Nathan Dean Sets ‘General Hospital’ Return as Luke’s Son Ethan Lovett After 6 Years

Nathan Dean (formerly Parsons) is back filming at General Hospital as Ethan Lovett, six years after his last appearance on the soap.

“We are so excited that Nathan Dean is returning to General Hospital as Ethan this April,” executive producer Frank Valentini tells TV Insider exclusively. “We have a great story planned — with, of course, a few twists along the way.”

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Ethan first arrived in Port Charles in January 2009 and was soon revealed to be the surprise son of Holly Sutton (Emma Samms) and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary). The Australian-born drifter initially crossed paths with Luke while attempting to steal cash from The Haunted Star casino. Instead of turning him in, Luke saw something of himself in Ethan and offered him a job.

As Luke and Ethan grew closer, they realized they shared more than a knack for trouble — they also shared a connection to Holly. Luke pressed Ethan about his past, and Ethan explained that he had been adopted and his adoptive parents had died. When Luke’s wife Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot) heard Ethan’s backstory, she suspected that Luke and Holly were his biological parents. Holly returned to Port Charles and revealed that Ethan is her son but falsely claimed that Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) was his dad before ultimately admitting it was Luke. Lulu Spencer (at the time, played by Julie Marie Berman and then Emme Rylan) welcomed her newfound brother, but Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) was slower to come around.

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Though Ethan continued to run cons, he proved his loyalty when Luke went missing and was presumed kidnapped. Ethan teamed up with Lulu and traveled to Greece to rescue their dad. There, they discovered that Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) — the illegitimate son of Mikkos Cassadine (John Colicos) — was holding Luke and Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) captive. The rescue was successful, and the family returned to Port Charles.

Ethan later developed a complicated bond with Kristina Corinthos (at the time played by Lexi Ainsworth and then Lindsey Morgan), who harbored a crush on him. After Kristina manipulated a situation to get close to Ethan, he lost his temper and lashed out. Later, he regretted his behavior and went to her place to apologize and found her brutally beaten. At the hospital, Kristina falsely accused Ethan of attacking her. He was arrested, and tensions escalated when Kristina’s mobster father, Sonny Corinthos, put a hit out on Ethan. The truth eventually came out: Kristina’s boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer (Christian Alexander), had assaulted her. After Kiefer attacked Kristina again, Alexis took her daughter to the hospital, accidentally striking Kiefer with her car, and he later died from his injuries. Ethan was initially blamed, but Alexis came forward and confessed.

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Ethan grew close to Maya Ward (Annie Ilonzeh), and the two wound up married after a drunken night in Las Vegas. When Edward Quartermaine (John Ingle) offered them one million dollars to stay married for a year, they agreed. But the arrangement fell apart when Maya met someone else and they split. Kristina helped Ethan pick up the pieces before leaving for college.

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Ethan’s next job was as a groundskeeper at Wyndemere, the Cassadine estate, where he met a mysterious woman in white named Cassandra. They two grew close and eventually became romantically involved. Cassandra was soon revealed to be Helena’s daughter, Irina (Alyshia Ochse), and part of a bigger plot targeting one of Luke’s sons. Ordered to kill Ethan, Irina instead turned the gun on her mother, only to discover it was loaded with blanks. Helena retaliated by having Irina killed. Before Helena could finish Ethan off, Holly arrived and once again claimed that Robert, not Luke, was Ethan’s father. Believing that story offered Ethan greater protection, Luke urged his son to maintain the lie and leave Port Charles.

Ethan resurfaced in 2013 when Lulu was kidnapped by Helena. Luke and Laura Spencer (Genie Francis) were on Lulu’s trail but found a bound and gagged Ethan instead. After freeing Ethan, the trio worked together to rescue Lulu. Two years later, Ethan and Lucky were kidnapped by Luke’s old foe, Frank Smith, prompting Holly to join Luke and Laura in the search.

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In September 2020, Olivia Falconeri (Lisa LoCicero) ran into Ethan in Monte Carlo, where she and Robert were looking for information about a presumed-dead Holly. Ethan joined Robert in the search, and they ultimately believed Holly was gone. But in 2022, Holly reappeared alive and revealed that she had been captured by Victor Cassadine (Thaao Penghlis), who was now imprisoning Ethan. The following year, Felicia and Holly tracked Ethan down in Venezuela.

Since returning to Australia three years ago, Ethan has remained off-screen. Time will tell what brings him back to Port Charles.

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