General Hospital is a popular soap opera that has been airing on ABC since 1963. The show features the lives and loves of the residents of Port Charles, a fictional city in upstate New York. One of the most intriguing and dramatic storylines on the show involves Nina Reeves, a wealthy magazine editor, and Wiley Corinthos, a young boy who is the son of Michael Corinthos, a prominent businessman and mobster.
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Nina’s tragic past and quest for her daughter
Nina Reeves first appeared on General Hospital in 2014, portrayed by The Young and the Restless vet Michelle Stafford. The role was taken over in 2019 by actress Cynthia Watros, who has brought her own spin to the notoriously troublesome character. Nina’s origin story was one of tragedy.
Two decades before Nina’s arrival in Port Charles, she had been married to doctor Silas Clay who was having an affair with Ava Jerome, per Soap Central. Her mother, Madeline Reeves, was desperate to get her daughter away from her philandering husband, especially after Nina discovered she was pregnant. Madeline gave her daughter an overdose of antidepressants hoping to induce a miscarriage, but instead put Nina in a coma that she wouldn’t wake up from for 20 years.
When Nina did eventually regain consciousness in 2014, she was devastated to learn she had lost her baby and that Silas now had an adult daughter with Ava. Her grief led her to do some particularly nefarious things, such as inducing Ava’s labor during her second pregnancy and kidnapping the baby. Eventually, Nina received psychological treatment and managed to create a respectable life for herself.
Following Madeline’s death in 2018, Nina was shocked to discover that she had a daughter. She had given birth while in her coma and her mother had given the baby away. She became desperate to find the child that was taken away from her and her husband Valentin Cassadine was more than happy to help.
The fake daughter scam and the real daughter reveal
Valentin Cassadine was desperate to win back the affection of his wife, Nina Reeves, after she made good on her threat of divorce after discovering some of his shady dealings (via Soap Opera Spy). He thought that if he could locate the child that Nina had given birth to so many years earlier, all would be forgiven.
Valentin hired private investigator Curtis Ashford to search for Nina’s daughter but he ultimately came up empty. Valentin then decided to pay a woman named Sasha Gilmore to pose as Nina’s daughter and falsified a maternity test to prove their relationship (via Soap Dirt). His scheme succeeded and Nina gratefully accepted Valentin back and began bonding with Sasha.
After several months of living a lie, Sasha’s feelings of guilt only grew. Eventually, the secret came out when Lulu Falconeri overheard Sasha discussing the lie and then revealed it to everyone at Nina and Valentin’s second wedding ceremony, per Soaps.com. Nina was furious with Valentin and Sasha for their betrayal and cut ties with both of them.
In the few years since this transpired, the three have been able to reconcile and now remain on good terms. However, Nina still yearned for her real daughter and hoped that she was alive somewhere. Little did she know that her daughter was closer than she thought.
Nina’s real daughter turned out to be none other than Nelle Benson, a notorious villainess who had caused trouble for many people in Port Charles, especially Michael Corinthos and his family (via The List). Nelle was the biological mother of Wiley Corinthos, who was born as Jonah Corinthos but switched at birth with another baby who died (via The List).
Nelle had given birth to Jonah in the woods with fugitive Dr. Liesl Obrecht helping out because she just happened by (via Michael Fairman TV). The day before, school teacher Willow Tait had given birth to a little boy, as well, but felt she needed to protect him from his cult leader father, so she gave him up for adoption and he was handed to Brad Cooper and Lucas Jones, a same-sex couple who were thrilled to adopt their first child (via Soaps In Depth).
Lucas, a doctor, was performing a surgery when Brad was told he could take the baby home, so Lucas never met him. Tragically, when Brad went to make a bottle, he went back to the baby’s crib to find he wasn’t breathing. He quickly drove towards the hospital where he met his old pal, Nelle, in the woods, and that’s where Wiley’s strange story really began (via Soaps In Depth).
The baby switch and the custody battle
Nelle Benson was a wanted woman for a myriad of crimes, and she also didn’t want her baby’s father, Michael Corinthos, to raise him (via Soaps In Depth). So, she offered her living baby to Brad Cooper, who presented him to Lucas Jones as the son they just adopted, and Nelle showed up at the hospital with the baby Brad and Lucas really adopted and told Michael the little boy they planned to name Jonah, was stillborn.
