have not met one soap opera star on this show that didn't seem approachable, that wasn't warm and friendly. They're very humble.

soapcentral.com: I imagine that the information you get on soap star guests must be pretty hilarious, considering their lengthy and crazy character bios?

Mark Steines: With every soap opera star who comes on the show, you're safe to make the following assumptions: that they have died at least three times and been brought back, that they have x-amount of lovers in their life, that they were at one point in their life a man or a woman before being the other, and they have a bastard child somewhere. [laughs] Obviously, I'm joking, but to keep those storylines interesting, there are all kinds of twists and turns. I do a certain amount of research, but what I think makes our show interesting is going past the storyline [an actor or actress] is playing. We're not here to talk about the latest in their script. We're here to get to know them and see another side, whether it's a personal thing they're doing in their lives, or they're going into the kitchen to cook, or they'll come play a game with us. That's our goal, at least I feel it is, to have our viewer, who maybe doesn't watch their show, find something interesting about them.

soapcentral.com: People went crazy for the recent Dynasty reunion you featured on the show. What was that like on your end, having such iconic actors get together and reunite for that episode?

Mark Steines: We've had several reunions on the show, and there's a certain energy when you bring them together, because a lot of them haven't seen each other for a while. It's remarkable how much they remembered from when they were shooting in the 80s and being on set and what they used to do, and also how television used to be. If there was say a gay character that was going to come out, it was such a big deal, whereas today, it's not... Now we've pushed that threshold even further. We have to keep going, and I think the soap world, as well, has to keep finding ways to shock their viewer... But yeah, having a Dynasty reunion [was a lot of fun]. When we had Alec Baldwin on, he was on Knott's Landing, there was a moment when he was Skyping in and surprising everybody, and his little baby came on in the background, and it was really a fun moment for everybody.

soapcentral.com: Do you know if the show has considered doing a reunion episode for Guiding Light or As the World Turns?

Mark Steines: The seniors sit down and say, "What can we do? What can we pull off?" and I think we should. That would be great. I also think we should write our own soap scene here! All of our family members doing a soap scene, and we could block it and maybe have some of the soap stars come in and coach us through it. Somebody would have to die, somebody would have to have an affair, somebody would have to give birth to a child -- all in seven minutes! That would be fun. We could come up with a clever name. That would be a blast to do.

soapcentral.com: Have you ever featured a daytime star that made you a bit star-struck?

Mark Steines: We had General Hospital's Genie Francis [Laura Spencer] on, because she was doing Hallmark stuff, and it brought back so many memories, because I used to watch General Hospital back in the day. I was a huge fan. So having her there, eating at the counter, it was a big deal.

soapcentral.com: Were you one of those fans who used to skip school to watch GH?

Mark Steines: Yes! I was in college, and I would cut class to see it. And a couple of times, I was late to football practice, which was hard to explain. [laughs] "Sorry coach, late for football. Got caught up watching General Hospital."

Home & Family airs weekdays at 10AM ET/PT on the Hallmark Channel. To catch Outstanding Lead Actress Gina Tognoni's appearance, be sure to tune in on Tuesday, April 14.

Do you enjoy seeing daytime stars visit Home & Family? Which other soap opera actors would you love to see featured on the talk show? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, on our message boards, or by submitting Feedback.To stay up-to-date on the latest soap news, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow @soapcentral on Twitter.

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