Tonja Walker is "Honored and Grateful" for Her Return to 'General Hospital'

Tonja Walker returns to General Hospital on January 16.

Tonja Walker played Olivia Jerome on General Hospital from 1988 to 1990. On January 16, she will be returning to the ABC soap opera but the network has not confirmed that she will be reprising her villainous GH character.

If not Olivia, one option might be Alex Olanov, the One Life to Live character she played on and off from 1990 to 2011. ABC once again owns the rights to One Life to Live and All My Children since a Prospect Park lawsuit tying up the shows was dismissed on December 1. It's also entirely possible GH will create a totally new role for Walker, who earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 1993 for her work on OLTL.

Whichever character she ends up playing, Walker is thankful for the opportunity.

“I am so moved and quite frankly amazes at the fans for keeping hope alive for the characters I’ve played for all these years,” Walker told Soap Hub. “It means so much to me, their desire to see these characters again, and of course I loved these characters, too.”

When William deVry assumed the role of Julian Jerome, fans began asking Walker when she was also coming back as Olivia.

“I have always replied to these inquiries saying, ‘I’m so dead!’ or ‘Thank you so much for asking, but no, The Powers That Be haven’t called,’” she revealed. “Well, they called!”

Walker can't reveal the character she's playing either, so you'll have to tune in to find out.

"Honestly, I only know part of the story at the present time," she confessed. "But from what I have seen, it’s going to be fantastic. I am honored and grateful to [GH executive producer] Frank Valentini and his writers Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman for the chance to be in front of an audience. And I do love this audience!"