General Hospital’s Bobbie Spencer Gets a Divine — and Familiar — Escort After Her Death (Exclusive)

In a touching twist, the return fans certainly did not expect, General HospitalBobbie Spencer, beloved Bobbie Spencer, was escorted to the “other side” by a divine gift — her daughter BJ, who died 30 years ago.

Brighton Hertford — the actress who originally played BJ when she was between 4 months and 7 years old — returned for a special appearance, which not only sent off the character of Bobbie in heartwarming style, but was also a beautiful tribute to the esteemed Jacklyn Zeman, who died of cancer at the age of 70 last May 9.

Viewers began to suspect it might be a surprise when Hertford was cast as the aptly named Associated Press reporter Angela Brighton, who attends Bobbie’s memorial service and tells Carly, Lucy, Felicia and Maxie about the late nurse’s work helping women victims of human trafficking. But the fact that Angela was actually an angel – the spirit of BJ herself – was a real twist.

Jacklyn Zeman’s ‘General Hospital’ costars hold private memorial for late friend

ABC/Craig Sjodin; Disney/Christine Bartolucci

GH Executive producer Frank Valentini tells PEOPLE that the story about BJ returning to interview and speak with Bobbie’s loved ones came from writers Dan O’Connor and Chris Van Etten. “It’s really their idea,” he shares.

Valentini explains, “Jackie passed away while we were in the middle of the writers’ strike, and I wanted to make sure we saved Bobbie’s memorial and everything about Bobbie and how we were going to deal with a character that splits the canvas.”

He continues, “No one ever thought about not recasting Bobbie because it would just be impossible and I don’t think it would have done the show any justice. So we decided that Bobbie should have a little bit of some sort of purpose to help explain her departure.”

General Hospital Says Goodbye To Beloved Bobbie Spencer — And Actress Jacklyn Zeman — During Memorial (Exclusive)

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

When GH’With the 10-time Emmy winner the casting director approached Hertford, 37, to see if she would be interested in returning for two days, she jumped at the chance.

“A lot of things in the universe started to come together in a funny way,” recalls Hertford, who is currently in the technology business. “Mark said, ‘I don’t know if you remember me.’ And I said, ‘Oh my God, Mark, you changed the trajectory of my life! Of course, I remember you!’ And we started talking about this. I found out about Jackie’s death earlier and I was really devastated,” said Hertford, whose voice cracked as the tears began to well up. “Sorry. I didn’t expect to be emotional in this interview, but it’s starting to show.”

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Disney/Christine Bartolucci

After leaving, Hertford moved away from television and film GH, because her family moved to Utah. But as she grew up, she fell in love with theater and earned a degree in acting.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been on a professional set and I thought, you know, if anything could make me get back into it, it would be something like this. I knew the impact Jackie had on my life and, of course, countless others. But my first thought was, ‘Well, how the hell are they going to do that because there’s a character on the show right now who still has my heart!'” she laughed.

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BJ’s death in 1994, which resulted in the donation of her heart to Maxie, is one of the truly classic soap opera stories in history, with the mere mention of triggering fans’ water supply.

“As a child, I didn’t understand the gravity of it all,” admits Hertford, who was about 7 years old at the time. What she does remember is her mother telling her about the story, that BJ will be badly injured in a school bus accident, go into a coma and then die.

“I remember she said, ‘I can get you a body double because you’re going to lay there for a long time, in a coma.’ I was so attached to my family, to the role. I mean, I guess it’s kind of crazy to say that I was young, but I was attached and I was just like, ‘No way. I want to do it. I want to see this through.’ When I look back on it, absolutely, it was a really difficult story. I’m in my late 30s now and the thought of a child being in that situation is just super emotional.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

When she was a child, Hertford called Zeman her “second mom,” and she remembers fighting back tears when Bobbie and Tony (played by Brad Maule, who was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work on the story) said their goodbyes. To BJ “It was so weird because I said, ‘I know I’m not dying,’ but they’re saying goodbye to me and, and he was actually goodbye in a way.”

And Bobbie’s memorial was a wonderful way for the characters and fans to say goodbye to her — and for the cast to say goodbye to Jackie.

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Paul Redmond/WireImage

“Coincidentally, we did a big tribute to the character of Bobbie Spencer at the Nurses’ Ball this year, which I thought was magnificent, and Jackie loved it,” says Valentini. “I mean, she had such a good time, it was such a pleasure to work with her and she kept thanking me for the story. It gave meaning to the Nurses’ Ball, it gave meaning to the hospital. It worked on so many levels.”

He continues: “I’m so happy I did it. It was such a smart thing. Yes. We had to honor Jackie while she was alive, and when she died, I wanted to make sure that the writers were the ones who, that in their very with capable hands was to not only break the news to the characters in Port Charles, but also make her death count as something to tell the story.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

Although the tears flowed naturally during the filming of the memorial, between takes, the cast and crew were lost in memories of Jackie. “We were all just talking about Jackie and telling stories,” says Valentini. “Everyone was just talking about Jackie. She talked about her daughters, talked about her real-life monument, told stories about her. It was really especially difficult for Kristina Wagner and Lynn Herring,” he said, noting that they were very close friends with Zeman in real life.

“Jackie was a bright light,” he added. “It’s one of those things where you want to pay tribute to someone you loved very much, but in doing so you’re just reminding yourself of how much you’re going to miss them. So it was very bittersweet.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

One last tribute at the end of Thursday’s episode — renaming Kelly’s diner Bobbie’s — was Valentini’s idea. And it came to him in a rather supernatural way.

“I know this is going to sound ethereal and crazy, but I kind of dreamed it,” he said. “I dreamed that we changed his name because we knew for several months that we had to deal with the departure of this character from the screen and the concern and desire to do well not only for Jackie, but also for Bobbie Spencer. … I feel like as I was thinking about it, I thought, ‘What could possibly be permanent?’ And that was what seemed to make a lot of sense.”

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General Hospitalincluding a Bobbie Spencer show tribute, can be streamed on Hulu.

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Source: HIS Education