Wondering why Blair and Todd’s breakup on General Hospital left such a lasting impact? As One Life to Live legends, their decades-long love story took a sudden turn in Port Charles, leaving fans stunned and Kassie DePaiva deeply emotional.
Here’s what DePaiva revealed about the split, her connection to the role, and why those final scenes were so difficult to film.
Kassie DePaiva says Blair ending things with Todd on General Hospital was ‘heartbreaking’
Kassie DePaiva called Blair’s breakup with Todd Manning on General Hospital “the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever done.”
The actress portrayed Blair Cramer on One Life to Live from 1993 until the soap’s cancellation in 2012 and briefly reprised the role on General Hospital to facilitate the character’s exit from Todd’s storyline.
DePaiva explained, “I felt I’d worked 20 years to build this brand, and you’re gonna give me three days to be pissed off at Todd, and that’s gonna be it? That would never ever happen. Not in a million years. So that was hard” (via Remind Magazine.) Todd and Blair, portrayed by Roger Howarth and DePaiva, formed one of OLTL’s most iconic supercouples beginning in 1994.
After OLTL ended in January 2012, several characters transitioned to General Hospital. DePaiva returned for short stints to close out Todd and Blair’s story, including a visit where Todd proposed to Blair. She turned him down and revealed she was engaged to someone else. DePaiva said of the scenes, “It was something that I protected… I was just a lucky, lucky girl to walk into that part, and I feel like I made it my own.” (via Soap Opera Digest)
In 2013, DePaiva and Howarth reprised their roles for a short-lived online reboot of OLTL, where Todd and Blair remarried before Todd left to protect his family. However, DePaiva later returned to GH in 2023 without Howarth, who by then played a new character, Austin. That appearance revealed Blair had married Martin Gray, suggesting she and Todd had ended their marriage offscreen.
Reflecting on her time as Blair, DePaiva said, “It was amazing. I’m grateful. I don’t have a one little speck of regret whatsoever. It was wonderful.”
