Burton made his official return to ‘General Hospital’ in Monday’s episode, a little over two years after he was let go from the series over his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine

Laura Wright is just as excited as General Hospital fans for her costar Steve Burton’s return to the long-running medical soap.

In a behind-the-scenes video of Burton’s first day back on set, the actor’s costars react to his comeback on General Hospital.

“It’s perfect. It’s home. It’s safety,” Wright, 53, smiled before adding what the return of Burton’s character, Jason Morgan, means for her character, Carly Corinthos.

“Jason coming back into Carly’s world, it fires up the part of Carly that fights for him, and believes in him, and is next to him no matter what,” she explained. “And not everybody can handle that.”

Sharing her take on why Jason has resonated so strongly with viewers, Wright continued, “It’s the same thing that connects us all to Steve, and I love this so much. It’s Jason and Steve, their integrity.”

“The character of Jason will die for the ones he loves, and that is something all of us would love to have and not everybody does but, we understand and connect to it, because it’s something that we want,” Wright added.

Chiming in, Burton, 53, agreed with Wright’s sentiments. “I think it’s always the misunderstood guy, who works from a lot of pain,” he explained. “Jason is very loyal to the people he loves and will be there for them no matter what. I think people can relate to that or would love that in their life.”

“Besides the criminal activity, he’s a pretty solid guy,” he quipped.

Wright wasn’t the only General Hospital star to weigh in on Burton’s return.

Maurice Bernard described Jason as a “sweeter bad boy” and called him an honest character who has a lot of integrity.” Referring to Burton as a “damn good actor,” he shared that having him back felt like “old times.”

Burton made his official return to the soap on Monday. It came a little over two years after he was let go from the series over his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Burton went on to rejoin the cast of Days of Our Lives in 2023, playing Harris Michaels for the first time since 1988. Although he later announced his exit from the beloved show on Jan. 4, he revealed his plans to return to General Hospital just one day later.

Wright and Kelly Monaco helped make the big announcement about his return in a pre-recorded clip that aired during the final moments of ABC’s primetime special General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars & Storytelling.

“You know what they say: When one door closes,” Wright said, with Monaco adding, “Another door opens.” They then turned their attention to the door in between them as Burton stepped out and told the camera, “Stay tuned — big things are coming to Port Charles.”

Burton first made his General Hospital debut in 1991. His character was first known as Jason Quartermaine, who sustained brain damage in a car crash which wiped his memory and led him to reinvent himself as Jason Morgan.

He remained on the series for the next 11 years, even winning a 1998 Daytime Emmy for outstanding supporting actor during his tenure. Though he exited the series in 2012, he returned in 2017 and remained a main character until November 2021.

In Burton’s last appearance on General Hospital, a tunnel collapsed on his character as he was trying to save his brother Drew (Cameron Mathison). The disastrous event that left viewers presuming Jason was dead — but all that has changed now that Burton is back.

“I got to talk to the head writers. This story is going to be sick,” Burton told fans of Jason’s storyline in early February after he started filming. “It’s gonna be awesome. So, make sure you keep watching, because the pieces of the puzzle are gonna be fit for when I return.”