Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) doesn’t only act on General Hospital (GH) on ABC. Most fans know that he also takes his mental health awareness very seriously. This week, he had a special message for State of Mind viewers. Read on for all the details.
No Paywall For The Podcast?
This week, Benard, who previously said he’d take his podcast behind a paywall, seemed to retract that. However, he passionately implored his followers to support his mental health awareness on YouTube. And, he asked them for a simple favor.
The real-life Sonny Corinthos devoted over an hour on Sunday night to a Q&A session on State of Mind. It wasn’t all sweetness and light, as he touched on some serious matters like bereavement, medications for anxiety, and his former suicidal thoughts.
Pleading With Fans
Overall, the basic message seemed to be that he hopes General Hospital fans help him maintain his mental health awareness community.
“Please, please, I want you to go to Maurice Benard State of Mind YouTube and there’s a red button, okay? And I want you to hit that red button, please,” he pleaded.
In fact, he framed it as a collective effort. Since subscribing doesn’t cost anything, fans have a simple way to offer their support for the mental health initiatives he undertakes.
Reaching The Target
At the moment, the number of subscribers is approximately 170K. But, Maurice Benard still hopes to reach 200K. Additionally, he dropped a few enticements, telling his GH fans, “When we get to 200K I’m going to… have an incredible guest that may be Vanessa Marcil.”
Notably though, he said it as a joke, because nothing was agreed upon yet. However, the thought of Vanessa Marcil (Brenda Barrett) dropping by? Surely, that’s enough to make people press the button.
The Positive Side
During the podcast, the GH veteran kept emphasizing the positive nature of the channel’s community. In fact, he noted that those who appeared on State of Mind usually found an enormous amount of love from the audience.
Actually, he seemed puzzled by those who won’t appear on his podcast. Next, reaching out in a very personal way, Maurice talked about how he offers a support group. “It’s like my children, you know, the audience,” he said, referring to the closeness with his viewers.
Mental Health Discussions
Maurice mixed his sales push for subscribers with questions about therapy. Then, he returned to his central topic, reminding viewers again to push that subscribe button.
Then, he reminded his followers that he’s just about covered everything about mental health you can think of. Notably, he sees that many people comment on how his channel helps them.
Overall, his plea seemed very genuine, and it went beyond just wanting more followers. In fact, his fans believe that when he talks on his podcast, he brings a lot of meaning to everyone’s life. So, perhaps more folks will respond to what he termed, doing “everybody a favor,” and subscribe.
ABC Fans React
Many followers love the message that Maurice brings them once a week. One of them commented, “Thank you so much for the years of entertainment, but mostly for your transparency in Mental Health. Many blessings to you and your family.”
Here are a few more responses from the discussion:
- i’ve been a fan and followed you for years❤congratulations on all your accomplishments, by far this podcast is helping more than you know!!
- Maurice, we love you and the work that you are doing. General Hospital is a national treasure and you are as well. Keep it going, baby. God Bless.
- Your honesty and willingness to share your experiences is so admirable and helpful to others. Also support is so important.
What are your thoughts? Do you hope that more ABC fans subscribe to help keep State of Mind free on YouTube? Shout out in the comments below, and come back here often for all your General Hospital cast news and updates.