Steve Burton: General Hospital's Steve Burton Explains Previous Remarks About Possible Recast

General Hospital fans wondered who Steve Burton was referring to in a recent episode of his podcast, That's Awesome with Steve Burton & Bradford Anderson, when he and his co-star chatted about a new cast member, who had primetime TV credentials. Now, the mystery has been solved as to who Burton was hinting!

Casting Case Closed

Steve Burton (Jason) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) | Image: JPI

"So the last time we, last time we talked about this," Anderson shared on the latest episode of the GH stars' podcast. "We made some unintended news because you were talking about talking to someone, a new actor on set, and you asked him if he needed, if he wanted some backstory information to help him.

"That caused rampant speculation about it, about whatever could be whatever, you know, who that could be," Anderson continued. Indeed. Some sites had speculated that the show was recasting the role of Jax, given how he and his company have been referred to in the show's storyline.

As the saying goes, it's more important to be talked about than not talked about, so Anderson looked at the bright side -- folks are listening to Burton and his podcast!

"I gotta tell you, to all the people that watch our show, and then, you know, report on our show or use pieces of our show as news items, thank you," Anderson added. "That is really lovely, and I think that helps other people find our show, which is awesome."

A Helping Hand

Alimi Ballard plays Agent Baines on GH | Image: ABC

Burton explained that the actor whom he was referring to is Alimi Ballard (ex-Frankie, Loving/The City), who recently joined the show as World Security Bureau Agent William Baines.

"Ali, that's who I was speaking about," Burton said. "First of all, he's done a ton of stuff, dude. He was on, what was it, he was on a CBS series [NUMB3RS]...I mean, this guy's worked. This guy is a workhorse. [He's a] super, awesome guy.

"And he's the one who I walked up to afterwards, you know, when we blocked, and I go, 'Hey, you know, were you told anything?' A lot of times, we're not. We're not up to date unless someone asks a specific question or whatever it is. So, I just try to fill them in.

"He's the one who said, 'Hey, yeah, I did all this backstory myself just in case I didn't have any information,' which you have to do," Burton points out. "Then, you have got to kind of adjust on the fly when the directors are giving you notes right there."

Burton added that he hopes to have Ballard on an upcoming episode of That's Awesome with Steve Burton & Bradford Anderson.