Here are some of the news stories posted on soapcentral.com's Guiding Light section during the 2005 calendar year. To access articles from other years or to review articles with similar themes, please see the RELATED INFORMATION box directly below this text.

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Postings across the Internet - including some on SoapCentral.com's Message Central message boards - are wondering if Guiding Light's Phillip Spaulding is really, really dead.

One Life to Live has brought in some familiar names to help recently-appointed head writer Dena Higley as she pens the show's future plots and storylines. ABC announced that it has hired the writing team of James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten to serve as consultants on One Live to Live. Brown and Esensten previously served as head writers of Guiding Light.

A Guiding Light spokesperson has confirmed that both Kurt McKinney (Matt Reardon) and Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa Reardon) will return to the show's canvas sometime in 2005.

Film legend, original All My Children cast member and Guiding Light star Ruth Warrick (Phoebe Wallingford) passed away on Saturday, January 15th at 12:15AM in her Manhattan home. Official reports list the cause of Ms. Warrick's death as complications from pneumonia. She was 88.

What was the biggest GL news story of 2005?  SEP: Laura Wright (Cassie) to join GH, GL recasts Cassie.   32%   SEP: St. Alban, Stewart out as GL ditches popular 'Manny' pairing.   32%   JUN: 26-year vet Jerry ver Dorn (Ross) taken off contract, joins OLTL.   18%   2005: GL undergoes major budget crunch, is forced to cut cast drastically.   15%   MAY: Kim Zimmer (Reva) threatens to walk over contract flap, but stays.   2%   NOV: Crystal Chappel (Olivia) asks to leave GL, but is denied.   1%   MAR: Stephen Martines (Tony) asks to be released from his contract.   0%   AUG: Mercury scare prompts evacuation of GL studio.   0%   Other   0%     Poll Posted: December 26th, 2005

Stephen Martines (Tony Santos) has confirmed that he will be exiting Guiding Light later this spring. The actor asked to be released from his contract with Guiding Light.

Guiding Light has again tapped into its lengthy history to bring back a character from the show's past. This time around, though, the character will not be played by the actor that made the character famous. Newcomer Robert Bogue will join the cast next month in the contract role of A.C. Mallet, a character last seen back in 1993.

Despite headlines to the contrary, Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne) is not leaving Guiding Light. For a while, though, it did look as though the three-time Daytime Emmy winner might be on her way out.

The situation at Guiding Light continues to grow more and more direr with each passing day. With an announced across-the-board salary cut, the show was supposed to avoid having to trim its roster of veteran players. However, that is apparently not the case as 26-year veteran Jerry ver Dorn (Ross Marler) has announced that he will be taken off contract later this year.

Veteran soap performer Marj Dusay (Alexandra Spaulding) has revealed that she will exit Guiding Light later this year, and will not continue on a recurring basis.

Doug Hutchison (Sebastian Hulce) will be exiting Guiding Light later this summer, but his exit is not part of the so-called bloodshed that has rocked the show's cast in recent weeks.

As previously announced by soapcentral.com, Daniel Cosgrove (Bill Lewis) will wrap up his Guiding Light this summer. The decision to leave the show was that of the actor.

For a few hours last week, the situation inside Guiding Light's Manhattan studio was for more dramatic than anything ever produced by a Friday cliffhanger. A hazardous-materials crew was called to the scene and the studio evacuated on Thursday, following the malfunction of a prop and the release of a toxic metal into air.

The rumors circulating for several months are true: The popular pairing of Nancy St. Alban (Michelle Bauer) and Paul Anthony Stewart (Danny Santos) have been released from Guiding Light.

In what can only be called a surprising announcement, a spokesperson for Guiding Light has confirmed that actress Laura Wright (Cassie Winslow) will be exiting the show when her contract expires later this year.

In a change of position, veteran Guiding Light actress Marj Dusay (Alexandra Spaulding) has announced that she has reconsidered her decision to exit the show when her contract expires later this year. As previously reported by soapcentral.com, Guiding Light execs have opted not to renew Dusay's contract.

Though an official announcement from ABC is still pending, soapcentral.com has learned that Laura Wright (Cassie Winslow, Guiding Light) will join the cast of General Hospital later this year in the role of Carly Corinthos.

Multiple Emmy winner Jerry ver Dorn (Ross Marler, Guiding Light) will join the cast next month in the role of Clint. Veteran daytime star Clint Ritchie is best known as OLTL's Clint, having been seen in the role from 1979 to December 1998.

As previously reported by soapcentral.com, Jerry ver Dorn (Ross Marler) will exit Guiding Light in October, leaving behind a show that he's called home for 26 years. Fans of the actor, however, will still be able to tune in every day and see the actor on screen: he's found a new role at ABC's One Life to Live.

The cast cutting at Guiding Light continues. The last casualty of the show's belt-tightening is David Andrew MacDonald (Edmund Winslow). While the axing of MacDonald has been the subject of Internet speculation for a few weeks, the show has just now confirmed the actor's exit.

The search for a new Cassie Winslow has come to an end. Guiding Light has selected newcomer Nicole Forester for the role, soapcentral.com has learned. There became a need for a new Cassie when actress Laura Wright announced that she was exiting the show to take over a role on ABC's General Hospital.

Though it is still unconfirmed by ABC, soapcentral.com is again reporting that Rebecca Budig (ex-Michelle Bauer) is poised to leave All My Children when her contract expires later this year. It was back in May that soapcentral.com first reported that Budig had decided to leave the show.

Emmy-nominated Kassie DePaiva (ex-Chelsea Reardon) and ABC executives have come to terms on a new contract, soapcentral.com has learned. DePaiva confirmed the news in a statement on her official web site.

On November 6th, 2005, legendary daytime actors Michael Tylo (Quinton Chamberlain) and Lisa Brown (Nola Chamberlain) sat down for a one-of-a-kind interview to reminisce about their beloved characters' fabulous history on Guiding Light, as well as the future of this hugely popular '80s supercouple.

Many Guiding Light fans were elated when Emmy winner Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer) renewed her contract with the show earlier this year. During a time when much of the show's cast had been receiving pink slips and fears that the show would be cancelled were heightened, it seemed like a really good sign.

Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer) can forget about any plans that she may have had to leave Guiding Light. The show's brass informed the star that she would be held to the terms of her recently-signed contract. In short, the higher-ups refused to let the Emmy-winning actress out of her contract.

The Guiding Light cast will soon shrink by one as another member of the cast has decided not to renew their contract. In an announcement on her official web site, Crystal Hunt (Lizzie Spaulding) revealed to fans that she will soon be exiting the show.