Watch Maurice Benard's Emotional Family Reunion!

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Maurice Benard (Sonny) appeared on the TAMRON HALL show on March 30 and was left speechless when the host reunited him with his daughter, Heather Andresen, whom he hadn’t seen since October 2022!

Despite his fear of airplanes, Benard flew solo from Los Angeles to New York City to make some television appearances in conjunction with GH’s 60^th anniversary. After stopping by THE VIEW, the Daytime Emmy winner went over to Hall’s show to talk about his career on GH, as well as his personal life. It was during the conversation about the latter that the television journalist brought up Heather, the biological half-sister of Benard’s wife, Paula. The couple legally adopted Heather when she was 15 years old.

Today, Heather is an Airman First Class in the United States Air Force and is stationed on the East Coast. As a photo of Heather — dressed in her Air Force uniform and holding her daughter, two-year-old Eloise Rose — flashed on the screen behind them, Hall began to ask, “You haven’t seen her in… ” but the actor promptly cut her off. “Oh, don’t do that.”

“Talk about a huge surprise,” Benard later said of his reunion with Heather.Disney Media Distribution

But that was exactly what Hall had planned. “You haven’t seen her in a long time. You have never seen her in uniform,” Hall shared, as Benard began crying from his seat on the couch. “You’re not the only one who made a special trip today. She wanted to be here because I know it was rough getting on that plane and coming here. Your daughter, Airman First Class Heather Andresen is here.”

After Heather walked out, both she and Benard cried as they embraced before sitting down next to each other on the couch. After admitting that “these surprises kill me,” the actor shared that he is “so proud of” Heather and joked that he wasn’t able to finish the interview. “I can’t talk… so can I leave?”

With Heather by his side, Benard did stick around to finish the interview with Hall and later posted a video to his Instagram page urging his viewers to tune in to catch the special moment. “Check it out and watch me cry like a baby,” he confessed.

You can see Benard’s full interview with Hall — including his emotional reunion with Heather — below!