Nelle was soon carted off to jail knowing her baby was with parents who would love him who were not named Michael. As for Michael, he got to know mourn his son for well over a year, but also take care of him plenty as Lucas and Brad named him Wiley’s godfather. Brad was a wreck fearing that Lucas would find out the truth, and both were a wreck when Willow Tait wanted her son back, but then changed her mind again. However, they allowed Willow into their life and she became attached to a son she thought was her own. Lucas’ father, Julian Jerome, also figured out the truth, so it was a secret he and Brad kept together (via Soaps In Depth).
Wiley was a toddler when Nelle Benson somehow finally got parole and decided she was going to take her son back from Brad Cooper and Lucas Jones — illegally. She got Brad to give her a place to stay without mentioning she planned to take her baby and get out of town (via Soaps In Depth). Her plan was thwarted by Willow Tait, who was babysitting at the time and Brad finally had to tell Lucas the truth once an injured Willow was taken to the ER.
Lucas then told Michael that Wiley was really his son Jonah and Michael was overjoyed to learn his son was alive. He also realized that Willow had been caring for his son all along and they soon fell in love. Nelle, however, was not about to give up on her son and filed for custody, claiming that Michael was an unfit father because of his mob ties (via Soaps In Depth).
The custody battle was fierce and Nelle even married Julian Jerome to make herself look more stable. She also hired a lawyer named Martin Gray, who happened to be Valentin Cassadine’s half-brother and Nina Reeves’ long-lost uncle (via Soaps.com). Martin had a necklace that he had inherited from his mother that matched the one that Nina had received from her mother as a clue to her daughter’s identity.
Nelle recognized the necklace as the one she had worn since she was a baby and realized that Martin was her uncle and Nina was her mother. She decided to use this information to her advantage and tried to manipulate Nina into supporting her in court. However, Nina saw through Nelle’s lies and testified against her, helping Michael win full custody of Wiley (via Soaps In Depth).
The shocking death and the heartbreaking discovery
Nelle Benson was not willing to accept defeat and decided to kidnap Wiley from his home. She managed to escape with him in a car but was pursued by Michael Corinthos and his father Sonny Corinthos, who is also a powerful mob boss (via Soaps In Depth). Nelle crashed the car near a cliff and tried to run away with Wiley but Michael caught up with her and wrestled the boy away from her.
Nelle then fell off the cliff and seemingly died, leaving Michael and Wiley safe. However, Nelle’s body was never recovered and there is a possibility that she could still be alive (via Soaps.com). Meanwhile, Nina Reeves learned that Nelle was her daughter from Carly Corinthos, Michael’s mother and Sonny’s wife, who had found Nelle’s necklace at the crash site.
Nina was shocked and devastated by this revelation, as she had always hoped that her daughter would be a good person who would love her back. She felt guilty for not recognizing Nelle as her daughter sooner and for testifying against her in court. She also felt conflicted about how to deal with Wiley, who was now both her grandson and the son of her enemy (via Soaps In Depth).
Nina decided to sue for visitation rights to see Wiley, hoping to make up for lost time with her daughter’s child. However, Michael and Willow were opposed to this idea, fearing that Nina would try to turn Wiley against them or expose him to Nelle’s influence (via Soaps.com). The judge ordered a DNA test to confirm Nina’s relationship with Wiley before making a decision.
The surprising twist and the future possibilities
The DNA test results came back negative, meaning that Nina Reeves was not Wiley Corinthos’ grandmother after all (via Soaps.com). This shocked everyone involved, especially Nina who had been convinced that Nelle Benson was her daughter. She wondered if the test had been tampered with or if there was another explanation for the mismatch.
One possible explanation is that Nelle Benson is not Nina’s daughter either, but rather another impostor who had somehow obtained Nina’s necklace. This would mean that Nina’s real daughter is still out there somewhere, waiting to be found. Another possible explanation is that Wiley Corinthos is not Nelle’s son either, but rather another switched baby who had been passed off as hers
