It's about time!

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This is such exciting news! I love Tina's character and how she interacts with her sister Viki. It will be fun to see how she deals with Sarah. http://www.soapcentral.com/oltl/news/2008/0407-evans.php Andrea Evans Returning as OLTL's Tina Lord Posted Saturday, April 05, 2008 10:59:21 PM by Dan J Kroll Andrea Evans (Tina Lord) will return to One Life to Live later this spring. It has been 18 years since the actress was last spotted in Llanview. For the past eight years, the Emmy-nominated actress has been seen on Passions. Evans' first airdate has yet to be announced. Though initially reported by soapcentral.com last week, ABC has now confirmed that Andrea Evans (Tina Lord) will return to the show later this spring. The actress' return has been the subject of rumors for years, but things never quite worked out. Fans were left to wonder if Evans would ever return -- or if the show might simply opt to recast the role. "For many years, both fans of mine and One Life to Live have wanted me to return to the show," Evans said in a statement. "Now that the timing is right, I'm thrilled to be returning to the role of Tina, which I've always held near and dear to my heart. I'm looking forward to working once again with all my friends and 'family' at One Live to Live."Indeed it has been years since Evans last appeared as Tina. The Emmy-nominated actress originated the role of bad girl Tina in 1978, but left the show just three years later. Evans would eventually return to the show in 1985, ending a string of poorly received recasts. The actress stayed with the show until 1990 when a much-publicized exit took her away from Llanview one more time. "Even though Andrea has not appeared on OLTL since 1990, she has remained among the most requested characters to return to the show," added One Life to Live's executive producer Frank Valentini. "I welcome her home to OLTL and to the role where she made an indelible mark on our audience. While Evans was last spotted in Llanview in 1990, Tina has made several appearances since then. After Evans' departure, Karen Witter assumed the role of Tina. She remained with the show for nearly four years before the ABC soap decided to once again recast the role of Tina. In July 1994, Krista Tesreau took over, but fan-still longed for Evans' portrayal. Tesreau's stint was short, ending in June 1996, though she made brief returns in September 1996 and January 1997. When the Tina was last seen, she had just divorced David Vickers and left Llanview to start a new life in Baltimore. Since then, she hasn't kept in close contact with her family, due partly to the fact that the show didn't want to do too much with the character in the event that Evans was available for a return. Since leaving One Live to Live, Evans has appeared on two other daytime drama series -- both based in Los Angeles. Evans jumped back into the soap world in 1999 and 2000 with a 22-episode engagement as Tawny Moore on CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful. But Evans may be best known to the current generation of soap fans as Rebecca Hotchkiss on the campy soap Passions. Evans joined Passions in September 2000 and will continue to appear on the soap through August 2008 when the show wraps up its nine year-run. Despite being with the former NBC soap for eight years, Evans was never signed to a contract. As a recurring player, Evans could have opted to leave Passions at any time - which is one of the reasons that the actress' "return" to One Live to Live had been rumored for many years. The details of Evans' return are still being closely guarded by ABC. According to the network, Tina's will return "with a big secret, a surprising revelation on where she's been, as well as a connection to one of Llanview's most powerful residents."The return of Tina kicks off a major storyline that will play throughout the summer, but whether or not Evans will be with the show for the duration of the storyline is unknown. According to a show source, Evans' return is only short-term. As fans know, that could always change. Considering the actress' lengthy stay as a front-burner recurring character on Passions, many fans seen plenty of reasons to be optimistic. A first airdate for Evans has not yet been announced.