General Hospital stars Rena Sofer and Wally Kurth were one of the most iconic US soap couples on-screen, playing Lois Cerullo and Ned Quartermaine respectively.
But the same was true in real life, too – at least for a short period, when the actors wed in an intimate ceremony.
It was a story to rival any soap opera, of two colleagues falling for one another while on set before ultimately falling out of love.
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The story didn’t end there, however, as Rena upped the drama by remarrying her first husband after her divorce from Wally – and from there, the story writes itself.
Daily Star takes a deep dive into the pair’s romance – from beginning to tragic end.
Loved up
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Rena first made her name in General Hospital from 1993 until 1996, playing Lois Cerullo, alongside Wally Kurth as her love interest Ned.
The pair met back in 1993, with their characters tying the knot in 1994. In an instance of life imitating art, the actors wed just a year later in 1995.
When her character Lois gave birth to Brook Lynn Quartermaine in the show, in real life, Rena gave birth to a daughter, Rosabel, with Wally – who is now 26.
In marrying Wally, Rena also became step-mum to his daughter Meghann Sidney.
Religious rift
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Sadly, it wasn’t to last. In 1997 – just two years after marrying Wally – Rena decided to quit General Hospital, and the pair soon called it quits on their marriage too.
Part of that reason may have been the rift in religions between the pair, as Jewish-raised Rena confessed to the Jewish Standard that Wally didn’t share her beliefs.
She explained: “I raised my children Jewish. My first daughter, Rosabel – her father wasn’t Jewish, but she was raised completely Jewish and she is probably more religious than I am at this point.”
Tragic split
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In 2022, Rena finally opened up on her split from Wally, explaining to co-star Maurice Benard on his YouTube series State of Mind: “We fell in love on TV. And when I left the show, we realised, ‘Oh, our characters were in love. We weren’t in love’.
“I really like Wally a lot. I mean, he’s an incredible guy. He’s just not the guy for me, and it really took me leaving for both of us to realise that we weren’t meant to be together.”
She added that the reason why “so many relationships happen on set” is: “You are thrown into this microcosm of this weird family unit, and you don’t see past it. And then once you leave, you see past it, and you go, ‘Oh, that doesn’t work for me.’”
Remarrying ex-hubby
(Image: Getty Images)
After her divorce from Wally, Rena went on to tie the knot with notorious TV director Sanford Bookstaver, who worked on shows including Prison Break and One Tree Hill.
The pair tied the knot in 2003, but it wasn’t meant to be originally, as they divorced in 2017 after welcoming daughter Avalon Leone together.
But just two years later in 2019, their romance was back on, and Rena announced in April that year that they were set to remarry.
She explained: “I needed the death of the relationship to understand how to live in the relationship. I lost myself in the marriage, and it wasn’t his fault. It was me trying to be something I wasn’t, me losing sight of how to fix it.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
