Lynn Herring Talks ‘GH’ Nurses’ Ball, Honoring Wayne Northrop and Her Son’s ‘Days’ Gig (EXCLUSIVE)
The ‘General Hospital’ star reflects on loss & joy as her son joins the soap world his father once ruled
With the 2025 General Hospital Nurses’ Ball kicking off tomorrow, Mistress of Ceremonies Lynn Herring sits down with Woman’s World to reflect on her zany character Lucy and her soap opera’s beloved fundraising variety show aimed at raising awareness and supporting research for HIV and AIDS.
As viewers watch this 66-year-old beauty twirl through several fabulous wardrobe changes at the ball this week, the soap veteran, whose credits also include Port Charles, Days of Our Lives, and As the World Turns, shares a peek at her other, less-than-glamorous life—as a cattle rancher!
Plus, Herring gets candid about grief, honoring her late husband, actor Wayne Northrop, and how she feels about their son Hank working at their former stomping grounds, Days of Our Lives.
‘GH’ star Lynn Herring reflects on Lucy’s growth
The General Hospital Nurses’ Ball doesn’t happen every year, but when it does, it’s the event of the Port Charles season. Viewers get to see their favorite characters get glammed up, with some taking the stage to sing, dance, and even do magic.
No matter what drama unfolds, Lucy Coe always pulls together a great show—and as screwball as this character’s antics have been over the last four decades, the successful real estate woman, author, and Deception founder has come a long way since she showed up in Port Charles in 1986!
“I remember all Lucy’s struggles and feeling not appreciated, and people still make fun of her a lot—which they should,” Herring admits with a laugh. “But the success of having meetings where someone actually listens to her ideas has granted her permission to be an adult now. Lucy is still basically a spoiled child, but she has her adult moments, and I’m very proud of her.”
Lucy’s infamous wardrobe malfunctions
Among Lucy’s many claims to fame is the fact that she was having wardrobe malfunctions long before the term was coined—and they were all at the Nurses’ Ball.
“We set the trend,” Herring cracks. “Whether viewers like if I lose my clothes or not has been a debate for many years now. It had to be hilarious for the writers, too, to come up with me hanging upside down and people pulling curtains, wrapping me up in drapes. I can just see them sitting around a table and going, ‘What are we going to do this year?’ It was so much fun.
“That may have gone the way, now, but there’s so many other surprises!” she adds. “This Ball is so interesting, because some locals will surprise the audience by how good they are. There’s also a couple storylines that come to meaningful heads. I think people will scream at the TV!”
The longevity of the Nurses’ Ball
The Nurses’ Ball goes back to 1994, and while the big night has always been an ideal time to blow up the lives of a few good—and not-so-good—locals, it has also been about raising awareness for an important cause.
“It started as a striptease that Lucy did for Luke Spencer to make him give money to a cause she really believed in, because we were doing the Robin and Stone HIV/AIDS storyline,” Herring recounts. “HIV and AIDS was our pandemic back then, because we had so many friends and family members suffering. We had no hope and didn’t know what was going on, so it was wonderful to take humor and entertainment and turn it into a variety show to raise money for the cause. At the same time, we let Middle America know what AIDS and HIV was and why we needed to help people.”
Over 30 years later, Herring is thrilled to be hosting yet another ball.
“Even though AIDS and HIV isn’t as prevalent in the United States now, it still is globally, and there still needs to be a lot of research,” Herring maintains. “So it’s nice that we haven’t given up on that continuity. We skipped a few years during certain regimes, but we’ve stuck with this for 31 years. The history is amazing, and I just love hearing stories about how the Ball has impacted viewers.”
Behind the scenes of the Nurses’ Ball’s ‘summer stock’ theater energy
Between the costumes, rehearsals, and drama, shooting an event like the Nurses’ Ball is no small feat. The General Hospital stages were packed and the schedule was tight, but the cast and crew also had a unique opportunity to hang out together.
“I saw Josh Kelly (who plays Cody) in the hall after about the fourth day, and he goes, ‘I feel like we’re doing summer stock theater or we’re all at summer camp,’” Herring shares. “The hours aren’t as long as they used to be, but they’re long! Sitting at the tables and moving around, you spend hours talking—and it may be with someone you never have a storyline with. So we learn so much about each other…and then we can all commiserate together!”
Of course, with all her costume changes, Herring didn’t get quite as much time to hang out as her costars.
“I have more dresses this year than I’ve had in the last couple,” she teases. “Costume designer Shawn Dudley-Reeves went crazy, and our hair and makeup team went crazy too. It cracks me up when I look in the mirror…and then I go home to the ranch in the dirt and the manure!”
A peek at life on her cattle ranch
Yes, that’s right. When Herring is not vamping around Port Charles and flirting with creepy Jenz, she’s working her cattle ranch.
“It’s a true working cow calf operation,” she brags. “I just took 14 calves to the sale and I was in the river pulling the barbed wire back across, because the rain washes it out all the time. Here, you get up very, very early, especially in the hot summer, to check the fences and check all the cows to be sure they don’t have stickers in their eyes or they’re not giving birth too soon.
“Kristina Wagner (who plays Felicia) and others have come up, and they just can’t believe it,” she adds. “It’s a different world, and I’m very proud. During the egg crisis, I was the most popular neighbor, because I have chickens that lay the best eggs. I love my girls. They’re a hoot!”
Honoring husband Wayne Northrop and managing grief
With the ranch running well and Lucy getting into it on General Hospital, Herring is looking at life differently since her husband Wayne Northrop, who was on Days of Our Lives, Dynasty, and Port Charles, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in November.
“With Wayne passing, it’s like a new time,” she shares. “I can make the ranch work and make him proud. I have a little historical museum in an 1886 house, Raymond Museum, but I have people helping me, so now I’m on a service mission. I really want to be of service. May 9 was our 44th anniversary. It was the first time Wayne and I were apart and I thought, ‘Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I’m going to deliver meals.’
“When you’re grieving, the only way to help yourself is to help others,” she adds.
Lynn talks son Hank joining Wayne Northrop’s stomping ground
As Herring works her way through her grief and figures out what her life looks like without the man she married in 1981, there’s another bright light to keep her going. Their son, Hank Northrop, has joined Days of Our Lives, where Wayne originated the role of Roman Brady in the early ‘80s and early ‘90s.
“I’m so tickled because it is such a full circle thing,” Herring tells Woman’s World. “His dad was so proud to be on Days of Our Lives, and it has been magical for our family because of all the people we knew when Wayne was coming up and I was very young when I was there. Jim Reynolds (who plays Abe) has been so kind. Hank’s shot several shows there now, but they still hug and get teary-eyed every scene! He goes, ‘Jim, we gotta stop this,’ but he’s so thrilled to meet everyone.
“On one of the Nurses’ Ball days, Hank had the same call time as I did,” she adds. “To have your son doing what you love and what has given you such a wonderful life…I had to wipe my makeup a little bit that morning, because it just broke my heart that he now gets to do what he’s so in love with—and he just really believes his dad’s watching him do all this. He’s so proud, and so am I!”
Herring’s only complaint about Hank’s new gig? With Days of Our Lives shooting so far ahead, her son’s character won’t show up on air until October! In the meantime, Lucy’s hijinks on General Hospital, Herring’s cattle ranch, and her acts of service should keep her busy.
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