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Ric is returning to Port Charles! It’s been a few years since we’ve seen him (2016 was the last time he was onscreen), but Rick Hearst is finally reprising the General Hospital role he originated as Sonny’s brother back in 2002.

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TV Insider reports that he’ll first begin airing August 19 and is set to start taping next week. When he learned that the ABC soap wanted him back, though, Hearst confessed that, “My first question was, ‘Really?’”

The actor admitted that he hadn’t been following General Hospital, so as soon as he got word that he’d be bringing Ric back, he went through and started catching up on all the goings on in Port Charles. That’s when he found out about Kristina’s surrogacy for Molly.

He doesn’t yet know where the surrogate story is going but, as he put it to TV Insider, “I have a feeling there’s going to be some friction by virtue of the fact that one daughter is parented by Alexis and Sonny, and the other daughter is parented by Alexis and Ric. That alone is enough to create a mad amount of drama of who’s going to side with who. And it’s going to be entertaining.”

And that fits right into how he describes what’s ahead for Ric after talking through the plan with casting director Mark Teschner: “‘Daddy’s home and here to take care of his daughter and anything that entails.’”

He’s excited to catch up with folks like Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), Maurice Benard (Sonny), Steve Burton (Jason), Laura Wright (Carly) and Rebecca Herbst (Liz). Heck, maybe he and Elizabeth could reconnect as she moves on from Finn. The last time Ric was around, though, his daughter Molly was played by a still-teenage Haley Pullos. Now, Kristen Vaganos has taken over and, as Hearst learned, is embroiled in a very adult storyline!

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“I’ve heard wonderful things about her,” he told TV Insider, “and I’m looking forward to meeting her and just being an open book for her so that it helps drive whatever story that we’re going to be in.”

And over on Instagram, Hearst shared a video in which he said he’s “super excited” to return. “Very excited to announce my return to General Hospital in the role of Ric Lansing,” he wrote. “Stay tuned. You never know what you’re gonna get with this guy.”

Check out his video message below.