Michelle Stafford Joins 'General Hospital'

Michelle Stafford has joined the cast of General Hospital.
Emmy-winning actress Michelle Stafford, best known for her portrayal of Phyllis in The Young and the Restless, has joined the cast of ABC daytime drama General Hospital in the role of Silas's not-so-dead wife, Nina Clay. In the stunning conclusion of the May 1st episode, viewers saw Nina for the first time as she awakened from a 20-year coma.

Stafford was snuck into the studio to shoot Thursday's surprise reveal.

"GH has been on hiatus for the past two weeks and Michelle doesn't really start taping until we resume," head writer Ron Carlivati explained to Daytime Confidential. "But we realized that as soon as she did, the news would be out there long before her episodes began airing. It was actually Frank's idea to try to slip her into an earlier show that had already been written and shot, so we could take everyone by surprise."

According to ABC, the truth surrounding Nina's mysterious circumstances will reveal itself in the weeks and months to come, as her tangled web of family history starts to unravel.

Were you surprised? Are you excited to see Stafford on General Hospital?

Watch Stafford's GH debut below: